Page 7 of Watch Her Bleed
“Uhm… okay,” I say quietly, unable to take my eyes off the man I dumped wine on, and then fondled last night.
“Come sit,” Mattia says with the same soft smile he gave me last night. “Dad, I’ll send you a copy of the contract.” Frankie nods and leaves the room, shutting the door behind him.
“Uh… This was a mistake,” I say as I lay the unsigned contract on his desk and back up.
“Aurora,” Mattia says. “Sit and talk with me, please.”
“No… Thank you for the opportunity, but I’m…” I pause. “Going to run away now.”
“Sit down, Aurora,” he chuckles. I sigh heavily and sit down in one of the chairs in front of his desk.
“I’m sorry,” I say, looking at my hands.
“For what?” he asks. I look up at him and narrow my eyes, but he is still smiling. Does his man do anything besides smile? “For what, Aurora?”
“Why didn’t you tell me who you were?” I ask.
“Well, in my defense you panicked and ran away,” he says as he sits back in his chair to cross his arms. All it does is accentuate his biceps more.
Fuck, he’s delicious. Focus, Aurora. You fondled the man nonconsensually.
“I also didn’t know you were the one interviewing with me today until after,” he adds.
“I can’t work for you,” I say firmly.
“Why?” he asks, still smiling.
“Do you do anything besides smile?” I ask with a frown and the two men leaning against the wall and laugh.
“Not lately,” one of them says. “I’m Luca. He’s Milo.”
“Why?” Mattia asks.
“Because.”
“Because why?” he asks.
“Mattia,” I sigh.
“Matt,” he says.
“Whatever, Matt. I can’t work for you,” I say with sass as I stand up. “I didn’t sign it so… good luck on your search for an assistant.”
I turn and walk to the door. As I pull the door open, a hand comes behind me and pushes the door shut. He is so close that I can feel the heat of his body. He smells like cedarwood and citrus and it stuns me. “Why, Aurora,” he asks again, only quieter.
“You’re going to give the girl a heart attack, Matt,” Milo says almost as a warning. I turn to face Matt and he keeps his hand flat against the door.
“I dumped a thirty-four hundred dollar bottle of wine on you, then panicked and was weird about it. No part of that is okay. So the fact that you still want me to work for you means you’re delusional, or…” I stop abruptly before I suggest that he enjoyed me feeling him up.
“Or what?” he asks.
“Or you didn’t see it as big of a deal as you should have,” I say quieter. I’m chewing on my bottom lip out of habit and I can’t stop fucking with my hair. It’s like a nervous tick. His eyes drop to my mouth, then to my hand where I am tugging at my curls. When his eyes find mine again he takes a step away from me.
“Tell me again, how long you worked at Vita Divina yesterday,” he says as he turns and walks back to his desk. I hesitate but when he points for me to sit down, I find myself obeying him.
“All day,” I say as I sit down.
“How many breaks did you get?”
