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meet you there,” she said, pivoting on her heel.

      “Holly?”

      She glanced back at him, her red hair reflecting the late-afternoon sun that streamed in through the high windows.

      “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable,” he said.

      “I know. It’s not a bad thing. It’s just that…” She walked back to him. “You make me feel too much, and I’m not sure how to handle it.” She reached up and brushed her fingers against his jaw. “Does this make you feel better?”

      “In a hundred ways,” he said.

      “But we have someplace to be,” she said.

      He nodded. She turned again and this time he let her go. He watched the sway of her hips with each step she took. He watched her leaving and knew deep in his soul that he should remember this picture of her. That he shouldn’t let himself get involved because she wasn’t going to stay in his life.

      Holly had never been in the flagship Baronessa Gelateria. She had a pint of Baronessa’s Rocky Guava in her freezer at home. It was the one constant in her kitchen aside from cooking and baking staples.

      Gina and Flint had the press stationed in one area and a few customers at the tables. Off to the side was a group of people clustered together. There had to be at least twenty-five of them looking on.

      In came Joe. He had his suit jacket on and looked polished and professional. Holly wondered if that was the barrier he used to keep people at a distance.

      She was relieved the day was over but she wished she’d had more time with Joe. Alone time.

      But that was something she’d be better off without. He made her feel that human spontaneous combustion might be possible. He made her want things that she was used to living without. He made her ache with the knowledge that who she was and who she wanted to be still weren’t the same person.

      She sighed.

      “Hang in there. We’re almost through,” Joe said.

      She smiled up at him. The drive to the gelateria had been in rush-hour traffic, which had been good. It had forced her mind off of this disturbing man.

      But here he was filling the crowded room and making her want things she knew better than to ask for. The press had been trying, but his company had made it a nice day. Tonight when she went home she’d dream of him and what might have been.

      “It has been a long day,” she said. Great, she’d gone from flirting to inane. He’d knocked her off balance and she was having a hard time finding her footing.

      He reached for her and then dropped his hand, cursing under his breath.

      “What’s the matter?” she asked.

      She didn’t understand why but she needed to know more about him. To probe those depths that he kept hidden. Though he’d been flirtatious and teasing with her most of the day, he’d protected himself carefully from her. She knew there was more to him than his civilized exterior showed her.

      He was a tall, dark and brooding man who watched her with that keen sexual desire that made her ultra-aware of him. Yet he didn’t want to give her anything but the sexual awareness. She didn’t have to be a genius to figure that out. The part she didn’t understand was if it was only her or all women that he reacted to in that way.

      He rubbed his jaw where a faint five o’clock shadow could be seen making him look rougher than he had earlier. It was as if the real man under the facade was starting to come to the surface. Her palms tingled and she wanted to cup his face in her hands and feel the roughness of his skin against hers.

      “My family is here,” he said at last, nodding toward the large group she’d noticed earlier.

      “How many siblings do you have?”

      “Three brothers and four sisters, plus four cousins. It looks like most of them decided to put in an appearance.”

      “And that’s bad?” she asked. She’d be flattered if her father and brothers ever showed up at something she did.

      “Hell, yes,” he said.

      “I think it’s sweet.”

      “Really?”

      “Yes.”

      “Why?”

      She should have kept her mouth shut because there was no way to tell him why without revealing her vulnerability. She could only hope he wouldn’t notice. “Because it shows how much they care about you.”

      He flushed at little. “Well, it might not mean that. This is a big Baronessa deal, and my dad is the CEO and Nick is the COO. So technically they have to be here.”

      Holly glanced again at the group of Joe’s family. They were a city unto themselves, talking and laughing. And he had sisters. And maybe sisters-in-law. She’d always wanted a sister. And she envied him not only the support of his family but also his sisters.

      “Why is it so hard to believe they’d want to be here for you?” she asked.

      “It’s not. Except the last few years I haven’t been the easiest person to get along with.”

      “You?” she asked, surprised.

      “You don’t think so.”

      “You’ve been… I’m afraid to say it in case you take it the wrong way.”

      “You’ll have to take your chances,” he said, moving closer to her. Barely an inch of space separated them.

      “I’m not a risk taker,” she admitted, taking a half step back.

      “I am,” he said, and the words seemed to surprise him.

      She didn’t want to be the only one revealing a weakness. Why didn’t she just make something up? She didn’t have to tell him that he reminded her of a fairy-tale prince. A white knight on a charger who’d ride to her rescue. She didn’t have to say the words out loud. Wouldn’t have to hear them and cringe. Wouldn’t have to acknowledge that he awakened dreams she’d buried deep and hoped to forget about for the rest of her life.

      “If I tell you, you owe me an explanation about who I remind you of.”

      “Stop stalling,” he said.

      She glanced up at him and found him waiting patiently.

      “You have been my white knight today,” she said softly.

      Before he could speak, Gina came over. “Okay, you two, this is it. Joe, you’ll present the check. Holly, you’ll accept it. Then you’re free to go.”

      Holly followed Gina to the front of the store, while Joe stood there. She knew he wanted to say something to her. Maybe it was for the best that he hadn’t. That way she could keep him hidden in her memory as a dream of what could have been.

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