Page 44 of Last First Kiss
He stepped back, his eyes wide, and chuckled. “Well, that is one dirty mouth, Tiger.” He kissed her cheek with a loud smack. “I like it.”
She smiled cheekily. “So, what happens at these galas, exactly?”
“Well, I donate a ton of money to something. There’s actually a silent auction over there, let’s go look.” He led her toward the long tables. “And we rub noses with people who don’t give a shit about me, we have a good meal, drink, dance, and then go home.”
“Sounds fun.”
“How are you feeling, by the way?”
She moved her neck side to side. “I’m okay. A little sore. My shoulder stings but it’s not too bad. The bath helped a lot.” She reached up on the tips of her toes and kissed his cheek, sweetly. “Thank you, Rocco. Really. It felt nice to be taken care of.”
“You already thanked me. It felt nice to take care of you. And I’d like to do it often, if you’d let me.”
She walked to the tables, looking down at the items being auctioned, contemplating what he was saying. The ball’s in your court, he’d said.
“See anything you like?” he asked.
She stopped and turned to him. “Yes.”
He looked down at the table, his eyebrows furrowed. “Yes? You see something you like? What? The couples massage?”
“No.” She waved off the items on the table. “No, not the auction. Forget the auction. Yes, I want to be with you. You said the ball’s in my court, that you’d like to take care of me . . . or whatever.” She felt so silly and awkward. “You know, if you still want to, I’m saying yes.”
He looked surprised and for a moment she was fairly certain he was going to call her crazy and run away, but a smile started slowly spreading across his face. His blue eyes shone and his dimple was out on full display. “I wasn’t expecting that. At least, not here, not now. But yes, of course, I still want you. I can’t stop thinking about you.”
She let out a sigh. “Okay, so . . . yeah, okay, that’s good.” She looked back to the auction items.
He chuckled, grabbed her hand, and spun her around, causing her to yelp. He pulled her firmly against his chest and, in front of the entire gala, kissed her on the lips so fiercely she had to arch back.
“So, maybe the couples massage?” he suggested, which made her laugh.
“No. I hate being touched by strangers. It’s creepy.”
“You really are crazy, crazy.”
“Maybe a little,” she said. “Oh, how about this? You should bid on this.”
He looked at the painting and laughed. It was a painting in watercolors of a pig with wings and a halo.
“No. But how about this? This, I’m getting.” He pointed to another painting, also done in watercolors but she couldn’t tell what it was.
She bent her head to the right and then the left, “The colors are beautiful, but what is it . . . oh, it’s a tiger.”
“I’m getting it.” He grabbed a pen and put a number on the bid sheet.
“Wait! How much did you just—”
“I told you, I’m getting it, so don’t worry how much. Enough to ensure I win. Either way, it’s for a good cause.”
Her eyes kept staring at the canvas. It was beautiful, the way the colors blended together, and how the animal looked strong yet solitary. Memories of Yagana rushed back in. Yagana had given her a number of different little animals made from rice, but the tiger was the last one and it had happened just moments before the little girl was murdered.
“What’s wrong?” She didn’t answer, mesmerized by the painting. “Annie?”
“Sorry. Sorry. Uh . . . what’s next?”
“Do you remember anything about this morning? The things you said?”
“That I said?” Her brows furrowed. “Uh . . . no, not really, I mean, I’m pretty sure you saw me naked, but I prefer not to talk about that.” Was there something she should’ve remembered? Shit, what the hell had happened? She chewed on her bottom lip. “What else? What did I say?” She tended to ramble on when she was nervous, but when she wasn’t lucid . . . what craziness had slipped her lips?
