VITTORIO'S MISTRESS (The Vittorio Series) by Kimberley Reeves Read Free Book Online Page B

cream.
    “I didn’t.”   Paige shoveled a huge spoonful of the chocolate and marshmallow cure for depression into her mouth.   “But I would have if Dante had put even the slightest pressure on me.”
    “So nothing happened?”
    “I wouldn’t say that exactly,” she grimaced, “but our clothes remained intact if that’s what you mean.   I was pathetically spineless…well, that spineless thing could have been because of the way he was kissing me.   The point is, I was weak and would have caved in a New York minute if he’d kept on kissing me.”
    Paige and Chantel worked their way through the quart of ice cream while she confessed her many sins that evening.   She should never have gone out with him or at the very least, demanded that they dine some place other than his house.   But kissing Dante was the biggest mistake of all because she’d led him to believe she was just playing hard to get.   She couldn’t blame him for it really, not when she’d been swaying from hot to cold all evening.   Dante was right; while her mouth was telling him no, her body was most assuredly telling him yes.
    “I was completely shameless,” she said with a heavy sigh.  
    “Don’t be too hard on yourself.   Dante Vittorio is pretty potent when he’s not doing anything but standing there looking gorgeous.   I can’t imagine how any woman could resist him when he really put on the charm.”
    “That’s where the completely shameless part comes in,” Paige eyed the empty quart container with a frown.   “He wasn’t really doing anything except telling me what his brother’s have been up to and asking about the daycare center.   It was when I made up the story about having a boyfriend that I was thinking about sleeping with that things got a little heated.”
    “No kidding,” Chantel said dryly.   “Good grief, Paige, you might as well have waived a red cape in front of him.”
    “I was trying to deter him, not issue a challenge.”
    “Obviously the wrong tactic to take with a man like Dante.   The way I see it, you’ve only left yourself with two options.   You can try to evade him, which you and I both know will never work, or you can throw in the towel and sleep with him.   You know how men are; the fun is in the chase.”
    Paige’s eyes widened in disbelief.   “So you’re saying I should sleep with him?”
      “Trust me,” Chantel said with an impish grin, “once he gets you into his bed and proves he’s the master of seduction, he’ll get bored and move on to someone who isn’t as pathetically easy as you are.”
    “You really suck as a best friend, you do know that, right?”
    “I’m just trying to lighten your mood a bit.   Listen, you said Dante told you he wanted to be your lover.   Not your boyfriend, not your husband, which means he’s not looking for a long term relationship.”
    The frown Paige had been sporting became decidedly more pronounced.   “You honestly think he just wants a fling?”
    “Don’t you?”
    “I don’t know,” she let out an unhappy sigh.   “Dante and I had been in a sexual relationship for two months when I found out I was pregnant and he often referred to me as his lover.   I’m just so…confused.”
    “Because you want to be with him but don’t want to take the chance of losing sole custody of Daniella?”
    “Yes.   That sounds horribly selfish, doesn’t it?”
    “I suppose in some respects it does.”   Chantel’s smile was sympathetic.   “I understand you want to protect Daniella, but look who you’re trying to protect her from!   And I realize I don’t know Dante very well but I do know you , and I don’t think you could love him like you do if he wasn’t a good man.”
    “He is a good man,” Paige agreed.
    “Then surely you must know he wouldn’t do anything that would make his own daughter unhappy.   Be honest, Paige, why are you so afraid to tell him?”
    Paige drew in a weary breath.   “I guess what scares