Sleeping With the Enemy

Sequel: Chapter Five

Gemma

"Dinner was fantastic, Mrs. Avenetti." Anthony grinned, handing a plate he just finished drying to my mom. "Thank you, again."

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. For the last hour, I had to listen to Anthony play kiss to my parents. Yes sir, this and Thank you, ma'am, that. And now he was in here drying dishes for my mom. His choir boy act was almost more than I could take.

"Thank you for helping clean everything up." My mom eyed me. Subtlety wasn't her strong suit.

He may be fooling them, but he certainly wasn't fooling me. I could see right through it all, especially when I caught him staring at me while I undressed this afternoon. The way his eyes raked over each curve of my body gave me chills that had nothing to do with being cold. They were the kind of chills that started in your shoulders, creeping down your spine and covering every inch of you in tingly shivers. The kind that settled in your core, fluttering and quivering until they turned into a passionate burn.

No, Anthony wasn't nearly as innocent as he let on, but neither was I. If he wanted to play games, we could play games.

We stayed in the kitchen chatting with my family for a little while longer, and then made our way back to the pool house.

I slipped the key into the lock and headed inside, but Anthony stepped in front of me. "Let me check it out first."

He sure was thorough, albeit a little over dramatic. We were at my parents' estate for crying out loud. What did he think? Someone was going to bypass the guards at the gate, somehow make it the mile and a half to the house, not set off the motion sensors, and then break into the pool house that was locked with the alarm set? 

"All good." He said, shoving a gun back into his waistband. I hadn't even realized he wore one.

"Did you check under the bed for monsters, too?" I teased, slipping my shoes off.

Antony chuckled. "No monsters, no gunman, no trained assassins. Not even a spider in this place. You're safe, princess."

"Thank goodness," I put my hand over my chest, feigning gratitude. "What would I ever do without you?"

Anthony was amused by our banter as he leaned back on the couch. "So you want to play cards or something?" 

"Actually," I glanced over my shoulder, grabbing a bottle of wine out of the fridge. "My friend Ryan is coming over tonight. We're going to sit out by the fire. Do you think you can stay inside or do you have to be out here listening to our word?"

"That depends." Anthony furrowed his brow. Was that a hint of jealousy I detected? "Does Ryan know how to keep his hands to himself?"

I let out a sharp laugh. "Ryan is a girl, Anthony."

"Oh...uh..." He stuttered, very obviously embarrassed.

"Although she does get a little handsy when she has too much to drink." I pursed my lips. "I'm sure you'd like that, though."

"Well, in that case, I'll just make myself comfortable on one of those pool chairs out there." Anthony smirked. "Where I have a clear view of whatever goes on out here."

"Perfect." I rolled my eyes, taking the wine and two glasses out to the fire place.

Anthony followed, and perched himself on a lounge chair about ten yards from it. So much for getting any privacy.

I poured myself a glass of wine, trying to ignore his glances. By now, he had slipped a pair of AirPods into his ears and was scrolling through something on his phone. Every now and then, he'd look up at me and I'd try to dart my eyes away as if I wasn't looking. What was this middle school bullshit?