My head tilted. This woman remained a mystery to me. I had no idea where she was going with this except for the obvious. “Are you feeling needy?”
“Not right now. As you know, I can take care of myself. I’m simply making an observation. You’re all talk.”
Goddamn mystery.
“I don’t think you can make a definitive opinion on that subject. Just because it hasn’t happened doesn’t mean it won’t.” I trailed my finger along her cheekbone. “I know you’re a naughty little fucking tease.”
Her mouth spread into a slow grin. “You make it so fun.”
Pushing upright, I grabbed her hands and tugged her up with me so she was half sprawled across my lap. “Why are you bringing this up right now?”
“I’m trying to figure you out, Luca. You’ve made no effort to spend any time with me since we got married, but the second you see me with another man, you go all caveman. You switch between hot and cold in a blink. I’m trying to find a pattern, but I don’t think there is one. Who are you, Luca Rossi? I have no earthly idea.”
My gut clenched as she laid out the bare facts as she knew them. The things I’d let her see. She wasn’t wrong. I was so fucking off-kilter I barely recognized myself.
I took her chin in my hand, tipping her head back. “Luckily, we have two years for you to figure that out. When you do, let me know.”
“Cold,” she whispered, taking my hand in hers. “So cold.”
Before I knew what she had planned, she bit down hard on my fingertip, never breaking eye contact. I didn’t pull back, letting her grind her almost-too-big front teeth into my ring finger.
“If you’re going to bite it off, do it already,” I gritted out.
Something behind her chocolaty eyes lit up, and her teeth were replaced with warm lips and her tongue stroking away the sting she’d caused.
Then it was all gone. Saoirse hopped up from the couch, stretching her arms over her head.
“Glad we had that talk,” she chirped. “Good night, husband.”
She sauntered out of the den, and my head fell back with a groan.
My finger pulsed to the same rhythm as my rock-hard dick. I’d married a madwoman. Either that or an evil genius.
Most nights, I left the condo to do my own thing without giving her a second thought. Thinking about Saoirse was not what any of this was about. But that little brat had locked herself into the forefront of my mind.
Something told me that was exactly what she’d intended.
Well, she had my fucking attention now. And I looked forward to seeing what she did with it.
Chapter Seventeen
Saoirse
“Let me see the rock. I demand it.” I held out my left hand to Rebecca, Elise’s extremely extroverted work bestie. She turned my hand back and forth so the lights from the bar glinted off the aquamarine. “Well, that’s just gorgeous. I can see why you chose this over a diamond, even though I still love the ring Sam gave me.”
Sam was her high school sweetheart, who she never failed to drop a mention of in every conversation.
“Sersh has never been a diamond girl.” Elise took my hand, studying my rings. “He did good.”
I laughed. “That’s because he let me pick it out.” I picked up my vodka cran with my free hand while my other hand was passed on to Simon, Elise’s other work bestie. They had a habit of going out for drinks after work, and I had a habit of joining them. Since Luca and I were off to Wyoming tomorrow morning, I needed this to relax my jitters.
“The rock is stunning, but I’m disappointed in the sheer lack of romance.” Simon was born in the UK and still had a slight British accent that got thicker when he drank or wanted to sound like a royal, looking down his nose at the commoners.
“I don’t know.” Miles rested his ankle on his knee. “There’s something to be said for grabbing your girl, telling her she belongs to you, and marrying her the first chance you get.”
If only that was how it had happened. Not that I would have agreed to marry Luca for anything other than a favor, but when Miles put it that way, it made the whole thing sound sexy instead of sordid.
Elise raised a brow at Miles. “Is that your plan?”
He lifted his drink. “You know me and plans, Lisie. We don’t mesh. But I’m into Luca’s whole vibe. I respect it.”
I held back the eye roll since I was supposed to be crazy in love. “Let’s see what my father and brother think tomorrow about Luca’s vibe.”
Deciding that surprising them in person was a recipe for disaster, Luca and I had video called my Wyoming family last night. My brother Lock had done a lot of grunting. My dad had gotten eerily quiet. And my sister-in-law Elena had become teary-eyed, which was so not her…which had only made Lock gruntier.
“Luca’s known for his charm,” Elise said. “I’m sure once the shock is gone, they’ll be happy for you.”
“These are ranchers, Lise. They don’t get charmed.” I slugged back my drink and set the empty glass on the table in front of me, signaling our waitress for another. “Anyway, let’s talk about something other than me. I’m tired of being the center of attention.”
Thankfully, Miles steered the conversation to his house, which he declared was a money pit but refused to throw in the towel and sell it.
“Every weekend, I’m scraping shit, pulling up nails. I’ve probably inhaled enough asbestos for ten sets of lungs.” He casually drank his beer as though that wasn’t alarming.
“Asbestos? You’re not serious,” Elise pressed.
He shrugged. “It’s hard to say. I’m definitely inhaling particles of ancient building material.”
“There are masks for that, mate,” Simon quipped.
“That’s it.” Rebecca clapped her hands. “Let’s have a building party. I’ll bring Sam and snacks. Someone else can bring the beer. We’ll knock this thing out in a weekend.”
Miles winced. “It’ll be more like a thousand weekends.”
I waved my hand. “My next few weekends are filled anyway.”
Elise gave me a pointed stare. “What friend are you helping now?”
“How do you know it’s that?”
Her chin lowered. “I know you too well. Out with it.”
I took a long swallow of my fresh drink. “Kenji, my friend from when I lived in Japan—”
“Of course you have a friend in Japan.” Simon twirled his straw in his drink. “Is there a corner of the world you haven’t conquered?”
“Sure there is.” I fluttered my lashes at him. “But it’s only a matter of time.”
Elise rolled her hand. “Get to the point. What are you helping Kenji out with for free when you should be charging him?”
“He’s got this pop-up—” The entire table groaned before I even explained what the pop-up business was. And I got their frustration with me. I was feeling it with myself too.
“You have to charge for your time,” Elise admonished. “How many hours did you spend helping Maritza plan for her gardening shop?”
A lot. If I counted the time I’d given away for free…well, I didn’t mind it. I liked being useful and getting my hands on a new project. But at some point, it turned from offering advice to formulating entire business plans—and that was when it went from helping to being taken advantage of. I was a nice girl, but my niceness only went so far.