The Moretti Arrangement by Katherine Garbera Read Free Book Online

was.
    “You’re staring at me,” she said.
    “I am.”
    He drew one finger down the center of her body. Her curves were full and tempting. So soft compared to the hardness of his own frame.
    “What are you thinking?” he asked.
    “That I wished we had come together because of our mutual attraction and not because of my misdeeds.”
    “I asked you out tonight before I knew the truth. You declined,” he pointed out.
    “Yes, you did. But I knew you were going to find out about me and I couldn’t go out with you with that lie between us. Whatever else you might think about me, please believe I never wanted to hurt you.”
    “Then why did you lie?”
    “I felt trapped,” she said.
    “Tell me more about your brother,” he said, moving to sit at the head of the bed.

Five
    A ngelina stood in her living room for about a minute before she heard the water come on in the bathroom. Realizing she didn’t want to be standing here naked when Dominic came back into the room she reached for her clothes but heard Dominic’s footsteps behind her before she had put anything on. She glanced over at him. He was naked and very male. She couldn’t help but notice the way he filled the small living room with his presence.
    Oh, man, she had it bad. She wanted nothing more than to cross the room and wrap her arms around his waist and feel his arms around her.
    She wanted to take comfort from his body and offer him the comfort of hers. And she had no idea if that was something he was interested in.
    Dominic looked down at his watch and then back at her, giving her her answer. He was leaving. And somehow tomorrow morning she’d have to figure out how to face him and how to make this relationship…this arrangement…work for both of them.
    “I need to get my robe if we’re going to talk,” she said.
    “Of course.”
    She walked past him, and maintaining her cool was the hardest thing she had ever done. Because she wasn’t cool. She couldn’t be nonchalant.
    Hold it together, she told herself. Get used to it. This was going to be her life—for the next six months at least.
    She fumbled for her robe and pulled it on. The ivory-colored, silk-lined robe was too heavy for this spring evening, but it was the only one she had and it had been a gift from her grandmother. And when she pulled the sides closed and tied the sash at her waist she felt as if her grandmother were giving her a hug.
    She closed her eyes and drew strength from the woman who was long gone, but had always been Angelina’s ally.
    “Angelina?”
    “ Sì, Dominic,” she said, turning to see him standing in her doorway.
    He’d put on his pants but left his shirt off. “Do you want me to leave?”
    “Don’t you want to go?” she asked.
    His eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms over his chest then leaned against the doorjamb.
    “No,” he said.
    “Then stay.”
    She could say no more than that. She knew she had to keep her emotional distance. Falling for Dominic, letting him know that was a possibility was pure foolishness.
    “Can I ask you something?”
    “Yes.”
    “Why would you settle for this kind of relationship with me when you could have something real with another woman?”
    “This feels real to me,” he said, walking into the room.
    He sat down on the edge of her bed and then snagged her wrist, drawing her close to him. “Doesn’t this feel real to you?”
    She swallowed hard. She wasn’t explaining this the right way. She wanted…she wanted him to say that there was more between them than an arrangement, but there was no way that was going to happen. She knew that wasn’t possible—not yet. Maybe never. She’d used him, and now it was his turn to use her.
    “I guess so.”
    He pulled her even closer, wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder. The move was unexpected and she didn’t know what it meant. But she realized that thinking and analyzing this wasn’t going to bring her the answers she sought. Not