Even with his ex-wife, he hadn’t had to put forth any effort. She’d been the one chasing him. It wasn’t something he’d ever thought about until Ari entered his life. His looks had developed at a young age, and with his money on top of that, he’d never had a problem in the dating department. Only once had he ever pursued a woman — and that woman had been Ari.
She was worth pursuing twice. Hell, she was worth pursuing a thousand times. He wouldn’t give up on the two of them unless he knew, finally and absolutely, that she wasn’t interested anymore. And that could never happen. Fire burned through both of them, and a blaze that hot didn’t die down — not ever.
Arriving home, Rafe walked into his empty living room, on the one hand wishing she were there with him, but on the other, looking forward to their next encounter. Rafe knew for certain that his life was never boring when he was in Ari’s company.
Doing what he’d told Mario he would, he pulled out the textbook he’d picked up the week before just so he could know a little of what she was teaching. He’d never planned to actually learn anything. It was really quite comical if he thought about it.
Two hours later, he wondered whether he’d really be able to keep this up. Rafe liked science and numbers, things that made sense. He couldn’t care less about history. Yes, he had respect for the fallen soldiers, and he knew when and where the past wars had happened, but to study the Civil War for almost three months…that was almost the definition of torture for him.
Shutting the book with a long sigh, he went to his liquor cabinet and poured himself a double shot of whiskey.
For Ari, he’d do whatever it took.
Sitting back down, he opened the book again, his pen and paper next to him as he searched for answers to the questions she expected to be turned in on Wednesday. This was going to be a very long night. He was just grateful his sisters weren’t around to tease him endlessly about trying to be the teacher’s pet.
Oh, yeah, he’d like to be the teacher’s favorite — he would make sure he was the only one for Ms. Arianna Harlow.
When his phone rang, he practically leapt from his chair to answer it. Normally in the evening, he answered calls only from his assistant. If there was an emergency, he would take care of it, but if it was a minor issue, he paid people well to handle it. That he’d reached for the phone without even checking the caller ID showed how desperate he was to end his impromptu study session.
“Your sister is a pain in my ass!”
Rafe laughed instantly, knowing just how his best friend felt.
“You are just discovering this now, Shane?”
“I have no idea what to do. I’ve been here for a week and she won’t answer her door when I come calling on her, speaks to me like I’m nothing but a passing acquaintance, and has made it more than clear that she’d rather I was anywhere else in the world than with her on a secluded island. Hell, Rafe, we’re in freaking paradise — the ultimate romantic destination — and she won’t even look at me, let alone allow me to kiss her.”
“First off, I really don’t want to hear about you kissing my sister. You’re lucky as hell I caved and backed off,” Rafe said. “Secondly, did you think it would be easy? She’s a Palazzo. Stubborn is her middle name. If you truly care about her, and I think that you do, you’ll just have to step up your game. But I absolutely do not want to hear any of the details.”
The thought of his little sister being romanced was enough to make his teeth grind themselves into stubs. He knew she was an adult, and he knew Shane was in love with her, just as Lia was in love with Shane, if only she’d admit it. None of that mattered, though, when he thought of her turning into a woman. He wanted both her and Rachel to stay toddlers forever — never grow up and get married.
Granted, Rafe was starting to think it wouldn’t be so bad to have some nieces and nephews around. But that meant that his sisters would have sex, and that was a thought he couldn’t stomach.
“Like you could stop me from kissing her,” Shane replied, but before Rafe could say anything, he continued. “I almost forgot she has the same blood as you. That should have made me run like hell in the opposite direction. For that matter, I tried — for years. She’s the one who chased me, and then I do one little thing that displeases her, and she completely cuts me off. I should thank my lucky stars and move on.”
“Is that what you want?”
Shane sighed heavily into the phone. “No. You know that,” he admitted with self-loathing.
“You had to have done something other than just tell me about your relationship. She is really pissed at you,” Rafe said as he stood up and poured himself another drink.
“Nope. Just that. She mentioned something about being first. I don’t know…” he muttered.
“Well, not listening could be your first problem, Shane. Women tend to get pissed off when we ignore them,” Rafe said, delighted it was his best friend on this side of things. At least Rafe wasn’t the only one with woman problems.
“Yeah, I’ve been trying to talk to her, trying to listen. She won’t speak anymore!”
“Then you will have to find a way to make her talk,” Rafe said. Wasn’t it quite simple? No. Maybe not. He thought of Ari and the fact that she wouldn’t talk, either. Definitely not as easy as he’d thought.
“She may never talk to me again. I just don’t get women,” Shane sighed.
Rafe laughed again. Yes, he and Shane were both in a predicament. Well, the two of them knew what they wanted and the women would have to deal with it. They’d have to get over their tempers. Both he and Shane were trying to make up with them. One thing Ari and Lia would learn was that when he or Shane wanted something, nothing would stop them. Both women had met their matches.
Or had they?
“Do you have a plan?” Rafe knew that he’d surely love to have a plan beyond stalking Ari where she worked. Hey, at least he had a semi-plan.
“I’ll figure it out. I don’t know why I bothered calling you. A lot of good it did me,” Shane grumbled.
“You called because you know I’m the smarter one,” Rafe said with a laugh.
“In your dreams, Palazzo. Fine. I’ll get off the phone. I have some plans to make,” Shane said before hanging up.
Rafe took his unfinished drink and sat by the fire. It was time to make his own plans. One thing he knew for sure was that Arianna Harlow wasn’t getting away from him this time. As he leaned back, he thought about what it was that had caused such a change inside him. It still shook him to his very soul when he thought back…