I Want You To Want Me. Kathy Love

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СКАЧАТЬ looking like swirls of ink against the pale skin of her long neck.

      She walked straight up to him, her fingers capturing his, easing the paper towel away from the cut. Again she rose up on her tiptoes, and as before the position brought her close to him, her breasts almost brushing his chest.

      He fought back a groan.

      Her heat and her energy did touch him, spreading over his body as if her long limbs were curled around him. For the briefest moment, he absorbed it, letting himself take that energy into himself.

      Her fingers stilled against his, and she made a small noise in the back of her throat. Not a noise of distress, but one of pleasure.

      Abruptly he stepped back, jerking his hand from her.

      What was he doing? He didn’t take a person’s energy. Not like that. Not just a single person’s. Damn, he had to create some space between them. Real space, not just the fluctuating expanse of physical distance.

      “Erika,” he said, then added, “It is Erika, right?”

      Erika’s face changed, a small show of disappointment, the slight pulling down of her beautifully shaped lips.

      “Yes,” she murmured, glancing down at the towel that had slipped from his hands to hers when he’d pulled away.

      “I appreciate your offer to help,” he said, keeping his voice cool. Pretending he wasn’t aware of everything about her.

      “It’s the least I could do. I did hit you.”

      “True,” he said, amazed at how condescending he could make the one word sound. But he did come from royalty—even if that was long, long ago and even if his father was only the fifth son of an earl. “Which is why I think you have done more than enough for me tonight.”

      Instead of looking cowed, which was what he’d expected from her, she frowned at his dismissive tone.

      “Did Ren know you were coming?”

      Vittorio raised an eyebrow. He didn’t know whether to be annoyed or amused by her coolly asked question. “No, but I am his brother. I hardly think I need a formal invitation.”

      “True,” Erika nodded. “But if you had told him, he probably would have told me. And thus, I wouldn’t have been scared out of my wits, and I wouldn’t have pitched my cell phone at your head.”

      “You could have asked before you pitched.”

      Erika laughed at that, the sound derisive, but it still managed to stroke over his skin. A shiver steeped with longing threatened him, but he suppressed it.

      Do not react. He’d spent years practicing his lack of reaction. But despite his warning, his muscles tightened as he struggled with his body’s response to her laugh, her voice, her lovely eyes. Her lips.

      “Spoken like a true man.”

      Until she continued, he was at a loss as to what she was referring to. Although she was right, other parts, aside from his mouth apparently, were indeed acting like a true man.

      “If I had taken the time to inquire who you were, lurking in the shadows, and you had intended me harm, you would have had the time to do so. The cell phone reaction still seems far more sensible to me—despite your injury. Of which I am sorry.” She no longer sounded sorry, however. She sounded annoyed.

      Good, Vittorio told himself. The sooner she realized how unlikeable he was, the sooner she would leave him alone to do what he needed to do here in New Orleans.

      Then he realized she was staring at him as if she expected a response.

      “Well, most people would have stayed inside their house and used the cell to call for help—rather than using it as a projectile.”

      Her soft pink lips firmed into a straight line. “Right.” She shoved the Band-Aid and the tube of ointment at him.

      “I’m sorry,” she said, “I’m sure you’d like to be going. The company of a woman who is so stupid that she’s unclear as to the proper usage of a cell phone must be intolerable to you.”

      He didn’t move for a moment, even though he’d achieved the effect he wanted from her, as well as the out he needed. He certainly wouldn’t be getting any friendly visits from his downstairs neighbor.

      Yet he was oddly tempted to take her offering of first aid supplies, both of which she still held out to him. He wanted to soothe that injured look in her blue-gray, stormy eyes. Accepting her offering seemed like an appeasement.

      Instead, he just muttered, “I’ll be fine.”

      In fact, by tomorrow night the gash would be gone. Good thing she wouldn’t be around to ask him about that.

      He studied her for a moment longer. She stared at a point over his left shoulder, her lips and jaw still firmly set.

      Still suppressing the need to mollify her, he turned on his heels and headed to the door. As he closed it behind him, reentering the darkness he both needed and despised, he briefly allowed himself to wish for a different scenario for the night. One where he could stay there in Erika’s eclectically, colorfully decorated world—that suited her to a tee. Where he could touch her smooth, pale skin and lose himself in her warmth, in the color she would add to his gray, nighttime world.

      But he couldn’t. And if he was right about the reason why he was back here, he had to stay away from her. If there was any merit to his suspicions, no one was safe in his presence.

      Chapter 3

      “He is here.”

      Orabella met Maksim’s eyes in the reflection of her vanity mirror. She continued to brush her long hair, suppressing the giddiness that rose up in her chest.

      Maksim strolled into the room, his long limbs loose and graceful, his muscles rolling under the fine material of his tailored shirt. He was a stunningly handsome man with thick dark hair and mesmerizing pale green eyes. But Orabella wasn’t considering that at the moment, nor had that been her real interest in him anyway. Though it didn’t hurt.

      But what held her attention now was what he’d said. Those three words were far more thrilling to her than his pretty face and powerfully built body.

      “You’re sure?”

      Maksim came up to stand behind her, regarding her in the mirror, his unusual eyes glittering as he rested his hands on her shoulders. “Of course I’m sure, my pet.”

      He leaned down to press his lips to the side of her neck. She leaned into the kiss, but her mind was focused on his revelation. Vittorio was here. She’d found him finally.

      She hadn’t truly believed he would be here. It seemed too easy. Too simple. Especially since he’d disappeared so totally for almost four months. But she’d banked on the fact he wouldn’t be able to stay away from his brother for long. Vittorio had such an odd affinity for his half-brother. Personally, Orabella had little use for Renaldo. So like his damned father.

      But Vittorio. He was here. A swell of giddiness filled СКАЧАТЬ