Page 3 of How to: Seduce Your Wife

“It’s okay. It’s just a small scrape.Calmo.” The blood, now rolling down the skirt of her dress, begged to differ.

Soren, God bless his overprotective heart, had insisted on tucking a first aid kit near the inner sanctum of the maze. His reasoning had been quite sound. “You’re going to be scaring the pants off a bunch of drunk college kids. Someone’s going to need a band aid.” Leave it to Soren.

Brand retrieved the hidden kit from the hedge nearest an angel statue and led Mia to a bench tosit.

“May I?” He gestured towards her side, wondering momentarily how he was going to tend to her wound, without making her too uncomfortable.

After a momentary hesitation, she pulled the bottom hem of her dress up, shielding all of her body, except for a gorgeous length of thigh, shapely hip, and a pair of silky black briefs to reveal the small gash located above her left hip. God, she was breathtaking, her legs the sexiest he’d everseen.

Brand forced himself to focus on assisting her instead of staring. After using sanitizer on his hands, he cleaned her wound and smoothed the bandage on her hip, wondering whether she should get stitches. Twitching her gown in place, he cleaned up, sanitized his hands again, and disposed of the trash.

She continued to sit on the bench, studying the statue dominating the center of the maze. “This place, it is unlike any garden I have ever seen. What does that plaque say at the base of the angel? Ican’t quite make it out in the dark.”

Her observation caught him by surprise. He hadn’t expected her to notice the plaque. “It says,La Nostra Stella Polare.”

“Our Guiding Star?” She slipped from beside him and reverently touched the crown of stars gracing the statue’s brow in silent benediction. Then she whispered“Benedizioni a te e alla tua famiglia,” before returning to the bench. Blessings to you and your family.“Cosìbella. She must have some deeper meaning,sì?”

Brand tensed. He should have anticipated this. “My father created this place in honor of my mother, Antonia Salvatore. He considered her the guiding star of our family and when she died he wanted to pay tribute to her. He found meaning in a maze filled with twists and turns that all led to her.” He gestured toward the flowerbed at her feet. “Her favorite flowers are shooting stars, which is why she wears a crown of stars instead of flowers.”

He held his breath, knowing the next question before she even asked it. Everyone always, without fail, asked what happened to her, and, inevitably, he had to tell them the truth. He’d killed her. His very life, his birth, snuffed out the brilliant life she had led up to that moment, and in doing so, he and his five sturdy young brothers ended up motherless. Even the thought of telling her that life altering detail filled him with dread. He waited, anticipating the wave of guilt that would come with his admission.

“I’m so sorry for your loss. What a beautiful way to remember her. An angel for your family.” Mia’s hand found his and gave a tender squeeze. “My mother always says that our family, it is never truly gone, even after death. They still speak to us, protect us. Thank you for sharing this with me.”

Brand found himself speechless, arare occurrence according to his brothers. He’d never encountered such a sweet soul before.

“Thank you.” The depth of his words, ragged edge to his voice, were not lost onMia.

“Romeo?”

The press of her fingers against his caused desire to burn through him. He wanted her. He wanted her more than he’d wanted any other woman. “Juliet?” Without conscious effort, he found himself leaning towards her, drawn to the sweet curve of her full mouth.

Her lips parted and her breath came faster, urgent little exhalations. He couldn’t resist any longer. He lowered his head and took her mouth. So soft. So plump. So delicious. He sank inward, staking his claim.

His tongue found hers. To his surprise, her reaction seemed tentative and awkward. He smiled against her mouth, unable to explain why her lack of sophistication amused him, possibly because it was so diametrically opposed to her appearance. Nor could he explain why this kiss felt both new and different, unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. The kiss deepened, grew ever more heated. He couldn’t get enough, couldn’t bring himself to end it. Awarning flashed through his brain. If he weren’t careful, he’d become addicted to her taste.

And in that moment, Brand knew he was in deep, deep trouble.

Mia Starr’s apartment—San Francisco, California

Of all thestupid things not to have gotten from Juliet, Brand cursed himself most for not getting her name. He also regretted not having her phone number, email, address, or even local carrier pigeon service.Idiota.

He did not, however, regret the number of honeyed kisses they shared as they’d talked beneath the gleam of a full moon, cuddled beside one another at the base of his mother’s angel. All too soon, he’d had to return to the party to manage a few small hostingjobs.

He left her perched in an Adirondack chair by the glow of the fire pit. What should have taken no more than five minutes stretched into an hour of absence as he dealt with an unexpected visit from the local police station. Apparently, the screams from the maze had given his neighbors some concern.

Though he’d warned all of them of the nature of the party that evening, and they’d all agreed to turn a blind eye, or, in this case, adeaf ear to the activities, things had gotten a little louder than anticipated. To be fair, when he approached his neighbors, he hadn’t expected that a group of aspiring young actresses majoring in theater arts would take turns piercing ear drums in hisyard.

Upon discovering her absence, Brand suspected he’d completely screwed up his chances. It was only when the lead zombie singer flagged him down and handed him half of her mask, snapped at the bridge of the nose, that he felt somehope.

“Hey man, that girl you were with had to go home. Something about her cousin feeling sick.” The singer pantomimed throwing back too many beers. “She left in a hurry, but said you’d be able to find her.”

And, by God, Brand had. The morning after the party, Brand texted his friend John, then called, and then texted again for her address. Okay, so he was a little anxious. After a night like they’d shared, he wasn’t going to throw away such an unexpected connection. John had texted him the address to her apartment and politely, or perhaps impolitely, told him to stop bothering him about thegirl.

Brand waited until a respectful amount of the afternoon had passed to allow Juliet’s cousin time to recover from her sickness, and then drove over to her apartment. Surely hangovers don’t last longer than 3pm.

He was taking no chances with this official meeting. He clutched a bouquet of fresh cut flowers, wrapped in butcher’s paper. He chose a pair of jeans and a dark blue cashmere sweater with brown Italian loafers. He climbed the stairs two at a time until he found himself outside of apartment 4C. Agreen olive wreath framed the peep hole of the door, and a sign of welcome hung on the doorknob. Desire swept through him, aheated rush of demand and compulsion. He needed to seeher.

Now.

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