Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
“Have another,” Marcus invited, and there went the fork again.
As I chewed on my salad, he started talking.
He told me about his parents’ early divorce, after which he then grew up in his grandmother’s care. He told me about his life in boarding school, and how he intended to take up the reins of the family business as soon as he graduated from college.
He shared his story with a surprisingly self-deprecating sense of humor, and I found myself laughing. But he also never talked about the world being a bad place, and when I tried to ask him that, Marcus seemed to sense my intention and fed me another forkful.
And so it went on, all the way down to dessert, until Alfred wasn’t even bothering to hide his grins and winks.
When we were served coffee, I pleaded right away, “May I at least drink coffee on my own?”
Marcus laughed. “But I like serving you, bambina.”
“Please?” I had no shame. Or rather, I was suffering from a lot of it, and it was his fault. Who knew being fed by a gorgeous guy could be so embarrassing, awkward, and exciting at the same time?
Marcus beat me to paying for lunch, and he also beat me to reaching for my tote bag.
“But—-”
He said gently, “I insist, bambina.”
The walk back home was spent in silence.
“It didn’t work, did it?” Marcus’ tone was quiet but unreadable.
I shook my head. “It’s not you,” I tried to explain. “I just think this isn’t going to work in the long run.”
“Because I’m different.”
My head shot up, and I protested, “No.” The hard outline of his jaw appalled me. I couldn’t believe he actually believed he was the different one here. Was he blind? Had he forgotten who he was? Had he forgotten the kind of man he was?
Everyone would want to be friends with him.
And that meant me, too. I wanted to be his friend, too, but the difference between me and the other girls was that I knew being friends of him would be a big mistake.
“I’m sorry.” My voice came out stilted. I had never imagined I’d be in this position, turning down a chance to be “friends” with someone like Marcus Ravelli.
When Marcus didn’t say a word, I said slowly, “I’d understand if you get mad at me because of this.”
He shook his head. “No, bambina. I don’t think I can ever be mad at you.”
Oh.
“But neither am I the type to take rejection so easily.” He faced me all of a sudden, his hand reaching for mine. I watched our fingers twine, and it was...beautiful. It was...forbidden. It was...wrong.
“Please let me go.”
“Be my friend.”
A helpless laugh escaped me. “Do you hear yourself? Can’t you see how ridiculous this is?”
“It’s not ridiculous.” His dark eyes captured mine. “I need you to be my friend, Anneke. I genuinely need you to be my friend.”
Oh.
“So at least think about it?”
Four
Bruin Hemel at the crack of dawn was like a sleeping princess, with its white walls painting a gentle countenance and its bed made of faded pastel colors that streaked the cloudless sky. Its beauty was more soothing than glorious, and so was the sound of water as I did my morning laps in the pool hidden at the back of the house.
It had been three days since I last saw Marcus Ravelli, and the time spent away from him hadn’t done me any good. Every day that passed, I just had more and more questions I wanted but was too scared to ask.
What made the world a bad place for him?
Why did he need me to be his friend?
And most importantly of all – why did I even care about any of these?
I was on my third lap when a trace of footsteps drifted into my ears, and my strokes slowed. I lifted my head, thinking it was one of the young locals hired to clean the pool.
“May I join you?”
The deep, husky voice coming out of nowhere startled me, and water splashed around my body as I turned, dreading but already knowing who it was I would find—-
And of course it was Marcus Ravelli.
I caught a fleeting glimpse of a bronze chest and rock-hard abs—-
Oh!
And then our houseguest disappeared from sight, Marcus diving into the pool in one, swift, fluid motion.
He’s going to try and take me by surprise, I thought right away. I took a step back, already thinking of leaving the pool, but it was too late.
Hands captured my waist underwater, and I struggled to keep myself still, struggled to ignore the most shameful urge to writhe in his hold.
A moment later, Marcus emerged from the water right in front of me, and a startled cry still spilled past my lips even though I had already expected him to show up.
Water dripped from his hair as he grinned at me, and my breath caught.