Love Me Two Times (Rock Royalty Book 8)
Page 24
Liam stepped forward. “Still, maybe it’s time to call it quits.”
At his quiet words, all the fire in Alessandra was quenched. Her gaze took in the united wall of her two sisters and Penn’s half-brother. Her shoulders slumped, her head dropped.
A moment passed, then she took a long breath and turned to Newton again, looking up at him through her tangle of dark lashes. Her voice was husky and halting. “You can’t leave me like this,” she told the man.
The atmosphere instantly changed. Where minutes before it had been charged with the rioting atoms of Wedding Dress Girl’s fit of pique, now it was a different emotion coloring the air.
Bemused, Penn crossed his arms over his chest and leaned on the Range Rover again to take in the little show. Alessandra’s small face tilted up and she turned those velvety brown eyes—was that a sheen of tears?—on the construction worker. “Please, Newton. You can’t leave me like this,” she repeated.
Newton appeared on the verge of crying himself. “Allie…” he whimpered. From the other side of the truck, Penn heard the two guys muttering to each other in Spanish. Idiot! he heard one say to the other. He’s looking her in the eyes. Everyone knows not to look her in the eyes.
Who did they think she was, Medusa?
“Newton…” Wedding Dress Girl implored again, one perfect tear dangling at the end of one perfect bottom lash.
Surely the guy wouldn’t fall for this. Penn glanced around, ready to share a laugh at her so-obvious ploy, but was astonished to see everyone else frozen, their stricken gazes glued to the little drama queen. How come they were so taken in? Had four seasons of assisting histrionic pre-teens select bedroom decor given him a special bullshit detector? Nah, it wasn’t the tweenies who had honed his sense of the over-dramatic, it was the woman who’d walked away with a wheelbarrow full of his cash and, well, his wheelbarrow, among other things, that had done that.
So, fine, maybe he was a tad more cynical than most.
Newton whimpered again. “Okay, Allie. All right. All right, I’ll stay.”
Sunshine didn’t come brighter than her sudden smile. She rushed the contractor for an exuberant hug, and then gave one to each of his workers, too. Giuliana came next, then Stevie, and even Liam managed to take her embrace without his stiff spine breaking in half.
Penn should have seen it coming, but he was stupefied when she turned and flew toward him, her next victim. But before contact could be made, she scuttled back and let out an embarrassed laugh.
“I’m sorry,” she said, an adorable dimple that she was certainly supremely aware of winking beside the corner of her adorable mouth. “We haven’t even met. You must be one of the Bennett bas…” Her adorable dimple disappeared to make way for an adorable blush.
What a player! “I’m Penn,” he said, voice matter-of-fact.
“Penn.” She beamed him a ray of that practiced sunshine. “Nice to meet you.”
Despite how much he despised manipulative women, it didn’t change the way her bright smile and plump breasts thickened the blood chugging through his veins. He plucked at his shirt to force a breeze past his now hot skin.
For a guy still smarting over the last female who’d sailed past his common sense, his reaction to Alessandra Baci was completely unwelcome and only served to piss him off. Little Wedding Dress Girl was sexy as all get-out, but obviously she was damn spoiled, too.
“And congratulations to you,” he said, not disguising the edge to his voice.
Her gaze narrowed, a quick contraction of her eyelids before her expression turned guileless again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He leaned closer, and spoke in a near whisper. “They don’t know what hit ’em.”
“What?”
She had the innocent thing down pat, and he hardened himself against it. “That little break in your voice,” he said. “The single tear—brilliant. We’ll have to see about a booking on Inside the Actors Studio.”
The Oscar winner-wanna-be didn’t answer. With a little flounce, and another spit of gravel, she turned and headed back up the lane, her sisters once again following. As Newton and company started pulling equipment from the bed of the Ford, he and Liam were left looking after the three Baci women.
“Good God,” Penn said, shaking his head. There were like a million little buttons trailing down the back of that crazy outfit—only half of them fastened—and the almost-undressed aspect ignited his imagination nearly as much as her generous breasts and pretty mouth. He could see his fingers working on the remainder of those tiny pearls, his calluses catching on silky fabric as he hurried to bare her for his eyes. For his touch.
His thickened blood moved southward and he groaned. “Lord help me.”
Liam glanced over. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Wedding Dress Girl—Alessandra. She’s one hot little mama, isn’t she?”
Liam’s eyes widened. He looked almost…shocked.
Okay, from the get-go the other man had struck Penn as somewhat unbending, but at the basest of levels XY was XY, wasn’t it? He cleared his throat and snuck a quick glance at the swinging hips receding in the distance. “I mean, surely…” It was just two guys, so he plowed forward. “C’mon. The body. That mouth. I’d like to—”
“Stop,” Liam said. “Stop right there.”
Something shot through Penn—disappointment? Nah, he wasn’t really interested in the youngest Baci sister, so it made no difference to him that his half-brother had a prior claim. “Sorry, I didn’t know you and she have a thing.”
“We don’t. No one does, not with Alessandra.” The other man pointed a warning finger his way. “And you won’t be messing with her either, Penn. Not with the Nun of Napa.”
Buy MAKE HIM WILD
Christie Ridgway’s Book List
Light My Fire (Rock Royalty Book 1)
Love Her Madly (Rock Royalty Book 2)
Break on Through (Rock Royalty Book 3)
Touch Me (Rock Royalty Book 4)
Wishful Sinful (Rock Royalty Book 5)
Wild Child (Rock Royalty Book 6)
Who Do You Love (Rock Royalty Book 7)
Love Me Two Times (Rock Royalty Book 8)
Rock Royalty Boxed Set – Books 1-3
Take Me Tender (Billionaire’s Beach Book 1)
Take Me Forever (Billionaire’s Beach Book 2)
Take Me Home (Billionaire’s Beach Book 3)
The Scandal (Billionaire’s Beach Book 4)
The Seduction (Billionaire’s Beach Book 5), Coming Soon!
The Secret (Billionaire’s Beach Book 6), Coming Soon!
Billionaire’s Beach (3 Book Series)
Make Him Wild (Intoxicating Book 1)
Make Him Want (Intoxicating Book 2)
Make Him Stay (Intoxicating Book 3)
Must Love Mistletoe (Holiday Duet Book 1)
Not Another New Year's (Holiday Duet Book 2)
Holiday Duet Boxed Set
First Comes Love (In Hot Water Book 1)
Then Comes Marriage (In Hot Water Book 2)
Nothing But Blue Skies
Out on a Limb (novella)
Snow Job
The Thrill of It All
Three Little Words
About the Author
Christie Ridgway is the author of over forty-five novels of contemporary romance. All her books are both sexy and emotional and tell about heroes and heroines who learn to believe in the power of love. A USA Today bestseller, Christie is a six-time RITA finalist and has won best contemporary romance of the year and career achievement awards from Romantic Times Book Reviews.
A native of California, Christie now resides in the southern part of the state with her family. Inspired by the beaches, mountains, and cities that surround her, she writes tales of sunny days and steamy nights. For a complete list of books, excerpts, and news on the latest going on with Christie:
Visit Christie’s website
Meet up with her on Facebook
Follow her on Twitter
Sign up for Christie’s Newsletter