Page 102 of Titus
“Perhaps that’s exactly how I feel. When my brothers and I were children, my mother used to take us to the beach to escape our everyday lives.”
“Well, there’s an interesting fact I never believed could be true about how you were raised,” she said in a playful voice to match.
“I can only imagine how you believe my brothers and I were raised,” I said. “Here, allow me a moment to return for the ice chest and blanket I packed.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You packed our lunch? I’m incredibly impressed.”
“I did,” I said, mirroring her enthusiasm. “I even insisted that my chefs allow me to help them make the sandwiches.”
“Indeed?” she practically mocked.
“And,” I continued, as if I had just learned something new this morning, “I sealed the Ziploc bags myself.”
“Lord,” she chuckled. “Well, in all the new and exciting skills you learned, I’ll have to correct one fuck-up you made while packing us a charming little picnic today.”
“What’s that?” I said, reaching into the car, grabbing the cooler, and turning back to her.
“You’re not going to be comfortable sitting that wealthy ass of yours on just a blanket,” she chuckled. “So, I brought us beach chairs, just in case.”
“And why am I not surprised you’d think of everything?” I chuckled.
“Because it’s my job to fix the little things for men like you.” She playfully bit her bottom lip, and I knew that by the end of this afternoon, I’d be so far gone and destroyed by her that I should’ve been terrified.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
There is something to be said for a woman who forms an opinion of a ruthless bastard, promises herself she’ll keep it strictly business, and then breaks her own rule.
I still didn’t know whether allowing this day alone with Titus to happen was a good thing or a terrible one, because it went against everything I told myself after my ex—who ran in circles with men exactly like Titus—screwed me over.
But just like the other night, Titus had once again proven my internal comparisons between him and my ex wrong. My ex would never willingly eat at a casual restaurant, and he sure as hell wouldn’t dress down just to spend the day with me on a public beach—not even when we first started dating, and he was doing everything in his power to win me over.
So, experiencing a man like Titus, who was a lifetime wealthier than my ex, doing it? Honestly, it was beyond me. Not only that, but the man even helped his chefs make our lunch… or should I say the chefs helped him.
I didn’t even believe men like that existed, let alone a man like Titus Hawk willingly stepping outside everything he was accustomed to just to spend the day at the beach with me.
It certainly wasn’t an unrealistic expectation for a man to put effort and thoughtfulness into making an impression, but for men who ran in Titus’s circles, it wasn’t just a rarity… in my experience, that shit was unheard of. And that was exactly why I finally let my guard down and decided to enjoy the day with him instead of staying guarded and making it a difficult date.
“I must know how you do it, Catalina,” he said.
I glanced up, loving the way my name rolled off his tongue in his sexy Spanish accent.
Yep. This is how women ruined their lives.
To make matters even more distracting, somewhere between digging through the ice chest for bottled water and casually stealing chips off my plate, Titus had removed the shirt that had concealed a body I was entirely unprepared for.
Holy hell.
The man looked less like a billionaire luxury hotel owner and more like someone women invented after too much cheap wine and loneliness.
Broad shoulders. Golden skin. Defined abs disappearing beneath low-rise boardshorts.
God help me.
Dangerous. That was the only word for him now. Not because of his wealth and power, but because Titus Hawk looked like the kind of man capable of ruining a woman’s entire life while calmly asking if she wanted another bottle of water.
I swear to God, only in Spain were gods like these created.
“You still with me?” he said, his youthful expression one I could easily fall in love with.
