Page 34 of Endlessly Raphael

“Maybe we can figure something out. I spend a lot of time in this area. I’ll pay attention.”

“Thanks.” I turn my head to study his profile as he drives. “God, you’re hot.”

Raphael chuckles. “So are you.”

“I’ll feel hotter when I get back into normal clothes. Are you hungry?”

He turns his head and gazes at me, and the look on his face more than answers my question.

“I meant for food, you horndog.”

“I’m the horndog?” He laughs, squeezing my thigh.

“Maybe we’re equal.”

“I think we are. I’m not hungry, but if you are, we can go somewhere.”

“I’m starving. Sometimes I’ll grab leftover pizza slices from the restaurant, but we didn’t have any tonight.”

“What would you like?”

“Any pasta places open this late? I could use a pile of spaghetti.”

“I know a place.”

Raphael drives off toward his neighborhood, and I lean back in the seat.

“Where do your parents live?” he asks.

“West Side,” I answer. “In a gaudy quasi-mansion.” I drag my fingers through my unruly hair. “Except for the abject poverty, part of me is happy I don’t live there anymore. I always felt watched. It was like living in a fishbowl.”

“So what will you buy after you receive your inheritance?”

“Hmm. Excellent question. I’d like a place like yours. Modern and sleek, but also posh. If I followed the normal family trend, I would buy a house way too big for me just as a status symbol.”

“You don’t strike me as one to follow the herd.”

“Ooh, what a compliment,” I say. Raphael chuckles. “You’re right though. I definitely dance to my own beat. Kind of how I ended up here, I think.”

“I’m sure it’ll all work out.”

“Obviously. I found you.”

He glances at me with such a sexy expression on his face that my stomach flutters. I cannot believe I get to sleep next to this man.

“Have you ever been in love?” I ask after a moment.

“No,” he answers quickly. “I’ve been infatuated before, but love? It remains out of my reach.”

“Why do I get the feeling you’ve been dodging it?”

Raphael chuckles again. “Fair. In recent years, I’ve done my best to avoid it.”

“Why?”

“Why?” he repeats, keeping his gaze straight ahead. “I’d say because I didn’t want anything less than forever, and no one I met inspired that feeling in me. There was always something too big between us to overcome. I want it to be epic or not at all.”

“Ooh, now this is interesting. You’re happy alone?”