Chapter 6

Jenna

The sound of my pen tapping on the table in front of me was soothing, but only to me. Someone cleared their throat loudly to my left, and I glanced over and gave an apologetic look.

"Sorry." I sat back in my chair and let my eyes scan the expanse of the library, looking for Grace. She'd come over when I first got there, but with Nelly breathing down her throat, I wasn't sure I'd get the chance to see her again.

"Good thing you're here to study," I whispered to myself and leaned back over my physics book. It only took a few seconds of staring at the numbers and shapes for my mind to disappear to the place it always did... in a dark bedroom. With Nate.

For someone who'd never had great sex, I sure knew how to conjure it up in my mind in a split second. His strong hands greedily pulling at my hips, his soft lips racing across my skin, his huge, thick-

"Jenna. There he is."

I yelped as Grace's hot breath hit the back of my neck. "Dammit."

"Shhhh!" An older woman got up and gathered her things. "This is a library for Pete's sake."

"Sorry." I blushed and covered my face with my hands. "I hate you, by the way."

"No, you don't." Grace pulled out the chair beside me and sat down before picking up my physics book and pulling it up to hide behind. "He's here."

"I heard you the first time." I scanned the tables in front of me, looking for who he could possibly be.

"Oh my God. He's so damn hot." Grace closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. "This book is too heavy to hold up."

I reached over and snatched it from her. "Why are you hiding, and who am I looking for?"

She tugged on the book, winning the battle and almost falling over backward out of her chair as I let the damn thing go.

"I don't know his name." She huffed and pulled the thick book down a little. "He's right over there. Dark blue t-shirt, gray beanie, five-o'clock shadow. He's so damn hot. I swear every time I see him, I feel like my heart is going to burst from my chest."

"Wait. You're in love with someone?" I continued to scan the room. "Why wasn't I informed of this?"

"Not in love. At least I don't think it's love. Feels like lust." She fanned herself until the book started to fall toward her face.

I reached out and grabbed it. "I don't see him."

"Stand up and look." She glanced down at her hands, far more nervous than I'd ever seen Grace before.

I stood and glanced around, my eyes landing on a face that was a little too familiar. A smile lifted my lips as I turned my attention back to my best friend.

"Please tell me you're not talking about Erik Bertinelli."

"Is that his name?" She fanned herself faster. "He makes every part of me ache."

"Too much information, though I know the feeling myself." I leaned forward, grateful that the handsome hitman had his face in a book. "What the fuck is he doing in here?"

"He's here all the time. He reads in a corner at the top of the stairs usually, but Nelly made him stay down here because he's got a reference book today." She turned and lifted up out of her seat a little. "I want him to take me to his apartment and make me forget my pathetic ass life. You think he would?"

"What? No." I sat back down.

"It's the dress, isn't it?" She glanced down at her pretty white and navy blue dress and shook her head. "I just love this style. I don't know why."

"No, it's not the dress. He's," I leaned close and pressed my face against her hair so I could whisper into her ear, "a hitman for the mafia. No one knows that, and you don't either. I don't want to see you in some dark alley with your throat cut."

"He is not." She jerked back, her eyes wide.

"I'm telling you that he is. My father is the DA of New York City, Grace. He's bad news." I glanced back over at him, taking in his profile and understanding completely why Grace would be head over heels for the man. He was beyond fine. "There were pictures of him all over my father's desk when I went for dinner on Monday night."

"Really?" Her voice lowered. "Can you get me one of them? I just want one."

"You don't need my help with that. Go get the latest paper. I'm sure he's in it. The Post is always running an ad on the Bertinellis. It's gotta be part of the scheme they have going."

"All right, look, I don't want to get wrapped up in anything deadly. I just want an afternoon of worshiping his body. You think I could get him to take me home and I live to tell about it?"

"It's sex." I glanced back toward her. "It's not worth that."

"It might be." She stood up and straightened her skirt. "I'm going to walk by. Tell me if he looks my way?"

"No way. Stay here." I reached out to grab her, but she'd already taken off in Erik's general direction. I stood as she moved down the aisles toward him.

Sure enough, he glanced up and his eyes followed her as she moved toward the heart of the library. The smile on my face fell quickly as he turned and his sapphire eyes locked dead onto me.

Fuck. Did he know we were talking about him? Not possible. But he knew who I was... there was no way he wouldn't.