Come Away With Me (The Andrades) by Ruth Cardello Read Free Book Online Page B

step outside his usual diet of models to flirt with a regular woman, but in no one’s universe was it a good idea to even consider getting involved with him.
    I should have told him I have a boyfriend.
    I should have told him it wasn’t appropriate to talk to me like that. But what did I do? I just stood there staring at him like some easy mark. No wonder he thinks I’m interested. I make a complete fool out of myself every time I see him.
    I can’t hide in here forever.
    Julia stood and straightened her shoulders with determination. Nothing happened. Nothing is going to happen. For all I know, he was teasing me. Maybe he has a sick sense of humor. She shook it off and walked past Tom and Paul, hoping they wouldn’t ask her what the great Mr. Andrade had wanted.
    Tom pushed his chair back and stood at her approach. “Julia and the boss? When were you going to tell me about this?”
    Paul defended himself. “I didn’t know. The last time I saw the two of them she was trying to kill him with a lamp.”
    “This is not good. You have to talk to her.”
    “Me? You’re the one who is so great with women.”
    Julia broke into their stage -whispered conversation. “I’m fine, Guys. It’s not what you’re thinking.”
    With a shake of his head, Tom sat back down. “You’re an awful liar, Julia. I’ve never seen Mr. Andrade do anything inappropriate, but it’s obvious he’s interested in you. Avoid him. I don’t want to see you get hurt.
    Julia nodded, rushed to the privacy of her monitor room, closed the door, leaned back, and closed her eyes. Was it possible that Tom was right?
    Was Gio seriously interested in her?
    And if he was, how was she going to find the strength to avoid him?
    By reminding myself that getting involved with him will only lead to heartache? That it would be a distraction I don’t need right now?
    Julia sank back into the chair behind the monitors and laid her forehead down on her folded hands.
    If I know all of that, why can’t I get this stupid smile off my face?
     
     
    Gio paced his home office in his Upper West Side penthouse apartment. He’d brought work home with him, but it was still tucked, untouched, in his briefcase. Although he notoriously worked late, he’d thought a different location would help clear his head.
    So far, it wasn’t helping.
    He couldn’t concentrate. He groaned as he remembered what he’d said to Julia in the café. She brought out a possessive side of him he hadn’t known he had. He’d wanted to rip her away from the security guards when he’d seen her laughing with them.
    He told himself to keep walking. It was none of his business who she spoke to, who she laughed with, unless it affected her job performance. Even then, he wouldn’t normally have wasted his time by getting involved. He would’ve mentioned it to Rena and she would’ve sent an email to the head of the security department.
    He had never imagined himself as the type of man who would proclaim he was uncomfortable with any woman’s relationship with her coworkers ; like some jealous boyfriend.
    And that’s what made Julia dangerous.
    He wasn’t himself around her.
    I should just fuck her and get it over with.
    Nothing breeds contempt better than familiarity. By trying to deny whatever this is, I’m giving it an artificial importance.
    For all I know she lives with someone. She may have dated half the men at Cogent while I was away. That possibility alone should be enough to keep me away from her. Getting involved with Julia could get complicated. He didn’t do complicated.
    He opened the doors to his balcony and stepped outside, hoping the fresh air would return some of his sanity. As he looked over the skyline of the city, he wondered if what he felt for Julia was merely a side effect of how he’d been feeling lately.
    A few months ago, if someone had asked him how he felt about his life he would have said he was comfortable with where he was and what he was doing. His business