Page 39 of My Debacle with De Lorenzo

“So, I’m looking for a wrench.”

She shuts her eyes to recompose herself, taking in a deep breath, and when she finally focuses those pretty amber orbs on me again, a smile curves on her lips. She’s flushed, bright red glowing on her cheeks, and I find it adorable that she tries to play it off like everything is normal even though she’s still on the floor. “What size do you need?”

“Eighteen millimeters, but I can only find the full sets. I just need that size.”

“Tom, can you please find it for him...and maybe bring an adjustable wrench too.”

Tommy goes off to find it, and we’re left alone. She slowly gets to her feet, and I shift back a little. I keep my leaning stance with my forearms balanced on the counter. Not a great idea, though, because it sort of puts me at eye level with her tits. It doesn’t help that she’s an optical entrancement. She’sstunning. Only Isabella Diaz can take a plain, simple uniform and turn it into a sight that induces wet dreams. The outfit still maintains her usual funk, her dark curls untidily swept up, with multiple braids dangling from her ponytail, caressing her caramel skin. A thin silver choker is coupled with three silver necklaces that are layered over her breasts. They’re so...big. The black T-shirt she’s wearing does nothing to hide them because it’s too tight and the V-neck exposes too much cleavage.

She places her forearms on the counter as well and lowers herself to my eye level. I try to bite back a groan because this angle gives me a straight line of vision into her T-shirt.

“So, how much of that did you hear?”

“Not much.” I feel a grin splitting my face and I try to contain it. “Just little odds and ends...about how you’re butt-hurt over what I said to you.”

“Oh, God.”

“And how hos have feelings, too, and how all but six of those feelings are in your?”

“Just shut up.” She laughs, but I think it’s more from mortification than humor.

“And the one I found particularly interesting...”

“Don’t say it.”

I don’t want to touch her, but she’s so close. My fingers are itching for the feel of her skin. The need is so strong, burning beneath my palms, and eventually, I stop fighting the urge. I reach out and tuck a stray curl behind her ear, trailing my finger along her earlobe and down to her neck. Cupping her jaw, her breath staggers when I shift closer to her opposite ear. The sweet scent of her skin wafts through the air between us and I find myself closing the gap millimeter by millimeter, inhaling deeper.

“Are you really only giving me five pussy-throbs?” I whisper so Tommy doesn’t hear us. “With all your fantasies about my flapping dong, I thought I’d get more than that.”

“I think you should stop touching me.” Her soft pant tickles my ear, and my body stiffens. “Because it just dropped down to four.”

Wait. Is she being serious? Shifting back an inch, I stare at her in bewilderment. I don’t have much experience with girls, so this may be the dork in me rearing its ignorant head again, but this is news to me. I always thought the flirty banter and the outrageous comments were just jokes. And the highly sexualized touching? I thought she was messing around, trying to get a reaction out of me. Even now, I thought that whole conversation with Tommy was her joking around.

This new information sort of changes the game for me. I feel the shift in my body, my mind, and I’m desperately trying to reverse the effect of it to what it used to be. It was relatively easy to not act on impulse when I thought she was just trying to make me uncomfortable, but this revelation is messing with my head in the worst way.

Tommy returns with a two-pack of wrenches that has a seventeen and an eighteen and separate adjustable wrench. “Here you go,” he says, handing it to me.

I don’t even check them before giving them to Bella to scan. “So, four, huh?” I ask tentatively as I pay for my purchase.

Her eyes move over my body in a seductive tease. “Keep looking at me like that, De Lorenzo, and you’ll lose another one.”

I take a second to absorb those words because my brain is interpreting them completely differently now. Shit, I’m in trouble. I take my change, then nod my goodbye. “See you around, Bella.”

I jump into my Jeep, tossing the wrenches onto the passenger seat. I don’t drive home. I don’t even start the car. Usually, I can’t get out of a parking lot fast enough, but I can’t bring myself to leave today. Maybe there are some stalkerish tendencies in me I was unaware of, but I sit there and wait. I watch her and Tommy lock up and after he leaves; I exit the car and walk back to the entrance of the mall.

My galloping heart picks up pace as I approach her. She waves goodbye to Tommy, then turns and crashes straight into me. She stumbles back a foot before she grabs my arm to regain her balance.

“Hi,” I say, trying to sound as casual as possible.

“What are you still doing here? I thought you left ages ago.”

I’m too nervous to respond and just get straight to the point. “Listen, do you...do you wanna get...something to eat?”

“Like a date?”

“No, just...hang out.”What the hell am I doing?

“I thought you were trying to stay away from me.”

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