Page 59 of Mafia Wedding

I suddenly feel shy and awkward, and I wonder if it's also because I might be crushing on him.

"Kayra?"

His voice is deep and gentle, and the sound is enthralling.

"I, um..."

I've never stammered before, and the sound is disgusting.

"I also want to call you Rake because..."

My breath catches for no apparent reason, and this, for better or for worse, leaves no room for doubt. I, Kayra Petinos, am indeed crushing on a member of the opposite sex, and as for the reason I'd like to call said man something else—-

"You seem like the kind of man who'd be really, really good at cleaning up messes?"

"Ah."

Why does everything this man produces with his lips sound so enthralling? Is this really how it is to have a crush, and it's as if the whole world only revolves around the other person?

"How about a deal?" he suddenly asks.

"I'm listening."

"You can call me Rake on two conditions."

The gleam in his eyes is wickedly suggestive, and the sight does the strangest things to my breathing. Why has no one ever told me how crushing on a man can also lead to respiratory concerns?

"Firstly: you must promise not to think of yourself as a mess I need to clean up."

"I...I..." He actually has me stuttering in my shock, and I hate it.

"And secondly—-"

His gaze lowers to my lips.

No way. He can't possibly—-

"A kiss."

And yet he has.

"You really want to kiss me even knowing what I am?"

"Yes, I really do want to kiss you even knowing what you are, and that's...a mafia goddess?"

I am not going to laugh.

He rubs his jaw again, and I am so, so insanely tempted to beg him to keep doing it because I've never seen anything sexier.

"Not accurate enough?" he asks. "Then how about...mafia goddess with a killer bod?"

No, I am still not going to laugh.

"Your choice if you want to take it literally or figuratively—-"

Oh shit, I think I am going to laugh.

And so I do, and when I see his eyes twinkle as he watches me dissolve in stitches—-

---