Page 13 of Hot for Her Italian Mafia

Eleanor stops before she reaches the bar and throws her eyes to the table I’m offering. They’re young-ish, smartly dressed, and they haven’t started showing signs of being rowdy yet.

“He’s stubborn as a rock. If he doesn’t want me, what makes you think he’s gonna want you?” Her words are laced with venom.

If last night hadn’t gone down the way it had, that question would’ve derailed all the willpower I gathered to speak with Luca. But I know he wants me, the same way I want him.

“Who says it has anything to do with that?”

She scoffs out a choked laugh. Eleanor isn’t pleasant to be around most nights, but she’s in a particularly bad mood today. Luca has something to do with it, I’m sure, and I have to fight the smile creeping its way across my face.

“Whatever. Go right ahead, try your luck, but don’t come crying to me when he breaks your heart,” she says menacingly. Eleanor storms off in the direction of her new table, but she’s bouncing with a smile on her face before she stops in front of them.

Luca’s eyes haven’t left me since I pounced on Eleanor. His elbows dig firmly into the table, one hand clasps a loose balled fist in front of his face, but those golden eyes remain ever watchful. As if our foray into the unknown last night unchained the eager beast burrowed deep inside him. No longer does he hide his intention to stare or turn away when my gaze moves in his direction.

I walk over to the booth. His eyes trail me the entire length of the barroom floor, but his body never moves.

“Hiya and welcome to the Sunken Sailor,” I say.

How am I supposed to play this? Awkward and uncomfortable? Like we don’t know each other and I’m taking over his table? Does he care about appearances or am I the one thinking too hard about it?

“You’re in for a real treat tonight. Sunken Saturdays have kicked off with a bang on buy one get on?—”

A hefty sigh rumbles through Luca’s chest, and my words catch in my throat.

“I know what the specials are. The other waitress already informed me,” Luca says. “What are you doing here, Josie?”

“I’m…” That’s a good question. Embarrassing myself, it feels like. “I’m taking over for Eleanor.”

Luca lowers his hands from his face and crosses them over one another on the table. His steely gaze shifts from me to the patrons behind before settling on the void between us and the bar.

Instant heat flushes my cheeks. Yup, embarrassing myself is the right answer. I shouldn’t have done this. What was I thinking? We shared a kiss outside, and now he’s going to throw himself into my arms and never let go?

Well, why not?

“Can I get you anything?” My words come out whiny and shameful.

“No, thank you.” Luca returns to his stoicism.

I scamper back to my place at the bar, tail tucked firmly between my legs.

The weight of his eyes burdens my final steps. They’re locked on me long before I reach the bar, like two golden fires burning away my clothes, my body, my everything until only my soul is laid bare in front of him. Even from across the room, I can see the faintest smile creep across his face. A single corner of his lips raised ever-so-slightly.

The lunacy of it all isn’t lost on me, but I can’t shake the feeling that I screwed something up again. He’s here for me, it’s plain as day. We dipped our toes in the forbidden waters of intimacy and lust, and we both want more. So, why is Luca fighting it? Why is he showing me a careless, crass shell? As if I don’t know the truth of his late-night stays. His dark little secrets. His desperate, tantalizing desires.

Well, two can play that game.

“Order up,” Oscar shouts from the kitchen window. His announcement comes at the perfect time.

I move swiftly from my perch, taking calculated steps that show the full length of my legs. I push my chest outward, my breasts on full display. When I collect the plates and set them on the tray, I bend further than I have to, shoving my ass high into the air.

I peek over my shoulder to see the giant sitting there. The trickle of a smile has vanished but the ever-observant eyes have not waned. Teasing Luca sends an excited bolt of electricity through my body, and it settles in the warm wetness between my thighs.

Keeping up my scanty display, once I’ve set down the plates at my table, I lean in close beside two of the men eyeing their steaks and burgers. Once more, my ass is propped high in the air, and I push my chest as far as it’ll go before looking unnatural.

The guests have already had a few drinks, and their lustful eyes can’t escape what I’m putting on show. But it isn’t for them. It’s for the monster behind me, eagerly watching and waiting for his time to strike.

And if my hunch is correct, what I’m about to do will make him pounce.

CHAPTER 9

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