Dante’s Girl (The Paradise Diaries #1)(37)
Author: Courtney Cole

Dante smiles wryly.  “I haven’t lost my mind,” he tells me.  “So let’s not go overboard.”

“Okay.  So you don’t want to be a fisherman,” I smile.  “But if you just talk to your father, I’m sure he’ll understand.”

“Maybe,” Dante shrugs.  “But I have to work him up to it.  I can’t just drop it on him.”

“Fair enough,” I agree.  “I suppose you can’t change decades worth of tradition in one moment.  But be patient and no matter what, stay true to yourself.  If you don’t, who will?”

He looks at me, his gaze lucid and clear and nods.  “You’re right.  And that’s an excellent point. It’s so simple that it’s brilliant.”

I suddenly find it funny that I am sitting here in an old palace giving out life advice when my own life is sort of in a shambles.  I laugh and Dante looks at me quizzically.

“What?”

I tell him.  I tell him all about Becca and my journal and Quinn.

“So you’re not as pulled together as you seem, then,” he observes when I am finished.  He smiles at me now and I feel good because it’s his first real smile this morning.  My heart seems to have forgotten that I was angry with him because now all I feel is protective of him.

Weird.

“I guess not,” I tell him.  “But in all fairness, that journal was private.  She didn’t ask to be in my room, in my clothes or in my journal.”

Dante holds up his hands.  “Hey, I didn’t say anything,” he yelps as I swat at him.  “I’m in full agreement with you.  Becca is clearly to blame for your crush on Quinn.  Not you.”

I squint my eyes and glare at him.

“I don’t have a crush on Quinn anymore.”

He raises a golden eyebrow.

“No?”

I shake my head. “No.”

“Why is that?”

I stare at him long and hard, trying to decide what to say.  Should I be downright, painfully honest?  I’ve always found that the best way to be, so I nod.

“Two words.”

He waits.

“Dante. Giliberti.”

I hear him suck in his breath and I smile.  Sometimes, honesty is refreshing and so very worth it.

“Me?” He sounds so surprised, as though he doesn’t know that he is practically a living breathing Adonis.  I nod.

“You.”

He studies me again and I fight the need to fidget as I wait for his reaction.

After a minute of nerve-wracking silence, he finally answers.

“So, will you keep the bracelet?”

I nod.

“Can I kiss you again?”

I nod.

So he does.

Chapter Seventeen

My parents said yes.

I’m not surprised, I knew that they would if Dimitri called them himself.  And he did.  And they said that I could stay in Caberra for the summer to work for Giliberti Olives.  Dimitri decided that it would be best if I started out in the actual Giliberti olive groves somewhere, to learn the business from the ground up.  He does the same for all of his important employees, he says.  Including Dante.  Dante will be shadowing the foreman in the groves this summer.

It doesn’t matter to me that I won’t be with the marketing team.  In fact, as soon as Dimitri lumped me in with “important employees,” I was putty in his hands. Dante clearly gets his charm from his father.

I decide that I’m probably the luckiest girl on the planet as I sip a lemonade by the sparkling infinity pool.  My lemonade has mint leaves floating in it again which makes me feel fancy.

Make that extra fancy.

Because when I got out of the shower this morning, there were beach towels twisted into sea animal shapes on my bed along with a note from Dante to meet him at the pool.

We’re not working today because it’s Saturday.  But Dante did tell me that we would make a trip out to the olive groves this afternoon so that I could look around.

He grins from the lounger next to me.

“I like having you here, Kansas,” he tells me.  “My father likes you. And you put him in a good mood.  He says it’s refreshing to have a young person so interested in business.”

“You’re just happy that he’s focused on me instead of you,” I tell him without opening my eyes.  The sun feels so good here. Better than it feels in Kansas, I think.  Of course that might be because I’m thousands of miles from my problems.

Or because Dante is lying next to me.

That’s probably it, actually.

He reaches out and grasps my hand, holding it next to him.  My heart beat stutters and I take a deep breath.  He’s so gorgeous.  Ever since our talk yesterday, we’ve had sort of an easy-breezy-attitude about our relationship.  Like, I know he likes me even though his life is complicated.  And he knows I like him.  And my life isn’t complicated. We haven’t exactly defined what our relationship is, but I think that’s probably because of all the kinks.

Kinks like his father.

And Elena.

Life is full of kinks.

And the great thing about kinks?  They eventually work themselves out.

But at least we know that we’re on the right track. And we’re working toward something. Something really great. I can feel it.

My phone buzzes.  I glance at it and see Mia’s name on a text.

Do U want to go shopping?

I consider that for one brief moment as I look at Dante’s inert, beautiful form next to me. His brow is glistening slightly in the heat and he brushes one long hand against it to wipe the sweat away.  He could practically be a swimsuit model.  Do I want to leave here where I am laying with him in Nirvana and go shopping in a place where I might run into the creepy gypsy woman with Mia?

Um.  Negatory.

I text back.

Can’t.  Want to come swimming?

She answers.

Can’t.  I need a new bra. My girls got a little bigger. My old bras pinch my ni**les.

I answer.

Gross. TMI.  ?

Then I add a P.S.

Girls are bigger?  Are you pg??

Immediate response.

Bite me, Kansas.

I smile.

“What’s funny?” Dante asks as he sits up to take a lazy sip of water.

I shake my head. “Nothing.  Mia’s just funny.”

He raises an eyebrow.  “Is she coming over?”

“No.  She wanted me to come shopping.  But I’m busy right now, so…”