Page 34 of The One Night Match

“What time did you sneak in during the night?” I ask.

“I only made it a few hours in my bed,” he admits, pressing a kiss to my throat that almost knocks my knees out from under me before he steps back and returns to his spot by the stove.

What kind of alternate reality have I woken up in?

“How do you like your eggs?” Cruz asks without looking up from the pan.

“Uh…scrambled, if possible. Egg yolk kind of freaks me out.”

He nods, reaching for the carton of eggs in front of him and expertly cracks one into the other pan, mixing until it’s a combined pale yellow. “I thought this morning we could go through each other’s files from the agency, and we can ask questions as we go? Feels more personal than reading them separately, but not as awkward as reciting our favorite color and movie.”

I busy myself adding sugar into my coffee and take a long drink to distract myself from how good he looks making me breakfast.

“If that’s what you want to do,” I reply.

“And then I thought we could go out for dinner tonight to one of my restaurants? I want to show off my new wife.” He flashes me a wink over his shoulder, and my chest clenches.

There it is.

The reminder that I’m only here to strengthen his position as boss. He didn’t want a wife, and I doubt he ever wanted one like me.

It’ll do me good to remember that because I have a feeling falling for Cruz De Luca could destroy me, and I don’t think I’m strong enough to put myself back together after that kind of heartbreak.

SIXTEEN

CRUZ

She’s pulling away in front of my eyes, and I don’t know what the fuck to do about it.

I’ve never been good with emotions.

Fuck, as a man growing up in the Mafia, you’re taught not to have any at all. You’re implored to turn that side of yourself off so nothing can hurt you.

And up until now, I’ve been pretty good at that. The only exceptions to the rule were Mom and Lexi.

But now there’s Riley.

Realistically, I know I’ve known her for less than forty-eight hours. I know it’s too soon to feel anything more than base-level attraction, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

Her little groans of enjoyment as she eats the meal I prepared for her are doing things to me that I can’t explain and making me desperate to throw her over my shoulder, take her up to my room, and tie her to my bed for the foreseeable future so I can do any number of filthy and depraved things to her body, but if waking up to me in her bed was any indication, she’s not ready for that just yet.

Sleeping together now will be different than it was in my office at the club.

There’s more at stake.

Riley might think we’re walking away at the end of the trial period, but there’s no way in hell I’m letting her go.

I’m not risking getting stuck with an insufferable princess when I’ve already got the perfect woman right here. I just have to work on making sure she can’t live without me.

“Thank you for breakfast.” Riley smiles over the rim of her coffee cup.

“You’re welcome, Kitten.”

A light flush spreads across her cheeks at the nickname I have no intention of dropping. “Do you need to work today?”

“Nope. I have Colten on call for any emergencies, and unless there’s a coup, I’m all yours for the next three days.”

“Oh.” Her lips purse, and I try not to show my amusement at the fact that she thought she was getting rid of me so easily.