Sweet Temptation by Cora Reilly

the park toward a fenced-in dog area. Domenico kept his distance, pretending he
was a casual walker, but Elia stayed at my side. For an outsider, it looked as if
we were a couple. Elia definitely played that card, considering how close he
walked beside me. Loulou dashed off the moment I unleashed her and soon
chased around with other dogs.
“Must be strange,” Elia began, sitting down beside me on the bench. “To live
in a foreign city with a man you hardly know.”
Daniele followed the playing dogs with his eyes. That fascinated look
usually only managed to appear on his face when he stared at the screen.
Simona, too, watched with big eyes.
“I’ve been prepared for that kind of life since I was a little girl. The rules in
our world have been the same for a long time.”
“They are, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy to stick to them.”
I turned to Elia. The way he looked at me, like he wanted to see what it
would take to get a rise out of me, raised my protective walls. “Do you make a
habit of breaking the rules?”
He smiled as if he was going to tell me a secret. “It can be freeing.”
He was flirting with me. Loulou yelped then squeaked. My head jerked
around. A bigger dog was trying to mount her. “Can you help her?”
Elia didn’t hesitate. He jumped up and jogged toward the two dogs. The
owner of the other dog, a young man with glasses and a hipster beard did the
same. They managed to separate the dogs. To my surprise, they began to chat.
Elia smiled the same smile he’d given me all day, but this was less expectant,
less challenging. It was naturally flirtatious, one he didn’t have to force. The
hipster guy laughed, still holding his small bulldog by the collar. Elia grinned,
but then he noticed my gaze and his demeanor shifted. He said something else
then hurried back to me with Loulou on his arm.
I searched his face. For a moment, back there, he’d looked like I’d caught
him. Maybe Elia was breaking the rules, but not in a way he’d insinuated to me.
Now it made sense why Cassio had chosen such an attractive man to guard me.
Elia wasn’t a danger in his eyes. I could probably parade around naked all day
and Elia wouldn’t care in the slightest.
We returned home much earlier than planned because Simona had a neverending
crying fit. She wouldn’t let me calm her no matter what I did. Daniele,
too, got cranky because of it, but Loulou’s presence prevented his meltdown at
least. When I finally managed to have Simona settle down for a nap after what
felt like hours, I felt drained. I’d considered calling Cassio to ask for his help
because unlike Daniele, Simona quieted as soon as her dad was close. Now I was
glad that I managed without calling him.
I didn’t want him to think I couldn’t handle the situation. My clothes were
drenched with sweat when I sank down on the sofa minutes after Simona had
fallen asleep. Daniele sat on the floor, his tablet on his lap. I’d given in and
returned it to him. If he also had started wailing like Simona, I would have
started crying too.