“You okay?” he asked.
“Oh, this?” She rubbed her thigh. “I broke my leg when I was a kid. It only bothers me when I get too tired.”
“My brother Draco has a similar problem.”
“I feel for him,” she said, then turned in a slow circle. “Wow,” she murmured. “This place is amazing.”
“Nothing too good for my fiancée.”
She spared him a swift, searching glance, but didn’t argue. “Thank you, Rafe,” she said.
He couldn’t resist. He approached and tipped her face to his. From the doorway he caught a soft, warning rumble, one silenced by a swift gesture from Larkin.
“It’ll take Kiko a while to realize you’re safe,” she explained.
His thumbs swept across the pale hollow beneath her cheekbones to pause just shy of the edges of her mouth. “Somehow I think it’ll take you a while, too.”
“You could be right.”
He leaned down and captured her lips in a gentle caress. She moaned, the sound a mere whisper. But it conveyed so much. Hunger. Passion. Pleasure. And maybe a hint of regret. More than anything he wanted to pull her into his embrace and lose himself in her softness. She swayed against him, and it took a split second to realize her surrender came from exhaustion rather than desire.
Reluctantly he pulled back. “Wrong time, wrong place,” he murmured.
She sighed. “The story of my life.”
He rested his forehead against the top of her head. “I also promised Primo that I wouldn’t unbutton you any more tonight.”
“I believe he meant from now on, not just tonight,” she informed him gravely. “And I also believe you agreed to honor that promise.”
He released her and took a step back, allowing them both some breathing space. “Actually, what I promised was that I wouldn’t unbutton you again until I put a ring on your finger.” He flashed her a suggestive grin. “Come Monday, I plan to have that ring right where I need it to be. Then prepare yourself to be thoroughly unbuttoned.”
Four
Larkin awoke to someone knocking on her door. Kicking off her covers, she stumbled to her feet and blinked blearily around. What in the world? This wasn’t her shabby little apartment, but something far more sumptuous and elegant. Something a world away from her realm of experience.
Memory crashed down around her. Getting fired. Rafe’s proposal. Their shocking first touch. Their even more shocking kiss. His proposition. Her losing her apartment. And finally, her arrival here with Kiko. The knock came again and she jumped.
“Just a minute,” she called.
She yanked open her bedroom door, only to discover that the knocking came from farther away. She stumbled in that direction, realizing there was someone at Rafe’s front door. A very determined someone. She hovered in the foyer, debating whether or not to answer. Better not to, she decided, considering it wasn’t her house. Unfortunately, the unexpected guest had a key and chose that moment to use it.
The door swung open and a woman poked her head inside. “Rafe?” She caught sight of Larkin and her eyes widened. “Oh. Oh, dear. I’m so sorry. Nonna said—”
“What is wrong, Elia?”
Larkin recognized Nonna’s voice and shut her eyes. This could not be good.
“We’ve come at an inconvenient time,” Elia turned to explain. “Rafe has a guest.”
Nonna replied in Italian, the sound knife-edge sharp. Then the door banged open and Nonna marched into the house. “Larkin? I am surprised to find you here.”
“I’m surprised to find me here, too,” Larkin admitted. “In fact, I’m surprised to find us both here.”
“What the hell is going on? Can’t a man get a decent night’s sleep?” Rafe’s voice issued from on high and he appeared at the top of the staircase leading to the second story. “Mamma? Nonna? What are you doing here?”
He stood there, hands planted on his hips, his chest bare, a loose pair of sweats riding low on his hips. Larkin stared, dazzled. Despite his obvious annoyance, she’d never seen anything more gorgeous.
“Oh, my.”
The comment escaped, along with her breath, her common sense and every last brain cell she possessed. To her utter humiliation, his mother took note, suppressing a smile of amusement at her reaction.