Page 30 of Replay
When he laughs, the sound sends a flurry through my lower belly. “You’re going to be my friend, Tilly Logan.”
“Whatever you say, Sonny,” I grumble and then take another sip of my coffee “And don’t think I didn’t realise you just deftly avoided my question.”
He rolls his eyes. “Sober or not, you’re still nothing but trouble, Tilly Logan.”
And I have a sinking feeling that Santino Rossi might like trouble.
Miraculously, Santino let me pay for dinner, and when we’re back in his car, I realise we’re not heading home towards Brick Lane. “Where are we going?”
“I have a surprise for you.”
“Oh?”
“It’s why I told you to dress comfortably.” He shoots me a wink as he rounds a corner. “That’s my building right there,” he says casually.
I glance over at a large, four-level brick and glass structure. It stands out amongst the other more dated buildings. “Is that where we’re going?” I ask, my pulse quickening as images of us stumbling through his old flat as we ditch our clothes piece by piece fill my mind.
“No,” he replies with a laugh. “We’re just passing it on the way.”
“Oh.” I exhale heavily and do my best to get my mind out of the gutter.
Moments later, he pulls up to a fenced-in parking garage. An older man comes out of a brick security booth and approaches the vehicle. Santino rolls the window down. “Hiya, Sedgwick.”
“Good evening, Mr. Rossi.” Sedgwick dips his head to make eye contact with me. “Hello, Miss.”
“Um, hi?” I croak, my eyes zeroing in on his jacket that says Tower Park Grounds Crew on the left breast pocket.
“Are we all clear?” Santino asks.
“You sure are. Roger kicked the lights on for you a bit ago, so they should be nice and warmed up.”
“Brilliant. You guys are amazing.”
Sedgwick hits Santino with a serious look. “Well, we appreciated you working on our union contracts pro bono, so this is the least we can do.” Sedgwick dips his head and gives me a kind smile. “You must be a special young lady to warrant this kind of an evening.”
“I’m not even sure what’s going on yet,” I reply with a nervous chuckle.
“You will soon enough,” Sedgwick says cheerily and taps the car before heading to the remote gate panel to open it for us.
“I’m not that keen on surprises, Sonny,” I say nervously, and my mind goes wild with what we could be doing at Tower Park late at night.
Santino pats my leg. “It’s really not that big of a deal, I promise you. Sedgwick is a good friend of Tanner’s and was more than happy to do this.”
His hand lingers on my leg for a moment, his fingers brushing the bare skin peeking out through one of the holes in my jeans. My entire body erupts in goosebumps, and arousal pulses between my legs. I swallow nervously as I stare at his large, masculine hand alongside my pale skin.
He notices my eyes watching his touch, and he quickly pulls his hand away, placing it back on the wheel. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I rush out.Jesus, it was more than fine, and I need to get control of myself right now.
He turns to me with a hopeful look on his face like my reply was an opening. “It is fine?”
“I mean, it’s not fine!” I blurt out, my head snapping forward and my face flaming with humiliation. “But it’s fine. I mean…don’t let it happen again.” The last bit comes out a bit too harsh, and I cringe.
He huffs out a laugh and pulls through the gates to park right by a small side door with a dim yellow light overhead. We hop out of the car, and I frown at him. “We’re at Tower Park right now, right?”
“We are.” He winks.
“Why?” I ask as he pulls out a key to unlock the door.
