Cait knows all about my Adamo obsession, just like I know all about hers. The night we snuck into the club, Cait got drunk and wound up being carried out over Antonio Adamo’s shoulder. I may even have gotten a vicarious thrill watching Kosta’s cousin doing his macho alpha male thing.

Right now, her eyes are alight, and I can’t help smiling. We’ve been friends forever, since we were little, and she’s got a permanent glow now that she and Antonio have finally gotten together. “Don’t let Tonio hear you talking about how hot his cousin is,” I tease.

Cait rolls her eyes, but smiles back. “He wouldn’t care. I don’t think. And anyway …”

She trails off, blushing, and I lean forward, my curiosity piqued. My bestie has been very reticent to share details about her new sex life. All I know for sure is that every time I see her, she wears the look of a woman who’s been recently and thoroughly satisfied.

“Anyway what?” I say. Cait bites her lip, and I make a leap. “You like it when he’s mad at you?”

Her blush, which was fading, comes back. “Really,” I say, keeping my voice low. “Are we talking punishment?” She doesn’t answer, but the blush gets deeper, and my eyebrows go up. “I wouldn’t have guessed you were into that.”

One shoulder comes up in a half-shrug, and then she leans in so her mouth is right by my ear. “Let’s just say that there’s a very fine line sometimes between pain and pleasure,” she whispers. “And that context is everything.”

“Damn.” I wiggle my eyebrows at her. “Now I’m intrigued.”

“You’ll have to make your own discoveries in that department,” she says primly. “And on that note, we were talking about you and Kosta.”

The thought of making discoveries with Constantine Adamo sends a shiver through me. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something, oh fount of Adamo knowledge.” Since Antonio, and by extension his family, were on Cait’s radar for so long before they got together, she’s usually a reliable storehouse of information on all things Adamo. “What kind of Italian name is Kosta?”

Sure enough, Cait has the answer. “It’s actually a Greek nickname. His mother has some Greek ancestry along with the Italian, and Constantine/Kosta is a traditional name in her family, going back generations.”

“He’s part Greek?” That sounds yummy. “As to your question … I’m ignoring him.”

“I see that.” She leans closer. “Any particular reason?”

“So he won’t think I’m just another star-struck groupie ready to worship his sex-god yumminess.”

Cait flashes me a toothy grin. “I can’t vouch for Kosta, of course, but I can tell you that if he’s anything like his cousin, it’s a damn fine altar to be kneeling in front of.”

I throw back my head and laugh. “Gotta say, it’s a beautiful thing to see you finally get in touch with your inner naughty girl.”

“I was always in touch with her,” my bestie retorts. “We were just … waiting.”

For Antonio. Cait fell in love with him when she was just a girl, and somehow knew that he was The One. I worried sometimes that she’d get her heart broken … and she almost did.

“You know I’m thrilled that you’re so disgustingly happy, right?” I tell her.

“I know,” she says, smiling softly. “I want you to be disgustingly happy too.”

Tilting my head ever so slightly in Kosta’s direction, I say, “I’m pretty sure he’s not the path to happiness — disgusting or otherwise. Temptation, definitely. Pleasure, maybe. But happiness? Not so much.”

“Because of your dad?” Cait says, her eyes sympathetic.

“Not just that.” Though it’s definitely a part of it. Dad was freaked out when he learned I was not only in the club that night, but talking to Kosta — freaked out in a way that made me think it had nothing to do with the age difference.

Gina brings my breakfast. “To be continued,” Cait says, and moves off to check her tables. Since it’s now been two whole minutes since I looked Kosta’s way, I glance casually over my shoulder.

The three men are deep in conversation, but half a second after my eyes touch him, Kosta’s gaze cuts to me. I whip my head back around, my hair flying out around me, my heart beating like I’ve run up a flight of stairs. He really needs to stop catching me watching him. It’s not fair.

Only the absolute certainty that giving in will lead to further embarrassment keeps my eyes on my plate. Otherwise, I’d be looking at him every five seconds. Or maybe every two.

Cait comes back. “What’s he doing?” I say immediately. From her position, she can scope him out in her peripheral vision without giving us away.

Looking straight at me, she says, “He’s talking to a couple of guys. And watching you.”

Her words electrify me. My whole body heats up, and I want to squirm on my seat. “Really?” I whisper.

“Really,” she affirms. “Not constantly, but he keeps glancing over, or watching you from the corner of his eye.”

“Damn. Now I want to get up and leave without looking at him, just to mess with him.”

“You’re so bad,” Cait says, amused. “Is his car in the garage?”

“Yeah. I talked to him when he first drove in, and then he came over and gave me his card after Rico wrote him up.”

Cait’s eyes get big. “He gave you his card? What did he say?”

“He asked me if I was playing games with him. But that was just before; he didn’t say anything when he actually gave it to me. I think he was annoyed with me.”

My bestie gives a little shiver. “Annoyed Adamo men can be very hot.” She catches the way I’m looking at her and gives another little half-shrug, only mildly embarrassed this time. “It’s true.”

It is, so I don’t argue. Now the card is burning a hole in my pocket, demanding that I examine it for clues. “If I look at it, he’ll know,” I tell Cait.

“Bathroom,” she says promptly.

“Right. Back in a minute.” I jump up and head for the ladies’ room, pointedly ignoring Kosta when I pass his booth. Inside the bathroom, I lock myself in a stall and draw the card out.

The front is a standard business card, classy but impersonal. I turn it over and my heart seizes, then tries to run the 400 meters in 2.8 seconds.

There’s a number on the back, written in a strong hand. Beneath it are two words.

Call me.

Oh my god. Oh my god. I am in so much trouble.

Jamming the card back in the pocket of my top, I slam out of the stall just as a customer comes in. “Sorry,” I say at her startled look, and pretend to wash my hands at the sink before I hurry out again.

Cait makes it back to the counter two seconds after my butt slides onto my seat. “Well?”

“He wrote a number on the back.” The words tumble out of me in a breathless rush. “Maybe it’s his personal cell. And he wrote ‘Call me.’”

She gives me big eyes. “Oh my god!”

“I know!” I’m so worked up I want to bounce on my seat, but I can’t do that with Kosta watching. “What do I do?”

She gives me a look. “You know what I’ll say.” And I do. She’s happily in love with an Adamo man; of course she wants me to roll the dice on my own hottie.

I fiddle with my silverware. “My dad’ll kill me.”

“So don’t tell him. Yet.”

I roll my eyes at her. “He’s still mad about the night we went to the club. The last thing I want is to give him more reasons not to trust me.”

“Erin, it’s not like you’re in high school; you’re a grown woman. I love my parents too, but I couldn’t let their preconceptions stand between me and Tonio. You have to do what’s right for you.” She squeezes my hand. “Gotta go take care of customers. I’ll be back.” She leaves and I pick at my food.

I sense him first, a large warm presence behind me, not quite touching me, and then two curled fists rest on the counter on either side of me. He’s leaning over me. Pinning me in.

“You’re not eating, Blondie.” His voice is soft and sexy, and a tingle runs through me.

I don’t look at him, though. That way lies all kinds of danger. “No … I … uh …”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I say automatically.

“Right.” Then my plate is in one hand and he scoops up my silverware with the other. “Bring your drinks,” he says, and I turn to see him carrying my food back to his booth, which is now empty.

For a couple of seconds all I can do is sit there. Mouth open, check; metaphorical steam coming out my ears, check. Of all the nerve! When I send Cait a “Can you believe this?” look, she bites her lip, but her eyes are twinkling.

I consider walking out, but I’m hungry. Also annoyed, and if I leave I won’t get to tell him that. On my way to Kosta’s booth with my juice and iced tea, however, I detour past Cait. “Tonio does stuff like this?” I say in an undertone.

Her smile gets bigger. “They’re alpha males, Erin. They’re gonna be bossy.”

“Alpha, schmalpha,” I mutter. “I’m so not a fan of being bossed around.” She stifles a snort of laughter. “Seriously? You like it?”

“Not always,” she says, eyes bright with suppressed merriment. “But it has its upsides.”

Including punishments, it would seem. I have to admit part of me is curious. Whatever Cait and Tonio have going on, it’s working for her big time. Him too, no doubt, but I haven’t seen him recently to confirm it.

When I turn toward Kosta’s booth, he’s watching us. My plate is right next to him, but I slide in on the opposite side, as far away as possible. His eyes narrow, but all he says is, “What was that?” with a head tilt toward Cait.

I’m still irked, so I don’t hold back. “Just a consultation on annoying alpha male traits.”

He grins. Grins! “Sass,” he says. “I like it.” Deciding he’s a lost cause, I reach for my food, but he says, “Not so fast, babe.”

My eyes get wide. There’s so much steam coming out my ears now they must be bright red. “I don’t get to eat?”

“What you don’t get to do is sit way over there,” he says, and pats the bench beside him. “Slide over here.”

I glare at him. “Maybe I just want to eat my food in peace and quiet.”

“You were ignoring your food, not eating it,” he says implacably. “Now you’re gonna enjoy it, with some conversation.”

“Are you always this pushy?”

“Your food’s getting cold, Erin.” I guess he is, then.

“I’ll just drink my juice,” I say, taking a sip from the glass that fortunately is right in front of me.

“There’s the kind of sass that gets you kissed,” he says, and I bite my lip as my mind floods with vivid fantasies of kissing Kosta. “And then there’s the kind that gets you spanked.”