It wasn’t Ari. It was his business manager and Rafe leaned back as he prepared himself for an hour-long call. Work. This was good. This was the distraction he needed.
His cell phone shook against his desk and he glanced at it briefly without thinking much about it. Suddenly, he did a double take, because there was a message and it was from Ari. Heart thundering, not hearing a word his manager was saying to him, Rafe picked up his cell and opened the message.
Love the panties. Teal has always flattered my skin complexion. Wearing them now. Thanks.
Rafe hit mute on his end of the line as his manager droned on. What did this mean? Was she saying thank you? What did it mean?
“Steve, I have to go!” Rafe said as he unmuted the phone, quickly hung up on his manager halfway through a sentence, then called his secretary into the room. Since she’d been with him for more than ten years, she was used to his unorthodox questions. She was like a second mother, or at least an aunt. He could trust her.
“Yes, Mr. Palazzo?”
For the first time he could ever remember in his life, Rafe felt his cheeks heat. He was actually embarrassed. When he stared at her at a total loss for words, Nina looked at him as if he’d grown a second head.
“Is everything OK, Mr. Palazzo?”
Great. Now she looked ready to call an ambulance. Did he look so far gone that she didn’t know whether he was having a heart attack or some other affliction? She was turning to make the call, or so he feared, when he finally gained his voice.
“No. No! I’m fine,” he called, and she turned and raised an eyebrow.
“OK…” she said, drawing out the word as if she didn’t believe him.
“I just need some advice from you,” he muttered, then shook his head. Rafe didn’t mutter. He wasn’t indecisive in the way he spoke. He was a man who made a decision and then went through with it no matter what. Not knowing how Ari felt about him was changing who he was, and he didn’t like that at all.
“What advice?” He could understand her confusion.
“I got this text message from Ari, and I don’t know how to interpret it.” He spoke firmly, hoping to convey confidence, but from the knowing look in Nina’s eyes, he had a feeling she wasn’t being fooled.
“I would be happy to give it a look,” she said as she strolled over to his desk; he handed over the phone.
She was looking at the message for so long that Rafe began to feel a need to yank his phone back, but he’d asked for her advice, so he would see it through. Finally, she looked up; the corners of her eyes were crinkled with laughter.
“She is flirting with you,” Nina told him.
“Flirting?” He said the word as if it were a foreign concept.
“Yes. Flirting. You need to flirt back.”
Nina had been there when his wife cheated on him and walked out the door. And she’d also been there as he’d conducted his relationships like business transactions. She understood him more than most. He knew she’d been disappointed in him, but he hadn’t cared. It was his life, and he was the one who was living it. If she didn’t like it, she knew where the door was.
However, she had liked Ari. Everyone liked Ari, including his parents and sisters. Ari just had a way about her.
“Well, what do I say?”
“Are you kidding me, Rafe? You don’t know how to flirt?” she said with exasperation. In her surprise, she called him by his first name, something she never did. Nina was always professional — to a tee.
“Of course I know how to flirt! Hell, I can have just about any woman I want. One look and they’re mine,” he said almost with a smirk. Ari seemed to be the exception, and though they both knew this, neither of them said it.
“If you can have any woman you want, how do you get them?”
Rafe was at a complete loss for words. He didn’t know the answer to that question. It had never taken him any effort to get a woman. Women were just naturally drawn to him.
“I’m just a likable guy,” he said with a cocky grin.
“Please!” she snapped, then pursed her lips.
“I am,” he insisted as he leaned back in his chair and glared at her.
“Fine. Then it looks like you don’t need my assistance,” she said, then turned and began walking from the office.
“Nina, I’m sorry,” he called, not exactly admitting that he needed her help again, but hoping she wouldn’t leave him in the lurch.
She turned, but she didn’t look to be in the most helpful of moods. She crossed her arms against her chest and waited with one eyebrow slightly raised.
“How should I reply?” he asked.
Her irritated expression evaporated. “Rafe Palazzo, I will not help you snowball this woman. I actually like Ari. If you can figure it out and win her back, you will be a better man for it.”
With those words, she walked from the room. Rafe listened to the quiet click of the door shutting, then stared down at his phone.
Flirting. OK. He could do this. She wanted romance; she wanted words. Well, he was a master at that.
All I could picture was stripping that bit of lace off of you when I bought them. And, yes, I personally picked them out, ran my fingers across the fabric, and closed my eyes, imagining how you would look wearing them…and nothing else. Come see me tonight and I’ll undress you slowly as I run my fingers over every delectable inch of your skin.
There. That was good. Surely she didn’t want any mushy stuff. Of course not. So he leaned back as he waited, all thoughts of work forgotten. His phone rang, and he quickly clicked the button, rerouting the call, and then shut it down. His sole focus right now was this new game that Ari wanted to play.
I thought you agreed to no touching.
Rafe grinned.
That was only for one night, Ari. I plan on touching every inch of your body — again and again and again…
Rafe’s body hardened as he closed his eyes, recalling the smooth curve of her br**sts, the sweet angle of her backside, her defined legs. She was a vision, and he had to have her soon. Several heartbeats passed before his phone beeped again.
Thanks for the gifts, but I have a date tonight. Maybe some other time…
Immense jealousy wrenched Rafe’s gut. His first instinct was to demand she break the date right now. She belonged to him, and no other man was allowed to touch her. He would pound anyone who tried to a bloody pulp.
He began typing exactly that, but he came to his senses before he hit send. If he said those words, he would surely lose her all over again.