Page 36 of Matteo

“Hey Sugar,” she greeted. “You look like shit.”

I grinned. “I feel like it. Man, it’s kind of dead in here tonight.”

She nodded. “Tell me about it. I took this shift tonight from Stacy thinking I’d wrack up on tips.”

“Wait, Stacy with the big tits or Stacy with the big butt?”

Jill laughed and slapped her knee. “Stacy with the butt. Girl, you’re too much. Can I get you anything?”

Yeah, got any Pure Columbian Honey,I thought wishing Jill was a plug.

The small gold bell above the bar door shook itself into a merry jingle. Usually, you couldn’t hear it over the noise of the crowd, so it stopped me in my tracks when it hit my ears, and I turned to see who had entered.

Immediately, my heart dropped and settled into my stomach.

The second Matteo Zacharra’s eyes landed on me, I felt like running away. His brother Carmine was with him as well. I hadno problem with Carmine, he was always relaxed. But Matteo made my jaw clench.

He was always watching me, and there was something about his gaze. I couldn’t describe it, it wasn’t natural.

Whipping my head away, I found myself looking back into Jill’s waiting gaze. The older woman was now wearing a smile.

“You need to give him a chance,” she leaned in.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard what I said. He’s fine as hell. He has all his teeth….girl if I was twenty years younger,” she bit at her lip.

“Jill, get me Yuengling and please hold the love advice,” I shook my head.

I could feel a presence behind me, the heat was radiating off him threatening to burn through my black t-shirt. As Jill sat my beer on the bar, I turned around. “There has to be a million bars in Seattle. Why are you and your brothers always here?”

He grinned then leaned in. “What’s the matter Rain?”

Something was off about him tonight. His eyes seemed dark and dangerous, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. Slowly, he braced his hands on either side of me, invading my space until we were nose to nose.

I should have been kneeing him in the balls.

“Step back,” I hissed.

“No,” he whispered back.

I began to get flustered, feeling slightly caged. “What is your issue?”

“You,” he stated simply.

“Me?”

He nodded slowly, licking his lips. “Yes, you.”

“Then move out of my space.”

“Make me,” he bit out.

My knee moved involuntarily to hit him in the nuts. With some insanely fast speed, Matteo had both my legs gripped tightand spread. He moved in between them but stood still. I was breathing fast as hell for no reason, my chest rising and falling like an ocean tide.

“Aye, Matty!” Carmine called out from the pool tables. “Stop playing with your dinner and come get your ass kicked. You owe me fifty dollars from yesterday.”

He ignored his brother, and we continued to lock eyes, his mouth hovering near mine. He did the most feral thing ever and growled at me. “Later.”

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