3 - You Can Run, You Can Hide but You Can't Escape

Lulu's POV – April 8th 2012

I managed to avoid Dante for an entire week. He had called, texted, and emailed, and I ignored every single one of them so I could pretend for a little bit longer that he did not ask me to marry him. Kate as usual kept me busy for the week especially since Maxie was in the city trying to get the latest scoop on one of New York's up and coming young designers. The torture was welcomed because I dreaded having to go home every night this week to an empty apartment. That would mean facing my thoughts; something I was nowhere near ready to do. Keeping up with my mission to forget, I went to the place where I could leave my problems at the door and drown my sorrows. "Coleman Tequila, and leave the bottle." I said dropping my purse on the bar top and taking a seat on the stool.

"Coming right up darlin'." Coleman poured my drink and placed the bottle, a salt holder and lime wedges in front of me. Without hesitation I licked the salt, put the shot glass to my lips to swallow the hash amber liquid, then sucked on a lime wedge to reduce the burn. Before the sting of the liquor was gone from my throat, I was already pouring another shot.

"Keep going like that you won't know your own name soon." Someone pointed out sitting a stool away.

My head briefly turned to the direction of the voice. "I can only hope."

"Her drinks are on me." Johnny Zacchara told Coleman and I nodded politely in his direction for the kind gesture.

Johnny and I had a relationship and It worked for a while but eventually the reality of who he was and who I wanted him to be made us being together a lost cause. Not to mention him having an attraction to my best friend which only added fuel to fire. The breakup was nasty, but I got over it and eventually Johnny and I became friendly. He had helped me at a point in my life when I was literally losing my mind, so for that I would always be grateful.

When I met Dante, my relationship with Johnny had just ended so I was inclined to agree with his no strings attached policy. The sex was great but the attachment was greater, and I found myself wanting to know him and understand him after one night. He had the same charismatic aura that surrounded Sonny. The type that made women bend backwards for him no matter the cost; even if it meant losing herself in the process. Hell I was already at the point where his kiss made me more submissive than I ever had been with another man.

"So what are you trying to forget?"

What wasn't I trying to forget would have been a better question. In the matter of a few hours my biggest contention went from dealing with Kate and her constant demands, to deciding if I wanted to marry a man whom I was unexplainably attracted to. "An indecent proposal."

Johnny raised an eyebrow curiously. "Sounds… kinky."

"You have no idea." I mumbled, before downing another shot. Thinking of the way Dante's lips seared my skin, and how just his hands could make me spasm repeatedly in ecstasy; internal warmth surged all over. Plus the alcohol in my system definitely was not helping. As much I would love to get drunk and forget the world, the headache tomorrow would not be worth it so I stopped after the second shot and got a beer instead.

Johnny finished his beer and put enough money on the bar to cover both sets of drinks. "For what it's worth I hope your indecent proposal become a decent one. You deserve that." He smiled and touched my arm before leaving. From his lips to God's ears I hoped.

"I'll have whatever the lady's having." An all too familiar voice from behind of me said. I could feel the allure and confidence oozing from his pores, and I internally cursed God and the universe for making a man so well put together that just the sound of his voice made me uneasy.

Dante's POV

As soon as Lulu recognized my voice her body shifted in the seat, but she never turned around. I deliberately reached over her shoulder for the full bottle of beer and my hand brushed across her hair. It felt like the finest silk had been cloaking my arm. Still facing her back, I leaned down so that I could whisper for her ears only. "You've been avoiding me."

"You realize that and yet you still keep trying to find me." She got off the stool to one of the free pool tables, and began racking up the balls. Like a puppy unable to resist its beloved master, I followed.

There was an obvious edge and attitude in her demeanor which she made no attempt to hide, but instead of deterring me all it did was increase the yearning I had to have her methodically moving her hips on top of me. I picked up a pool stick and took a step back so she could break, and also so I could watch her butt when she bent over. She had a really cute butt.

"Ladies first." When I walked into the bar, Lulu and Johnny Zacchara seemed to be rather friendly; just how friendly I wasn't sure but I was very curious to find out. "So is Johnny the reason you haven't been answering my calls?"

She tapped the white ball to send the colored ones splaying in various directions. "And that's your business how?"

I shrugged trying to make my interest seem nonchalant even though I was dying to know. "You two just seemed close when I walked in."

Lulu made another move then stood in front of me, leaning against the pool stick with a smug smile. "Careful Dante if I didn't know better I would think you were jealous."

I returned the same smug smile she had given me and entered her personal space, making it almost impossible for her to flee. Her lips were so close, practically calling for me to kiss them but I resisted the urge just to be a tease. "Can't a guy be curious about the company his fiancé keeps?"

"I'm not your fiancé." Her palm rested flat against my chest to push me back, and I wondered if she could feel the way my heart was racing from her touch.

"Not yet but you will be." I had been with my share or women but there was something unexplainable about my attraction to Lulu that kept me coming back. Every time I was around her I wanted her. I wanted to touch her, kiss her, and make her say my name over and over like it was the only word she knew. "I'll definitely make it worth your while."

"There's nothing you can offer me I can't get somewhere else."

She made an attempt to side step me and I put my arm around her waist to keep her from going further. I could feel her body though the clothing and damn she felt good. "I didn't know it was that easy for you to get $500,000."

Fire and curiosity blazed in her eyes as she looked into mine wondering what I was up to. "You want to pay me to marry you? I'm not sure if I should feel insulted or not."

It never occurred to me that she would take me offering to pay her as an insult. I was in no way trying to disrespect or degrade her; I just wanted a yes to the proposal. "Don't think of it like that. Just think of it as a business transaction. You're giving up your time so I'm just compensating you for your time."

Lulu glanced down at my arm that was still around her waist. It felt so natural to be touching and holding her, I forgot it was even there. Nevertheless, I got the hint and moved it. "$500,000 seems like a lot. We'd only be married until the paperwork for your inheritance goes through - that's maybe a month or two tops."

"Not exactly." I told her, hoping I could have left out this bit until after we were married; but I didn't want to lie to her so I reluctantly divulged the previously neglected information."When I marry you I get access to some of my inheritance, basically just the shares in the coffee business and his house. To get the rest of it like the island, the casinos, stocks, bonds etcetera, we have to stay married for a year. On our first anniversary I get everything."

If it weren't for us being in public place I was pretty sure Lulu would have slapped me or possibly thrown something at me. She opened her mouth several times to speak, but closed it each time as if trying to find some calm. Her fingers clenched and released around the pool stick, so I took a few steps back just in case she got the urge to swing. My reflexes were extremely sharp, but people had incredible strength when they were angry. She put down the stick on the table and pointed a finger in my face like nuns in my Catholic elementary school would do while they gave us a lecture. "It's one thing to be married a month or two, but a year? There is no way I'm doing that, so you're just going to have to live without the island and the casinos and whatever else." Lulu snapped in a hushed but angry tone.

This kind of smoldering anger was sexy on her rather than offensive or intimidating. So much so that my thoughts had strayed from her irate words to what she would look like in a short pleated plaid skirt (no panties of course), high heels, a white shirt that stopped just above the skirt's waistband so I could see her bare midriff; the first two buttons undone with a black lace bra peeking out from underneath. Who knows, maybe this marriage might not be so bad after all.

Her fingers snapping in front of my face brought me back from my dirty fantasy. "What are you smiling about? Are you even listening to me?"

"Yeah, yeah." I nodded kind of telling the truth. "Lulu have a heart. Michael, Morgan, Kristina and I loved that island; some of our best memories are there. I can't just let it get sold when I know I could have done something to keep it in the family." I tried, hoping to find some compassion. She struck me as one of those good girls my Nona always wanted me to bring home. Well thinking back to some of our nights together, maybe not the traditional good girl, but I believed she had a good heart.

Some of her anger seemed to melt and it was replaced with sympathy. "Dante I want to help you, but a year is too much I'm sorry."

"One million dollars." I offered knowing that it would be hard to resist such an exorbitant amount of money. Lulu's jaw literally dropped and I almost laughed out loud at her surprised face. I grinned and began to give my sales pitch, hoping that the price was right. "It would probably take you half your life to earn that kind of money at your regular job. You have the opportunity to do it in a year and all you have to do is say I do."

Lulu shifted apprehensively from one foot to another and I could not help but stare at the way the denim hugged her legs from ankle to waist. The dark fabric curved beautifully over her hips and butt and I wondered what kind of panties were beneath it. "Let's say hypothetically that I agreed to this. What exactly would happen?"

'Damn it' I cursed in my head when her words brought me back to the present once again. I seriously needed to stop fantasizing about this woman. "We get married as soon as possible, live together and pretend to be a happy couple. On our first anniversary I get the rest of my inheritance, you get your one million dollars and we get the marriage annulled."

"You mean divorced?"

"I'm Catholic, we don't to divorce." This probably was not the time to be referring to my religion since I was already neck deep in sins, but some things had stuck with me throughout the years: my feelings towards divorce being one of them.

"Really Catholic?" Her eyebrows raised in disbelief. "So I guess you skipped that Sunday when they were teaching about premarital sex."

"Very funny." I rebutted sarcastically. She had a point about my not so church-like lifestyle, but in my defense I never professed to be perfect. We were getting off track so I reverted to the topic at hand. "This isn't a good place to talk. I got an apartment not too far from here. Come by tomorrow about 7 and have dinner with me so we can sort out the details and hopefully come to an agreement that works for the two of us. I'll text you the address."

Lulu watched me keenly and I could see her trying to discern my motives. "Just talk Dante, that's it." She warned.

I raised my hands defensively and laughed at the insinuation. "I only asked for dinner and a conversation. Whatever happens after that is all up to fate." The seething anger began to resurface in her features, and I watched with a smile as she picked up her purse and proceeded to leave the bar without another word. "Good night Lesley Lu." I said out loud.

Her strides stopped for a brief moment then continued out the door, and I wished I could have seen her reaction to me finding out her full name. I really hoped it was that same striking smile I never forgot seeing the first night we met.