Rushed(86)

In the end, I realized there wasn't anything that had gone through my head that would change the fact that I'd avoided doing my job. "You're right, Pietro. What should I do?"

“Figure out a way to give her some of your time. I'm sure she’d enjoy getting out of the house or something."

Pietro chuckled and finished off his coffee. "Besides, she’s a beautiful young woman. If I didn't know you better, I'd think you didn't like spending time with pretty girls. Too much time in the company of men does nobody any favors. Think about it."

He got up and paid the bill for our coffee, leaving me behind. I did think about it, and I went home, stopping outside Luisa's door. It was three in the morning, and I could hear her sleeping inside. Realizing that there was nothing I could to at the time, I went upstairs to my room, stripping down and setting my alarm. I wanted to be up by ten, and I felt like I could sleep until past noon with no problems. Sighing, I pulled the sheets up over me and rolled to my side, hoping I'd have a dreamless night.



"Luisa?"

I found her in the television room, watching something I didn't recognize on Netflix, looking antsy. "Luisa?"

"What?" she snapped before pausing the video and taking a deep breath. She was dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a blouse, but other than that, she looked stressed, frazzled. "What can I do for you, Tomasso?"

I came in and sat down. "I just wanted to see how you were doing. I realize I've not exactly been the best host."

"I'm fine," she growled, reaching for the remote. "Anything else?"

I sat back and crossed my feet at the ankles, looking over. I realized that Pietro had been right. She was getting frustrated. "You don't seem fine to me. You look like you're going stir-crazy, and you have a pretty decent case of cabin fever to boot. I'm just saying, if you want to get out of the house, then let's do it. My treat."

“Are you asking me on a date?" Luisa said with a chuckle, looking over at me with her face brightening. "How romantic."

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. "Not a date. Just . . . getting out of the house. There’s got to be something you’d like to do.”

She thought for a second and shrugged. “You tell me. What is there to do in this town?"

I laughed and shook my head. "No clue. I've been out of town for so long and stuck just working since I got back. I took you to the one tourist place I know of. Unless you like baseball? The Mariners always have tickets for sale, and I think they're in town right now."

"No, thank you," Luisa replied. “Not too much into sports unless it’s soccer." She thought, then brightened again. “Why don’t you just take me with you for your pickups? I don’t need to go to some tourist location. I just want to get out of the house."

I blinked, surprised. "Seriously? I don’t know . . .”

Cocking an eyebrow and quirking her mouth, she gave me a sarcastic half-smile. “Why not? What are you doing tonight—making a hit on someone?"

Her sarcastic question let me chuckle, and I shook my head. "No, just picking up payments. I've got four places to go to tonight, maybe more if the cops are off my ass. Tell you what. I’ll see what Pietro says."

Luisa gave me a cryptic smile and nodded. "What time?"

“After dinner? Eight or so.”

"It's a date," Luisa said musically, reaching for the remote.

"It's not a date,” I said, getting up and walking out. "It's work.”

"It's a date!" she yelled back, laughing. It was weird how she could go from bitchy to sweet in about 2.1 seconds.



I was sitting in the casual dining room, looking at my plate of broccoli and chicken I’d prepared when I heard high heels on the tile. "Looks delicious."

I looked up and nearly fell out of my chair seeing Luisa standing there. She looked stunning—I'd never seen a woman look so sexy in such a conservative set of clothing. She skipped the skirt for slacks that seemed to accentuate just how long her legs were, and the jacket was pinched at her waist, hugging her torso. She'd put on a men's style dress shirt and tie instead of a blouse, but the way the silk and cotton bulged out over her breasts made her look even sexier than if she'd worn a plunging neckline. "Holy . . . well, you look dressed for work all right."

My reaction wasn't what she was looking for, and she frowned, crossing her arms under her breasts. I wasn't sure if it was intentional, but it made her already curvy chest stick out even more, to the point that I had to try to keep my attention on her face. "If you’re finished with dinner, I’m ready."

"Just a few minutes," I said, trying to recover my cool. "Pull up a seat. I was just getting my grub on."

"I noticed," Luisa replied. “Don’t worry, I ate earlier."

She sat down in the chair across from me, stretching out her legs. I rushed my way through my dinner, choking down my food just to give myself a reason to not stare at her, and put my dishes in the sink. "Come on, let's go."

Luisa smirked as she got up, and I knew she'd been trying to distract me while I ate. Saving my comments about that for myself, I got in my car and started up the engine. "Just to warn you, I’m carrying today," I said, opening my suit coat to show her my Beretta. "Part of the job."