Page 15 of Tease

I drove out of the city into the Surrey Hills, wanting to take Rina somewhere quiet. Two of my men were at the house keeping watch on her mother and sisters. Martina hadn’t questioned it when I told her I was taking Rina out for the afternoon. Perhaps she knew I liked her daughter. Or maybe she was glad Rina was getting outside for a while. If things went well, I’d tell her of my intentions towards her daughter, but, for now, I wanted to keep it between us. No doubt she would tell Zayn immediately, even though he already knew how much I liked his cousin. Thankfully, he had not given me any more shit about Rina in the past couple of days. I didn’t need it.

“You okay?” I asked my girl as she ran her fingers along the window.

“Y-y-yes.”

I didn’t mind her being quiet, but I also wanted to make sure she wasn’t scared. When I told her I was taking her outside the city, she looked happy about it. Now, I couldn’t be so sure. As the buildings turned into countryside, she grew more agitated.

“We’re almost there.”

She turned and gave me a shy smile, her grey eyes cautious. She ran her fingers over her lips a moment later. I couldn’t afford to stare at them. Not when I was driving. Those lips had been on mine a few times in the past two days since I’d kissed Rina in her bed for the first time. I was trying to take things slow, so I’d insisted she slept in her sister’s room. Rina didn’t indicate to me either way whether she was upset about it or not. I wanted her in bed with me, but I was determined not to rush and scare her away, not now I had confirmation she liked me. The last thing I wanted to do was mess it all up.

I pulled up in a car park near our destination. Leaving Rina in the car, I paid for the parking and then got the bag I’d brought with us out of the boot. I helped her out of the car, taking her hand and leading her to the path into the woods. She didn’t ask what was happening or where we were going. I’d already told her I was taking her on a picnic, having sent one of the men out to get me some supplies yesterday while I was dealing with my father. He’d stayed for dinner last night since he and Martina were good friends. I’d been careful not to touch Rina in front of them, even though I wanted to hold her hand. I wanted to stake my claim all over her, but I wouldn’t. Not yet anyway.

When we got to the other side of the woods, I took her over to a grassy patch near the trees. She shifted on her feet when we stopped. She watched me set everything out on a blanket before I encouraged her to sit with me.

“Did you bring your tablet?”

She nodded as she tucked her dark hair behind her ear.

“You can read if you want. I won’t stop you.”

Her brow furrowed.

“I-I-I want…” She rubbed her fingers over her jeans and looked away. “I want to s-s-spend t-t-time with y-you, n-n-not read.”

My teeth ran over my bottom lip as I tried not to smile. Reaching out, I took hold of her hand and stroked my thumb over her palm. She shivered under my touch.

“You hungry?”

“Y-yeah.”

Bringing her hand to my mouth, I kissed the back of it.

“Then let me fix you a plate.”

Rina blushed and rubbed her face on her shoulder. I saw the hint of a smile on her lips. I knew she was forgetful about looking after herself at times, so I’d taken it upon myself to make sure she ate. She might not have said it, but I knew she appreciated being taken care of this way.

Letting go of her hand, I set about preparing her a plate with the supplies I’d brought. I placed it in her lap and made sure she had a drink to go with it. Then I made myself up a plate and sat back, my eyes darting out across the countryside in front of us. There hadn’t been many cars parked up with us, and we’d passed a couple of people through the woods. It was peaceful out here, unlike back in London. There it was always noisy even in the dead of night.

“It’s pretty. Thank you for b-bringing me here.”

I turned back to Rina.

“You’re welcome.”

“W-what did M-Marco want yesterday?”

My eyes went to the blanket, unsure if I should tell Rina the truth or not. Did she realise her father had been murdered? I wasn’t sure what Martina had told her daughters about his death.

“He had a lead on something, but it turned out to be fruitless.”

“W-w-was it about mypapáor s-something else?”

Looking back up, I found Rina eyeing me with a cautious expression on her face.

“Yourpapá.”

She nodded and went back to her food. The fact she even guessed had me wondering how much Rina knew.

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