The Surprise Conti Child by Tara Pammi

gentled. Long fingers rested on the upper curves of her breasts. Air burned through her lungs.
    Her back felt as though it would bow from the pressure of holding herself stiff.
    The sheer violence of her need to feel those fingers drift down, the instant tightening of her nipples hungry for his touch, ripped through her. One step back would send her into the hard, male muscle that every inch of her wanted to feel.
    God, the man was engaged to another woman. Didn’t her body understand that?
    Longing made her throat burn, muscles quiver, skin thrum. She didn’t dare wiggle for fear of him touching her. “Let me go, Leandro,” she said in a husky voice. “I’m all sweaty.”
    Instead of heeding her, he took a step further. The blanket of heat that surrounded her was instantaneous. The scent of him drifted down over her skin, covering every cell. Drenching her until all she breathed was him. “Not until you tell me what, per carita , you are doing.”
    As always, he sounded perfectly balanced, unruffled.
    â€œI’m working. We can’t all dance attendance on you,” she snapped, and then regretted her words.
    When he tried to turn her, she resisted. She couldn’t face him, feeling so raw and vulnerable. She couldn’t face herself if she betrayed how much she still wanted him.
    Closing her eyes, she willed her breath to calm.
    â€œShould you be pulling and pushing boxes that weigh a ton when your hand is nowhere near healed?”
    â€œI was careful to not use my left hand.”
    â€œAnd what if you hurt your other hand dragging things that shouldn’t be handled without the appropriate tool?”
    â€œI can take care of myself, Leandro.”
    A hiss of impatient breath. “That is not up for debate. But that there are numerous things you need help with is fact, too. Especially around the store.”
    â€œYou forget that I’ve been taking care of my parents, Izzie and the store. We don’t need your help. This isn’t why I asked you to come.”
    She heard his muttering in Italian, before she turned and looked up at him.
    The clean, strong lines of his face struck her with that same fierce hunger.
    For the first time since she’d laid eyes on him again, he looked truly confounded. If she wasn’t battling her hyper-awareness of him and her growing, irrational temper, she would’ve enjoyed the look on his face.
    â€œWhy are you always so defensive? I will say this again because it does not seem to enter your stubborn mind. I do not think that you came to see me for any reason other than Isabella’s welfare. And I am...glad that you did. Any man who turns away from his duty is not worth the air he breathes.
    â€œNow, I have instructed your father to call back the manager who used to assist him at the store but full-time. My real estate agent has had some interest in the store, too.”
    â€œFor one thing, I can’t afford to hire staff now.” Alex gritted her jaw. “And I have no plans to sell the store.”
    He didn’t even bat an eyelid. “I have transferred some money to your account. That should help until the store is completely operational again.”
    God, the man had to be the most thickheaded, arrogant, high-handed specimen of the species. Didn’t he realize she wanted nothing to do with him on a personal level? That her pride, which was all she had at this point, was hanging by a sheer thread? “I’m not taking money from you.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œWhy should I?”
    He looked at her as if she were lacking brains completely. “Because I have it and you need it.”
    â€œI don’t know what the hell kind of game you’re playing, or what you’re trying to prove. Or is that it? You get a kick out of changing how my parents see you? Your monumental ego can’t stand that they think less of the mighty Leandro Conti?”
    â€œ Cristo , I only