Page 46 of One Naughty Night (Single in South Beach)

Lounging at a table a few yards away, Renzo Cesare watched her every move, very literally sitting on his hands while she fended for herself in Miami’s most notorious pick up joint.

Laughter tickled her throat, teased a smile free in spite of herself. It wasn’t easy to stay mad at a man with a sense of humor.

He raised his bottle of water to her in silent toast, his eyes never leaving hers. A tingle of anticipation shivered through her, a rogue wave of wistfulness she couldn’t afford to indulge.

Brody took a step back, the movement of his big body distracting her. “Maybe I ought to just say good night.”

Esme rose to kiss him on the cheek. “Sorry you were coerced into that,” she whispered in his ear, thinking she knew the ideal woman for this quiet, sweet and totally gorgeous younger man. “If you ever find yourself between girlfriends you ought to drop by the South Florida museum sometime. My new assistant director is a little bit shy, but if that doesn’t bother you—”

“It doesn’t.” He couldn’t jump on the invitation fast enough. “And I just happen to be between girlfriends right now.”

Smothering a laugh, Esme handed him a crisp new business card with the museum’s address on it. “Then stop in any time.”

She’d barely finished the sentence when her feminine radar sensed Renzo’s intense, interested gaze on her. Peering over her shoulder as Brody doled out grateful thanks, Esme found her former business partner still sitting on his hands, but he craned his neck to keep them in his sights.

Her heart clenched, skipped a beat at the notion that he had tracked her down here tonight. After sending Brody on his way, Esme caught her waitress and retrieved her Good Fortune Potion before following her feet to Renzo’s table.

The magnetic pull of the man drew her close before she could even calculate the proper boundaries. She stopped a mere foot away, staring down into the fathomless dark eyes that had captured her imagination from that very first night.

“I had to come over to see what prompted you to torture poor Brody into hitting on me tonight.” So maybe she already had a good idea why. Her injured pride wanted a little reassurance.

Renzo slid his water bottle to the table and rose, his full height right next to her igniting a small flame in her heart.

“Brody might be a quiet guy, but trust me, he didn’t look at hitting on you as torture. I guarantee you if you’d shown the least bit of interest in his proposition, he would have been swinging from the rafters.”

It wasn’t the response she’d expected, but his words still made her smile. “Nevertheless, I don’t think he would have approached me tonight if you hadn’t asked him to.”

“Maybe I wanted you to know that I think you can handle yourself. That I can rein in my impulses to give you room to do things your own way.”

“And what would youreallyhave done if I’d taken Brody up on his offer?” Not that she would have in a million years since the only man she wanted to be with was standing right in front of her.

He swallowed hard. “Honestly, I would have wanted to knock Brody into the next millennium but know now that wouldn’t gain me a damn thing but sore knuckles. Instead, I probably would have settled for getting sloppy drunk and landing on my sister’s doorstep to pour out my broken heart.”

Esme melted a little. “Broken heart?”

He reached to touch her, his hand looming close to her cheek just as a rowdy group of newcomers stumbled off the dance floor to raid the bar near them.

The mood broken, Renzo nodded toward the exit. “Do you have a few minutes to take this outside? We could talk where it’s quiet.” He paused. “Talkandlisten.”

He leaned closer, a hint of his aftershave teasing her nose while the heat of his body teased the rest of her. The light, sexy scent of him was so much different than the suffocating fumes Miles had worn. Funny that she’d found the gumption to confront Miles, but she seemed to still be running from Renzo.

What had she been thinking to allow herself to be intimidated by life? Sure falling for him was scary, but she could handle it.

She loved him.

Renzo’s voice whispered through her thoughts as his lips moved against her ear. “The hotel sits on a beautiful stretch of beach.”

She stared up into his eyes and wondered why she would say no to this man anyway. For all the trouble his take-charge ways could cause, his strength of personality also pushed her out of her comfort zone, encouraged her to take chances. And suddenly, strolling on a warm beach at midnight with a gorgeous man by her side sounded very appealing.

At her nod, Renzo slid his hand around hers, drawing her through the crowd behind him. The sea of club-goers parted for him, and Esme thought there could be worse things than to have a man in your life who would occasionally clear your path.

As long as it wasn’tallthe time. As long as he could understand that sometimes she needed to forge her own way.

Exiting the club, he steered her around a corridor into the hotel and then out through double doors leading outside. The moist ocean air and salty scent of the wind filled her senses, a soothing contrast to the urgent pulse of funky hip-hop music that had been playing in the bar.

The gentle, sultry breeze reminded Esme of their twilight walk through the Vizcaya gardens. She’d been so daring that night, bolder than ever before.

Renzo started for a pair of beach loungers drawn up close together, then paused. Pivoted on his heel to face her. “Do you want to sit, or do you want to head down to the water?”

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