Page 32 of Precious Hazard

“Now I wish I remembered to grab it.” She shudders and wraps her arms around herself. “It might have come in handy. You Italians do seem to like keeping things on the chilly side.”

“It’s not that cold in here.”

“I like to be warm.”

She likes to be warm. Great. Inwardly groaning, I get up and shrug off my jacket. Tara watches me with awe as I take a couple of steps and drape the garment over her shoulders. Her eyes flare as I bend and bring my face to hers. “No washing this one. Got it?”

“Yup.”

“Good.” I resume my seat and get back to my newspaper. The left half of it, that is.

Chapter 7

“Alright. How about this one?” I grab the hanger with my brown dress on it. “The hemline falls just above my knees.”

Sienna wrinkles her nose. “Definitely not. You’re going to a fundraiser with snobs. Nothing other than a floor-length gown will do.”

My shoulders sag. “This is the most conservative dress I have, Sienna.”

“Let me see what we have to work with.” She nudges me out of the way and plants herself in front of my closet, pushing the hangers to the side one by one.

“Too short.”

Swoosh.

“Boring.”

Swoosh.

“Way too short. Dreadful color. Too much cleavage.”

Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoosh.

My butt hits the edge of the bed, and I fall back on the mattress, closing my eyes.

That cute pink dress that barely brushes my thighs and the four-inch fuck-me stilettos that I planned to put on would have sent Satan’s conservative ass straight into a meltdown. But as soon as Sienna burst into my room, insisting that sheabsolutely needed to help me pick my outfit for today’s event, my devious plan went out the window.

“Tara? Why do you have five men’s suit jackets in your closet?”

My eyes snap open. Shit. I completely forgot about my hidden stash. “Those are your brother’s. I forgot to bring my coat with me when we went out, so he let me borrow his.”

“You forgot to bring your coat… five times?”

“Uh-huh.”

A playful smirk lights up her face. “You two really do like each other.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “Ah, why are you saying that… like that?”

“Well, I’ll be honest. At first, I was a little skeptical. You and Arturo are very different. Like two separate species that were never meant to occupy the same habitat, never mind have other involvement.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” I say under my breath.

“But you’ve been dating for weeks now. He’s taken you over to his place, and he’s never brought a woman there before. And you, you agreed to go with him to this fundraiser, and I know exactly how much you hate these kinds of events.”

Of course I agreed. When I initially refused to go, DeVille threatened to send his IRS buddies back to Naos!

“Also, every time he calls, you get this look on your face,” she continues, smiling delightedly. “It’s like you’re bursting with exciting news but are trying to be all cool about it. As if you’re too embarrassed to show your enthusiasm, so you try to hide it. But the twinkle in your eyes can’t be suppressed or hidden.”