Page 36 of The Mafia's Surprise Gift

“Don’t be.” She stopped walking and turned to me again, her hand back on my arm. Just one touch and her warmth was searing through my shirt, teasing me with what it would feel like to have her fingers on my bare skin. “Trust me, my mother is very particular, so it was always going to end badly.”

“I know that feeling.” I snorted in amusement. “My mother is… very much as strict as you might see on television. Although apparently, she’s an angel compared to what she was like before she met my father. I dread when I get a girlfriend.”

“They just want the best for us, don’t they?” Mae mused, her eyes never leaving mine. “Although it makes it more fun when we make mistakes.”

“Isn’t that the truth,” I replied softly. Was that an invitation?

I’d happily be a mistake.

“So, what is it you do?” Mae asked, leading the way into the next aisle and bringing us much closer to the check-out counter. “You said before that you were new in town, right?”

That’s when reality struck me. Mae didn’t know who I was. Not really. She had no idea that I worked for Rocco, a man she was intent on avoiding. The excitement of being near her quickly soured in my chest, blooming into guilt as if I had lied to her in some way.

“I work in security,” I replied, being as truthful as I could. “My client made an unexpected stop here. Hence, my battle with allergies.” I shook the box in her direction, and she laughed lightly.

Then, her hand slid up my arm briefly before returning to her basket.

“I, uh…” The flush on Mae’s cheeks swept down her throat, and I bit back a groan. I wanted to taste her. I wanted to follow that blush and see just how deeply I could make it go.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes.” Mae nodded and pressed her lips together. “I was wondering, actually, if you’d like to get a drink? With me? Tonight? As like a… well, just a drink and… y’know.”

Oh.

Shit.

She was asking me out. Mae was standing in front of me, asking me on a date, and every fiber of my body screamed at me to say yes. To take her out and treat her, wine her and dine her, and then sweep her back home to make love to her until she was a naked, writhing, beautiful mess.

She stared up at me with such wide, hopeful eyes that yes was the only thought in my mind.

But I couldn’t.

She didn’t know who I was. Who I really was. That kind of betrayal would surely hurt her deeply, and I couldn’t do that to her. Not her.

“Mae.”

“Please?” Her voice was so soft, and the gentle warmth in her eyes sadly started to fade.

I wanted so badly to say yes.

“I’m sorry, Mae,” I said. My voice didn’t even sound like it belonged to me. “I can’t.”

Her smile stayed, wavering in place with all the strength she had while her hopes shattered right in front of me.

“I understand. I’m so sorry.”

Before I could say anything else, Mae hurried away around the next aisle. I followed her after a second, but the aisle was empty.

She was gone.

“No,” I said quietly as a band of heat tightened around my chest. “You don’t understand at all.”

15

MAE

His hands slid up over my ribcage and cupped my breasts, squeezing in time to his frantic, desperate thrusts inside me. His head dropped down, and he took one nipple into his mouth, swirling his tongue around my hard nub. His cock was thick and long, filling me in all the right ways. If I tilted my hips up in time to his thrusts, the firm head of his cock struck the greedy bundle of nerves hidden inside me, driving me closer and closer to orgasm. All I needed now was for him to… to…

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