Family Ties (Morelli Family 4)

“You said can’t.”

Mark backs me up. “You did. I heard it.”

“What?” she asks, frowning.

I grin. “You didn’t say you don’t want to go with me, you said you can’t want to go with me.”

Bringing her palm to rest on her forehead, she says, “I’m going back inside.”

“No, wait.” I catch her wrist, hauling her back nearer to me. “I have a solution to your staffing problems.”

Her eyebrows rise skeptically. “You want to sponsor a job fair?”

Pointing to Mark, I tell her, “He can bake.”

Francesca glances back at Mark, who waves, then back at me with a frown. “That doesn’t help me.”

“It does,” I tell her. “Because you need a baker—and, in my opinion, a bodyguard—and it just so happens… Mark here is pretty good at guarding bodies.”

“And making cupcakes,” Mark adds.

It takes a minute, then she begins to laugh. And laugh. And laugh. And then she doubles over, like she’s in physical pain from all the laughter.

I wanna pretend to be offended, but her laugh is so goddamn adorable I can’t pull it off.

Finally she gets it together. Her brown eyes are sparkling with mirth, and she crosses her arms, shaking her head at me. “I’m going to assume that was a joke. If it wasn’t, you are insane, and the answer is still no.”

“They don’t know Mark,” I tell her.

“Do you know how paranoid my brother is?” she demands, the mirth in her eyes slowly draining at the mention of Mateo. “Seriously. This is flattering, and you’re… appealing on certain levels—”

“Which levels am I failing to appeal to you on?”

She widens her eyes pointedly, “But because you seem less awful than I expected, I don’t want my paranoid brother to see you sniffing around and think you’re becoming a problem. And neither do you.”

“But I just want cupcakes,” I tell her.

Francesca rolls her eyes. “You do not just want cupcakes.”

“I’m at peace with your brother. I don’t want his shit, he doesn’t want mine. You, on the other hand…”

“I’m not your type,” she tells me.

“How do you know what my type is? Have you been stalking me?”

“I don’t have to—you’re stalking me.”

“Is it cute, or creepy? I think it’s pretty cute.”

“It’s insane,” she tells me. “And it has to stop.”

“Mark, the phone.” I hold my hand out, not looking away from her.

“Got it, boss,” he says, drawing a cell phone out of his pocket and handing it to me.

Now I hold it out to Francesca. “Use this one. Your brother doesn’t go through your bag when you get home from work, does he?”

“No, but I can’t…” She pauses, staring at the phone, as if considering. “We’ve been over this, Salvatore. I don’t want to get involved. I don’t want…” She hesitates now, glancing back at Mark.

Scowling at him, since apparently he’s keeping her from whatever she wants to say, I tell him, “Get back to work before you get fired on your first day.”

Although he looks a little bummed about it, Mark does head back inside the bakery and close the door behind him.

Francesca crosses her arms and gives me a glare like we’re already dating and I’ve made her really mad. “Stop trying to land me.”

“But I really want to,” I tell her.

“I’m not a casual hook-up person. I won’t casually have sex with you.”

“Well, you’ve held my interest up to this point. Maybe it doesn’t have to be casual. I’m not exactly thinking of anyone else. Let’s go out and see where it goes.”

She’s still resisting, and it’s still driving me crazy. “No,” she says, shaking her head.

“Why?”

She meets my gaze again. “You’re going to hurt me.”

God, the way this woman unapologetically looks into my eyes and nails me with these accusations is the worst. “I don’t want to hurt you. I want to get to know you.”

“But you will.”

“Tell me why you’re so sure of that.”

She opens her mouth like she wants to, then stops. Takes a subtle step back, looking down at the broken pavement. “I’ve done this before. Once. And it was bad. Really bad.”

“You’ve done this? I don’t know what this is? What does that mean? Dated someone from my family?”

Rolling her eyes, she said, “Not from your family, no, but…” She shakes her head again. “I don’t want to talk about it. Suffice it to say, I’m not eager to jump back in with even a guy who isn’t like you, but you… you’re literally the last person in the whole world, for a variety of reasons, that I want to get involved with.”

I sigh, dropping the charming demeanor and adopting solemnity. “All right,” I say.

Mostly just to see her reaction.

And like I expected, disappointment flashes across her features.

I grin, victorious.

She realizes I was lying and narrows her eyes at me.

I don’t call her on it. “Look, just let Mark stay. Your brother doesn’t keep as careful watch on this place, and Mark’ll be in the back. But this way if you ever need someone, you don’t have to wait on Adrian to show up.”