They headed through the trees, into the shade, Stella wiggling her hands into the pockets of her oversize sweater. “So what’s up?”
“Eva Fiorini,” he breathed. Fuck, even saying her name was enough to drive him crazy. He could imagine whispering it in her ear as he slipped his hand down the front of her panties, discovering if he made her as hot as she made him. “You know Antonio kept her sheltered.”
“His leash was a bit short, I guess, but that was only because he loved her so much.” Stella laughed and shook her head, obviously recalling some crazy thing Antonio had done to protect his little sister. Jack, too, could name at least a dozen instances, like the fortress of a security system Antonio’d had installed in Eva’s apartment, or the countless times he’d insisted on accompanying her places she could have easily traveled to alone—like Brooklyn.
But the man could do no wrong in Stella’s eyes.
“So what’s got you worried?” she asked. “Is Eva going hog-wild now? Dancing on bars? Letting her hair down?”
“Well, not exactly.” He stretched his neck to one side and then the other, wishing he’d opted for Sunday casual. His tie felt like it was choking him. “The thing is, she wants me to…teach her things. Intimate things.”
Stella stopped walking and turned to stare at him. “Intimate things? You mean…”
He nodded. “She wants me to teach her how to fuck.”
Stella’s mouth dropped open.
He waved an arm, gesturing down at himself. “I mean, it’s not that hard to believe she wants all this. She’s a Fiorini, after all, and they know quality when they see it.”
It was an attempt at a joke, but Stella didn’t laugh. Her mouth was still open. “I just can’t picture…” She blinked. “She actually came out and said that she wanted a sex tutor?”
“Pretty much. And the way she was dressed…” He sighed raggedly as he thought of Eva’s nipples, poking through the fabric of that wicked dress, begging for his attention. “Well, let’s just say she didn’t look like little orphan Annie.”
Stella snorted. “Oh, to be a fly on the wall. Wow. So what exactly does this mean? She can’t be a virgin, right? Not at her age.”
“No,” Jack said. “Of course not. It’s impossible for a woman who looks like Eva to be that inexperienced.”
“Well, Antonio was always, my baby sister this and my baby sister that.”
Her impersonation of Antonio was dead-on. Jack couldn’t help laughing. “Yeah, well. Eva’s not exactly homely.”
“Far from it.” Stella smirked. “She’s stunning.”
“Right.” He cleared his throat. “So I’m assuming she hasn’t made it this far in life untouched. She likely has the basics down. She just needs some fine-tuning, I suppose, and that’s where she wants me to come in.” He tugged at his damned tie, loosening it until he could breathe. “She had a rather graphic list of things she was curious to learn more about.”
Stella shrugged, then nodded as if it all made sense, surprising him. “Well, you do have that Lothario thing going on. Of all the people in the city, you’re probably the best man for the job. So what did you say?”
“I didn’t say anything,” he stammered. “But I’m going to tell her no. Antonio would have lost his fucking mind. I can’t do that to him.”
“Antonio was her brother, and an overprotective one at that. He wouldn’t have been happy to learn that you, or anyone else, had done more than hold Eva’s hand.” She pressed her lips together. “But what about you? Do you want to do it? To help her?”
He shook his head, but he couldn’t help thinking about Eva’s breasts cupped in his hands, her mouth responding to his kiss, her body pressing closer to his, desperate for everything he had to give her. At brunch, he’d wanted to bend her over the table, lift that whisper-thin dress up to her hips, and take her right there in the middle of the Palm Court. Slide inside, feel her heat, grip her hips, hear her breath hitch as he made her cry out with pleasure.
His cock swelled again, giving him the answer he was seeking. “I could think of worse things to do,” he muttered. “But that’s not the point. The point is, I have to convince her that this is batshit crazy. You know Eva. She’s innocent. She doesn’t know what something like this could do to her.”
Stella laughed. “You’re a dumbass, Jack,” she said bluntly. Only Stella dared to be so direct with him, which was of course why he’d come here in the first place. “Eva’s not a kid. Trust me, she knows exactly what this could do. For one thing, it could help her spread her wings and live a little, give her some happiness after all the misery and loss she’s been through.”
He sucked in a breath. “But—“
“Look behind you.” Stella waved a hand at the city skyline rising like jagged gray teeth above the green trees of the park. “You’ve left a trail of wreckage and wounded egos all over New York. You’ve plowed through half the single female population of the city, and where has that gotten you?”
He stiffened. “Where I wanted to go.”
“You’ve used a lot of women, Jack,” Stella said, meeting his hard stare. “And now you’re upset because one of them wants to use you?”
He furrowed his brow, stricken that she would think such a thing. “I didn’t use anyone. I was honest from the start. Those women knew what they were getting into.”
“And so does Eva.” Her expression gentled. “Eva needs help. And she trusts you. As far as I’m concerned, it’s past time you do something good with that dick of yours.”