Page 136 of Ricardo
“And for the record,” he adds, his voice softening, “Mario has a great deal of sense. Victoria has even more. Neither of them looked at your parents and saw you.”
I blink hard.
“They saw two people speaking out of their asses about things they had no right to speak about,” he says. “That reflects on them, Julia. It does not reflect on you.”
“Really?” I say, not daring to hope.
Ricardo lifts my hand to his mouth and presses a kiss to my knuckles. “Mario thought very highly of your work before he ever met your parents. Their opinions did not change that.”
“And yours?” I ask before I can stop myself.
His eyes darken.
“My opinion of you was high before I met your parents.” He pauses for a beat. “It’s gone up since.”
A shocked laugh scrapes out of me.
“Truly, Julia,” he says dryly. “I had a five-minute conversation with them, but twenty-six years? That is admirable.”
I laugh again, and press my fingers to my mouth.
“That is a terrible thing to say.”
“It is accurate.”
“I know,” I say. “But we still shouldn't say it, right?”
His lips curve. “Here, in my bed, you don’t have to worry about what is or isn’t appropriate.”
My breath catches, and the humor in me turns into something hotter.
“That’s a dangerous thing to tell me,” I say.
“Oh?”
“I might say all kinds of inappropriate things.”
“I look forward to hearing them.”
A smile tugs at my mouth, but there is a strange ache behind it. “I don’t know if I’m good at that yet.”
“At what?”
“Saying what I actually think.”
His thumb moves over my knuckles. “I’ll make sure you get all the practice you need, cuoro mio.”
Then he takes the tray and moves it closer to me.
“Now, eat your breakfast quickly,” he says, then his voice drops, low and seductive. “So I have enough time to eat mine.”
His eyes rove down my body and back up, heated.
My jaw drops at his words, and flame burns hot through my body as I feel my pussy get impossibly wet instantly.
And Ricardo’s slow smile tells me he knows it.
Chapter Eighteen
