Smiling, I’m more than happy to play along. Aside from being acutely addicted to coffee, I love to tell a good story. “Well, today I started with straight up Kona coffee. Fresh brewed, with a little bit of Bailey’s flavored Irish Cream in it. It tasted like nutty cream freshly harvested from the mountains of Kuai.”
Elle arches her eyebrows at my description and giggles. “You’re killing me. But go on.” She closes her eyes and smiles and waits.
“Then, in the afternoon, I needed a little pick-me-up, so I went over to Barto’s for an espresso.” I lean in close and lower my voice to a playful whisper. “A double.”
“Mmmmm…Barto’s. What did that one taste like?”
“Dark, thick, confident. Arabica beans.” I pause for effect and Elle licks her lips, a dreamy smile still on her face. “The first sip tempts the tongue and brings the urge to roll the steamy liquid goodness around to make it last. Yet you can’t slow it down, can’t stop yourself…because you know what comes next. The unmistakable taste of dark chocolate. It coats the hint of sour and brings you deep into rich flavor. Flavor that makes you close your eyes and picture the Tuscan hills, grasses off in the distance swaying in the breeze.”
Elle’s eyes are still closed as she speaks, a huge grin on her face. “Mmmm…I think I can actually taste it a little. Tell me more. Tell me about the third one.” She sounds like a little girl waiting anxiously for her mom to continue her bedtime story and I can’t help but giggle.
I’m just about to dive into my description of my Caramel Frappuccino when a deep voice interrupts my thoughts. “Yeah, tell us more. Tell us how much you like the steamy liquid goodness, Liv.” Vinny. His voice snaps me back to reality and I turn, finding him leaning casually in the doorway, one eyebrow cocked and a dirty grin on his ridiculously perfect face.
“Vinny, where have you been hiding this one? I think she might be my new best friend.” Standing, Elle smiles at me and waits for Vinny to respond.
“I don’t know where she’s been. But I’m hoping to make up for lost time.” Vinny looks at me, his playful smile gone, replaced by what could almost pass for sincerity on his face.
Elle hugs me before leaving. “Here’s my number. Call me in three weeks.” She rubs her stomach. “This little guy is due to make an appearance in two. We, my new friend, are going for coffee.” She smiles and heads toward the door, stopping before she exits. “I’m thinking we may need to go on a binge…hit up at least three or four shops.”
Vinny laughs and makes his way to the table I’m still sitting at. “I see you met Elle.”
“She’s great.”
“Yeah, she is. I would’ve been out a long time ago if it wasn’t for her. She gets in the middle of me and my trainer...her husband, Nico. He’s a pain in the ass, but he’s the best trainer out there now that Preach retired.”
“She seems like a fan of yours, too.” My words and smile are genuine. There was no mistaking that Elle seems to adore Vinny.
Vinny smiles and pulls a chair over to where I’m sitting. He turns it backwards to sit, his forearms leaning on the top of the back of the chair as he straddles it. I’m instantly brought back to the library, oh so many years ago.
“So what brings you back here, Liv?” A lopsided, knowing, cocky smile on his face. He knows exactly why I’m here.
“It seems you had a little problem with Summer?” Arching my eyebrows, I wait for his explanation.
“I didn’t want Daddy’s Little Princess writing a story about me. Thought someone I know would do a better job. Someone that has been writing since she could hold a pencil.”
I can’t help but smile at Vinny’s assessment of Summer. Daddy’s little princess, so spot on. “She wasn’t a happy princess.”
“I bet she wasn’t. Looked like it might have been the first time she was ever rejected.”
Vinny looks at me and the smirk on his face fades away as our eyes meet. There’s an unmistakable intensity in his beautiful pale blue eyes, like looking into a calm ocean with a storm lurking dangerously under dark grey clouds in the distance. I break our gaze intentionally. The need to pull myself away is great, although the task is not easy.
“Why, Vinny?” He looks at me, confused for a moment. “Why did you insist on me writing your article?”
“Because I wanted to see you again.” His statement is spoken very matter a factly, without a hint of shame for interfering in my life.
“You could have just called me.”
“Would you have agreed to see me again?”
Okay, so he has a point. I open my mouth to respond, but close it quickly and say nothing.
A smug smile on his face, “I thought so.”
Changing the subject, I pull out my notebook and a pen. “How about we get started then?”
“No.”
“No?”
“You can interview me over dinner. Tomorrow night.”
“I don’t think so, Vinny.”
He stands, righting the chair back to its position and calmly folds his arms over his chest. “Well, it was nice seeing you again then, Liv.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “You’re screwing with my chance at the job of my dreams, Vinny.” Perhaps maybe a little guilt will soften him up. But I’m not surprised he doesn’t budge an inch.
I stand, not sure of my next move, but I can tell I need to bend a little. “Lunch.”
“Dinner.”
“Meet me half way, Vinny. Lunch.”
His gaze narrow and face unreadable, I realize the strong boy has become a determined man. One who still plays by his own rules. Unsure if he would call my bluff, I hold my breath waiting for his response.
“Fine, lunch tomorrow.”
“I can’t tomorrow, I have plans for lunch already.”
“With who?”
“I don’t think that’s really any of your business.”
“Cancel your plans.”
I look into his eyes, hoping to find some indication that he’s joking. But he’s not. He’s dead serious. “Fine.”
“I’ll pick you up at your office.”
“I’ll meet you at the restaurant.”
Vinny closes his eyes and bows his head slightly, shaking it back and forth before taking a deep breath. He takes two steps forward so that we’re standing toe to toe. Close enough to feel the heat resonate from his body, but not quite touching. “Tomorrow. Twelve. Lombardi’s.”