Yeah. It really can.
And I’m the asshole who trapped her there, so I nod and shift against the bench, the chill seeping through my jeans. “You don’t normally wear lipstick.”
Allegra turns to me and smiles, slow and sly. A cherry-red pout shifting against her olive skin. “Do you like it, Dr Ossani?”
Yes. Too much. I like every single thing about her way, way too much.
I clear my throat, plucking off my glasses to polish them on my sweater. “Yes. It looks nice.”
Allegra hums, and now I sense danger, but not from any hit man. The bench creaks as she shifts closer, her floral scent washing over me. “I think it would look good on you too, doc. Shall we test my theory?”
Huh? I blink at her, confused, as she cranes forward slowly and plants a hard kiss in the center of my cheek. Her lips are soft, her breath is warm, and her silky hairs tickle my nose. Allegra leans back and cackles, like I haven’t just turned to stone.
Shocked, sexually frustrated stone.
My hand raises to scrub whatever mark she’s left from my cheek—then I pause and lower it. Try to commit every sensation of the last few seconds to memory.
Two can play at this game.
Allegra’s eyes glitter, watching me. They’re the De Rossi eyes, ice blue and filled with intelligence, and they’re clear even without my glasses. Boring into my soul.
“Oh, yeah. There it is. Red suits you, Dr Ossani.”
Five
Allegra
Raul keeps the cherry lipstick pout on his cheek for the whole drive home, and I can’t stop staring at it. It was supposed to spin him out, but now I’m the one with a low buzzing noise in my brain, glancing obsessively at the proof that I kissed Raul Ossani—chastely, but still. He didn’t move away, even though I gave him plenty of warning, and he hasn’t cleaned my mark off.
This is psychological warfare.
Where else could I leave little lipstick pouts on his skin? God, I just want to pepper them all over his perfect, tan body. One for each ab, stacked on top of each other in two neat columns. One on each hip. One in the hollow of his throat.
It’s childish, but as I trail Raul back inside the safe house, the door thunking closed behind us like a prison cell, all I’m thinking about is how to torment him next. I need to regain the upper hand.
We set up the tree in the living room, my grocery bag of decorations at the ready. With holiday music drifting from my phone, I crack open a bottle of finest Italian brandy that I swiped from Santo’s study before we left.
It’s… nice. Hanging out together like this. Warm and companionable, like it was before I begged for that stupid goodnight kiss all those years ago.
Back then, Raul was the center of my world. My closest companion, despite being older and so serious, and the reason I didn’t get too lonely when Santo was wrapped up in his work.
“It’s two in the afternoon,” Raul points out, but he accepts his brandy without complaint.
“Time isn’t real in the safe house, doc.” I clink our glasses together. “You know that.”
As Raul tips back his drink, the strong column of his throat bobbing as he swallows, hestillhasn’t wiped my kiss-mark away. Has he forgotten about it?
No. As the doctor lowers his glass, he stares at me, and his cool gaze is knowing. It’s a challenge, and it sends a bolt of heat straight to my core.
“Um.” My voice is wobbly. Every time I think I’m in control, this man gets me all frazzled again. He’s just somuch, with his wavy hair that I desperately want to rumple, and his dorky black-framed glasses. The serious slant to his mouth, and those powerful shoulders. Gah. “Let’s—let’s get started.”
String lights and glittery pine cones. Red velvet bows and dangly bells. Apparently Raul favors the classics of holiday decorations. Who knew?
I rummage in the brown paper grocery bag, cheeks flushed from the brandy and from how close the doctor is standing, and fight to keep my composure. We decorate slowly, sipping from our glasses and humming along to the carols, and for a blissful stretch of time, I forget all about my lost Christmas with Santo.
Safe house? What safe house?
This is the longest period Raul and I have spent together since our overnight drive, and it’s truly tragic, but in this moment, I wouldn’t trade places with anyone.