Page 9 of Matteo

I grinned, leaning a little closer. “Calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to fucking calm down!”

We were inches from each other’s faces and I didn’t know if she was going to stab me or slap me.

Maybe she was going to do both.

“It was Italian,” I said finally, continuing to challenge her in her little staring contest.

“What?” She blinked.

“I called you feisty… in Italian…”

She took a deep breath and finally stepped back, muttering, “Oh.’

Her cheeks became flushed with embarrassment, and she strode away to get my beer. I watched her, her ass cheeks giving a slight bounce. Rain must’ve worked out because she was tight in all the right places but her thighs could have crushed a lesser man between them.

I watched her work, noting the way she moved quickly to keep pace. First, she grabbed a glass and then reached under the bar and into a cooler for a bottle of beer. She walked back over, full of attitude and sat the items down gently.

“Anything else?” She crossed her arms, annoyance laced her tone.

I shook my head not daring to press my luck with her feisty ass. “Nah.”

Gabbing the items, I headed back over to my booth, ducking and dodging the people. Logging back into the government property I’d left unattended, I grimaced.

“You’re asking to lose this job,” I mumbled out loud to no one.

Shoving the earbuds back into my ears, I leaned back in my seat scrolling. Occasionally, I would lift my head and look towards the bar keeping Rain in view.

It was like watching a sunset in the far-off distance. I wasn’t the only man in the bar that had taken notice either, every single man in a ten-mile radius seemed to be itching to climb her like a tree.

Jealousy shot through me as if someone had dashed a bucket of ice-cold water on my face. She had her head thrown back laughing at some moron.

My head felt kind of heavy and the sensation from earlier, that buzzing feeling in my neck had started up. Rubbing at the back of my neck, I picked up the glass of beer and finished it off. I’d hit my limit with the alcohol, and I was done researching anyway.

Watching Rain flirt with every fucking customer in her brother’s bar wasn’t doing me any good either. Standing up, I closed my laptop and shoved it inside my bag. As I was pulling the bag onto my shoulder, Jill the waitress came walking by.

“Heading out handsome?” She asked, her kind eyes smiling.

I nodded looking down at her. “Yeah, I think I better get some rest.”

She looked over her shoulder and towards the bar. “For what it’s worth, you two would make a cute couple.”

I coughed a little bit, before clearing my throat. “Huh?”

Jill patted my shoulder with a few gentle raps, before walking away. “The beer isn’t that good in this place, Sweetie. Have a good night, Matteo.”

My face began to turn as red as a tomato and I knew I needed to get out of this bar.

I didn’t even so much as look in Rain’s direction when I left.

It was only when I felt cool spring wind hit my face, offering some sort of relief, that I started to breathe easy.

Chapter 4

Rain

Ihated running into Matteo Zacharra. He did something to my psyche or some shit. After our encounters, it seemed like even days afterward, I could feel him watching me or something. He was a nice enough guy and despite being a cop, there was something in his gaze I just couldn’t shake.

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