Her eyes widen and she gasps.
“What?”
“Is that him?”
I nervously look over my shoulder and see Giuliano walking toward us, he’s wearing blue jeans and a black T-shirt with a navy cap pulled down to cover his face.
He’s tall, broad and muscular.
I don’t remember him being this hot. “Yes,” I squeak.
“Holy fuck, he’s gorgeous.” She swoons.
My heart hammers so hard it’s about to escape from my chest. “This is a bad idea.”
“This is a great idea.” She smiles at him as he approaches. “Drag him into an office and have your wicked way with him.”
I hit her leg. “Will you be serious?”
“I am.”
“Francesca,” a deep voice says from behind me. I look up into the most beautiful brown eyes I have ever seen.
Oh….
We stare at each other for a moment. “Hi,” I whisper.
The air crackles between us and he gives me a slow sexy smile.
Anna interrupts our moment. “Hello, I’m Anna.”
His gaze shoots up as if remembering his manners. “Hello, I’m Giuliano.” He shakes her hand. “Piacere di conoscerti.” (Translation: Nice to meet you.)
Anna smiles goofily up at him.
Italian.
He spoke to her in Italian.
We only ever speak in English.
He pulls out the chair beside me and sits down, he unpacks books onto the table to look the part. I can feel the warmth coming from his close proximity and I hear my pulse in my ears. I’ve never been this nervous in my entire life.
“Hello,” a voice says, we look up to see another boy, he has brown hair that has a bit of a curl to it and big lips and holy shit…who is this?
“This is Valentino, my best friend,” Giuliano says.
“I’m the wingman.” He smiles. “Call me Val.”
Anna’s eyes widen as she and he stare at each other, he gives her a slow sexy smile as he holds his hand out to shake hers.
I smirk as I watch the blood drain from Anna’s face, she nervously drags her hand through her hair. “Hello, I’m Anna.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Giuliano takes my hand in his and pulls it over onto his leg under the table, his quad muscle is large and hard. His hand sits over mine and is big, warm and soft, it exudes power. Anna glances down, her eyes widen with excitement and I swallow the lump in my throat.
Jeez.
Let’s get right to it then.
I feel faint.
“Let’s leave them to it,” Val says as he gestures to another table. “Shall we, Anna?”
Anna’s eyes flick to mine and I try to hide my smile. W ho’s nervous now, bitch?
“That would be great,” Giuliano replies. “Behave, Val.”
My eyes widen. Huh? Where are they going? Are they just going to leave me here with him all alone?
Oh hell.
What if I mess this up? Which is completely possible because I have literally no idea what on earth to say.
Anna picks up her books and moves her things to another table in the far corner and I watch as she and Val sit down and start talking as if they’ve known each other for ages.
Why am I so awkward?
I bite my lip as I feel the blood drain from my face.
“Don’t be nervous,” he whispers.
My eyes meet his, how does he know?
“Your hand is shaking,” he replies as if reading my mind.
“Oh.” God, I inwardly kick myself. “Sorry.”
Giuliano smiles over at me and I feel my cheeks heat, he’s just so….
“You know—” he tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear, “—I remembered that you were good looking. But I didn’t realize you were this beautiful.”
Same.
I stay silent, unsure what to say. We stare at each other for a moment and there’s this otherworldly energy between us. It’s like he’s magic or something, every cell in my body is drawn to him.
“Where’s my Francesca that talks my ear off every night?” he asks.
I break into an embarrassed smile. “Not feeling so brave now, I’m afraid.”
“It’s only me,” he whispers.
My heart swells, only him is incredible.
He goes to lift my hand above the table and I push it against him. “Someone will see us.”
He twists his lips, unimpressed.
“I’m sorry, it’s just that….”
“I get it.” He cuts me off.
Damn, I’ve ruined it already.
“Come find me,” he whispers.
“Huh?”
He gets out of his chair and walks over to the rear of the library and goes up the spiral staircase that leads to the upper level. I watch him disappear up the stairs with my heart in my throat and I know that I have two options.
Follow him, or stop seeing him altogether, because this is ridiculous. I can’t ask him to meet me and then play hard to get. I look over to Anna, she gives me her best evil eye and points to the stairs. “Go,” she mouths across the room.
Crap.
She thinks I should go too.
Okay, you can do this.
With my heart hammering so hard in my chest that I can hear it, I wait a few minutes and after looking left and right, I slowly make my way up the winding stairs. Every step, I feel a little more nervous. A little closer to being caught.