Page 33 of Ties That Bind Us

“Fiancé, actually,” Nick corrected with a wide grin. “We were just getting to know each other.”

“Yeah.” Angie grinned evilly. “He certainly is just as hot and charming as you let on.”

My cheeks immediately turned crimson with embarrassment, but Nick ate up their attention. “We should get going,” I insisted, grabbing Nick’s hand.

“I’m having a good time.” He smirked, snaking his arm around my waist possessively.

“So, Nick, what are you doing with our little sister this afternoon?” Bella said, trying to appear tough. The girl didn’t have an intimidating bone in her body.

“We’re meeting my brothers for lunch. I’ll have her back by dinner, I promise.” Nick gave them a charming smile.

“Oh, you can keep her longer. We don’t care, we just want to make sure she’s having a good time.” Bella giggled to herself.

“Oh my God.” I covered my eyes with my hand. “You two are ridiculous. We’re leaving.”

“It was nice to see you guys!” Nick smiled as I led him out the door.

“You two have fun now!” Bella waved as we made our way out to Nick’s Corvette.

“Use protection!” Angie snickered.

They were mortifying.

Nick

“I thought I told you to wear something that my brothers couldn’t check you out in,” I teased, trapping Ava with my hips against the passenger door to my car. She was so damn sexy it would be near impossible to get through this lunch without sneaking a quickie in somehow. We hadn’t had sex since that night in the hotel room; I was still trying to respect her boundaries, but a man had needs. And this man needed a good fuck with his fiancé.

She blushed, looking at the ground as a smile spread across her lips. “You didn’t give me much notice.” Her hands found their way to my belt buckle and she tugged just enough to ignite a fire within me. Her hands even being in proximity to my crotch made me instantly hard. “You know, we could go upstairs and you could help me pick something else out if you want . . .” she purred seductively against my ear, batting those long lashes at me. It made me so fucking weak when she looked at me that way. And she was doing it while we were standing in the middle of the street no less. Such a tease.

“If we go upstairs, we might not make it to lunch.” I grazed her thigh with my fingers and fiddled with the hem of her dress, raising it slightly. At least the car was shielding us from her sisters, who were still standing at the door watching us. I was about to make her regret starting something she couldn’t finish according to her own rules. It felt incredible to know that she was craving me just as much as I was craving her.

“Nick . . .” I loved the way she moaned my name. Each time she did it gave me flashbacks of our first night together.

I dragged my fingers up painfully slowly. “On second thought, keep the dress. I like the easy access.” I winked and removed my hand from her skin. “Come on, we’re going to be late.”

Ava blushed and I started to drive into the city. She sat with her legs crossed, angling her body away from me. It was cute how she thought that would stop me. I whipped the car into the valet lane and tossed my keys to the guy on duty.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Caponelli. How are you today?” he greeted me quickly.

I walked around the side of the car and offered my hand to Ava. “I’m well. Is my brother here?”

“Yes, both of them. They’re waiting at a booth in the back.”

“Great.” I slipped him a twenty and led Ava into the restaurant.

“This is . . .” She looked around, coming to the realization of where we were.

“The place we met.” I smirked. “Should we sneak into the office for old times’ sake?”

“Are you going to behave yourself through lunch? I seriously doubt your brothers will appreciate your snide comments.”

“You think my comments are snide?” I chuckled a little.

“I think you like making me uncomfortable,” she retorted. That statement wasn’t entirely false.

I smiled in response as I wove her through the tables to where my brothers were sitting in the back.

Leo saw us immediately and stood up, straightening his buttons. He was working today and was dressed casually in jeans and a maroon button-down. Frankie was less presentable and looked like he had just barely rolled out of bed. It looked like Zane was joining us as well.

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