Chapter 11

Valentino's POV 

"I adored the dress you wore this morning, and the clothing you're wearing right now accentuates your body. I told her straight up, "It's fiercely sexy," and her expression was amazing.

Her mouth hung open, and she blinked with a mixture of genuine wonder and amusement. I actually enjoyed making eye contact with her.

She appeared to be really stunning. I didn't know if she had worn the sky-blue outfit to work that morning to make a good impression on me. Regardless, I was impressed.

Her entire outfit, even her hair was on fire. She would be lucky to find someone to fall in love with.

"Truly very funny. She said, "Valentino Alexander, you constantly want to make fun of me.

I liked something about the way she called my name. Something that I couldn't comprehend, just as I couldn't comprehend how I wanted to treat her or how intimate I wanted our relationship to be.

"You always assume I'm kidding, but I'm not."

Blah, blah, and blah time is running out. After cutting the long story short and ramping up her pace, she began to walk.

She left some adorable footprints in the sand. She pouted in a lovely way. She reasoned in a nice manner. Why on earth did I return to being so adorable, especially with my contract wife?

She was clearly trying her hardest to outpace me when I finally caught up with her and we began to walk side by side.

I said, attempting to strike up a conversation, "you know we like to live on the seaside on the beach, but you chose to walk off for about thirty minutes to get down here."

"I adore the beach, and I adore taking walks on the sand. She said as the wind blew her hair." I also saw on a map I was studying that there's this section they call the core; therefore, I wanted to be near the center of the beach where the waves are fiercest.

"Hmm" quite the opposite of who you are. Despite how quiet you are, you enjoy loud noises.

She said, attempting to prevent her hair from obstructing her vision, "It's loud and peaceful."

I simply nodded, and after dropping her things off at the villa, we proceeded on. After that, we headed to the dining pavilion, where I had prepared a simple dinner for the two of us.

We sat at the dining table together, which provided an excellent view of the outdoor dancing fountain and a wonderful night with glittering stars dispersed throughout the sky and a bright moon lighting up its bright light.

Myrah smiled as she glanced around, letting me know I had done a terrific job setting everything up.

Since I would likely end up thinking of things like candles, roses, and other things I was accustomed to doing for Caylee, I didn't want to put a lot of work into this.

I didn't want to give Myrah the wrong impression. I didn't want to instill erroneous optimism in her about the likelihood of a 'we' ever materializing.

I had made a Greek salad with pita pockets containing grilled chicken. One summer, when we were all bored, Monica taught Kyle and I how to make this meal, and she did a great job.

I offered her, her plate after bringing the food, and then I also took mine. A bottle of wine from their business was on the table. It was among the very best.

"Wow." She looked at her food and said, "You prepared this? Yes, it was delicious-looking and heavenly-smelling.

I answered, "Yup," and she gave me an amused smile.

"What?" Incredulous, I questioned

You truly cook, then. Interesting, I assumed you solely handled office-related tasks and lacked the patience and time for the rest.

And what led you to believe that? She laughed when I asked.

She replied with a shrug, "some billionaire thing, I guess."

I never thought of you as stereotype fodder. I copied her, saying, "I'm different," which caused her to laugh out loud.

For the record, she really did giggle, and her eyes were beaming with happiness.

Wow, that's not how I sound at all. You're terrible at voices," she chuckled.

So I said, "Let the pro show us how it's done."

Fine, hold on. In between fits of laughter, she said, "let me think," and she looked up as if she were looking through a memory book.

She flashed a dazzling smile my way after looking back at me as if a bell had gone off in her head.

She copied my voice when I said, "Princess, you need an optometrist," doing her best to make her soft, feminine voice sound masculine.

God, oh God! She joined me in laughing, since that was probably the funniest thing I had ever heard in my entire life.

So voices aren't for everyone, I guess. So far, we finally have something in common. I laughed, and she grinned back at me.

We both said in unison, broad grins on our faces, "We both suck at voices."

How could this woman torture me in such a manner? I found myself doing things that I had never thought I would do in this lifetime, especially with her.

As soon as we both realized how awkward things were, we both pretended to forget the small, amusing drama we had just recently played and began eating the food.

"Wine?" After a short while, I made an offer.

No thanks.

Why? Do you dislike wine? I poured myself a glass and added, "I've learned you never drink. Even at the wedding reception, you barely finished a glass.

She admitted with a sheepish grin, "Unfortunately, I'm a terrible lightweight, and once I get drunk, I do stuff that is shockingly out of this world."

"So, you never drink? I queried.

"I do drink, but only occasionally."

You won't get drunk with this. It's not really that alcoholic, I repeated. Strangely, I wanted to watch her perform shockingly out of this world' feats.

She rejected me, saying, "I still don't trust myself, so please don't tempt me," and I nodded before putting the bottle out of her reach.

Strange for Dante, given how powerful both of her siblings were and the fact that they had established a reputation in that sector.

Juice next? Apple? Carrot? Orange? Pomegranate?"

"Carrot juice is not acceptable. She and I have a really bad past. I gave her some pomegranate from the refrigerator after she said, "Pomegranate would do.

She simply had this quirky quality that made everything about her entertaining, so I'd spend the entire day watching her eat. She had stopped eating, and I could see that her cheeks were getting warm.

"Won't you stop looking at me? With you viewing me in that way, I am unable to swallow anything.

"Why are you so shy? I just started asking her.

She retorted, "I'm not shy," fidgeting with her fork and avoiding making eye contact.

"Not even one compliment can you accept,"

She challenged, "I can," and her eyes were fixed on me. She was unquestionably the feisty kind.

I see, truly. I jokingly said to her, "God, you are one of the most beautiful women I've ever met in my life, Princess," and she quickly covered her face with her hands.

I saw that she was wearing her wedding band. I had a ring that Caylee had purchased for me. I was even unsure about the location of my wedding ring.

Why are you acting so strange today? Will you stop making fun of me? With her hands now on the table and her face in the air, she gushed.

"You observe you are terribly timid?"

Yes, I am aware that you dislike shy girls. You like gorgeous, bold ladies who are fierce and daring, she sighed.

"Would you like to change who you are?"

"No way." I'm happy with the person I am. She stated, I don't particularly like the idea of pretending to be someone I'm not or emulating someone else's style.

That's great. I appreciate individuals who are original and steadfast in their beliefs. I told her, "If that's your nature," it's amazing. She gave me a little smile and then resumed eating.

Our attitude had slightly shifted, and we were now more intent on relishing the meal. I enjoyed speaking with Myrah. Her ideas were original and intriguing.

We finished eating, and then for dessert, we got molten chocolate cake. I nearly forgot about the dinner's schedule.