Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 609 -

*Caterina*

I heard Elio before I watched him ascend the staircase. The sound of his heavy footsteps hitting the floor caused my nerves to coil. With each step he took, my stomach clenched and my heart slammed in my ribcage. His hair was still slightly slicked back from before. Now it was just a tad more relaxed, and his clothes were a bit rumpled.

He looked relatively relaxed and perhaps a little amused....

The corner of his mouth was curved upward. No doubt he was secretly pleased at the fact that I chose to call him to help me with my shower. After the unexpected and slightly embarrassing moment at the club, it irked me beyond comprehension that I was the one who needed to reach out to him.

Oh, how my anger was still fizzling throughout my body. My hands were tingling from having clenched them so tightly before.

My head was killing me as my mind continuously jumped between two different moments.

One was Elio looking fierce and borderline pissed off at the club. And the second was the indescribable way Elio had looked at me before I went into the house. Those smoldering eyes of his had changed from intense vexation to absolute carnality.

'Stop it, Cat,' I thought to myself. 'There's no way in hell that Elio would ever think of you that way.'

"Oh, believe me. I am fully aware of just how grown up you've become...."

Elio's words paired with that rousing look in his eyes had sent my mind reeling in several different directions. It was as though I could feel his eyes raking over my body, and not in a bad way.

Then again, it was most likely that I was overthinking the situation. Granted, I could have asked what he meant by that remark, but my feet had already made the decision to take me back into the house.

Good god, all I wanted was a hot shower to loosen up my tense muscles and allow me to wash away the aggravation of the evening. But no, life seemed to have other plans in mind.

Anna had been currently chilling out in my room when I tried to turn the handle of my shower on. At first nothing happened. But thankfully the water eventually turned on and I was able to lather up my loofah with fresh smelling shower gel and work the muscles in my arms and legs.

But after about ten minutes, just when I'd gotten to adding shampoo in my hair, the water was no longer coming out of the showerhead but rather the hose it was attached to.

Water was getting everywhere, so I quickly turned the handle to stop the shower and carefully stepped around the small puddles on the floor, my hair still full of suds. "Great," I muttered bitterly, "just great."

Against my better judgment, and my stubborn pride, I had made the call and asked Elio to come over and see if he could fix the problem.

It hadn't even occurred to me to try to cover myself up better.

And now, Elio was standing at the head of the stairs with his toolbox ready in his hand. He muttered something under his breath about remembering to lock the door, or something. And I, without a single thought, answered him back.

"I'll keep that in mind," I said softly.

Elio's eyes immediately locked on me. His lips parted as if to speak, but he said nothing. Instead, the man just stood there staring at me.

A million goosebumps broke out over my skin as I watched Elio's eyes travel down the various curves of my body. My brows raised in disbelief at the earth-shattering thought. Was Elio attracted to me?

My heart leaped into my throat as I watched his chest continue to expand with large bouts of air. The man was panting.

His lust-blown pupils were partially dilated in shock along with an unanticipated sight of longing... for me?

No. That couldn't be. There was no possible way that Elio found me even remotely desirable. I was still seen as a child in his eyes. His actions tonight had made that perfectly clear. Also, I wasn't exactly in my best state right then. I still had those suds bubbling in my hair and there wasn't a scratch of makeup on me. I must've looked like a total sight.

Denial was hanging heavily in my mind, but I knew what it looked like when a man wanted me. And that was exactly what Elio's face was telling me.

If that notion were true, I would have taken a few brave steps forward and reached out to him. But a cool, chilly breeze of reality washed over me and snapped me back to my senses. This was Elio.

I cleared my throat and pulled both of us out of the haze we'd slipped into. Elio snapped back to the present and blinked his eyes a few times while nonchalantly shaking his head. I'd have been lying if I'd said that my heart didn't skip a beat when I noticed his face turn red for a brief second.

"Uh, yeah. Um... show me what the problem is," he said roughly.

I lifted an unsure hand toward the bathroom and led up both inside. I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to ignore how naturally close Elio was to me. I could almost feel the heat coming off his body.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Here," I said. "It's the damn shower head."

Elio tilted his head and looked up at it. "Is it leaking again?"

I rolled my bottom lip between my teeth and shook my head.

"Not quite," I muttered. "Here, watch."

I raised my hand up to gently push Elio back and out of the potential 'splash zone' of the shower. With my other hand, I turned the handle back and was hastily greeted by a manic, icy spray of water from beneath the metal shower head. In a sad attempt to block the water from getting in my face, I found myself stumbling backward into something warm and firm.

Elio wrapped a strong, supportive arm around my waist and quickly pulled me out of the spray-line. All the air became lodged in my lungs. The feel of his large hands became imprinted on my sides.

"Stay here," he said gruffly.

I quickly reinforced the corners of the towel that was, thankfully, still wrapped around me. Elio instantly turned the water off and got to work. My gaze was glued to him the entire time.

He bent down and opened his toolbox, pulling out what looked like some kind of wrench and a thick, metal clamp. I tried to make it my job to pay attention to what he was doing in case this incident should happen again. Having been away at school for so long, my innate sense of independence came rushing back.

But while my intentions were solely meant to be focused on the mechanics of the problem, my eyes began wandering away. Instead of looking at the shower head, my gaze dropped just a few inches lower to Elio's capable hands, the same hands that had been on my waist just a few minutes ago.

With every intended movement, the muscles in his arms flexed. My stomach churned and my eyes proceeded to wander further. Those muscles carried on to the broad plans of his back and shoulders.

I caught a quick glimpse of Elio's intense eyes fixed only on the work in front of him. It reminded me of when I first came back home and found him under the dining room table. He possessed that same determined look that made my mouth go dry.

'Oh, for Christ's sake, Cat. Would you get a fucking grip on yourself?' I scolded myself.

But I couldn't. The chance of me going back to thinking about Elio the way I had before seemed fruitless. My perception of Elio had drastically changed whether I wanted it to or not. That overbearing, suffocating, insufferable image of him was melting into something far more alluring and provocative.

"Here's the problem," he said firmly.

I tried clearing my throat while not appearing distracted. "What is it?"

"It seems that the hose got disconnected from the shower head, which is why it was spraying all over the place," he explained. "Should be an easy fix."

And just like that, Elio got back to work. I watched with bubbling anticipation as his hands and strong arms worked above him. My eyes shamelessly continued their blatant gawking.

Apart from his mind-bending muscles, I noticed his other features had slightly changed as well. His dark facial hair was even and well kept. His dark eyelashes made his eyes pop and his lips......

'Oh, god,' I groaned inwardly.

I shook my head silently in defeat. There was truly no need to try to deny anything. Elio was, indeed, attractive... and I found him attractive. But surely, countless other women did as well, right? So, what the hell would he possibly see in me to have looked at me the way that he did before?

Elio spoke low in his throat. "Look, Caterina."

How I wished my stomach wouldn't twist from hearing him speak my name like that. "Y-yeah?"

"About what happened earlier, you know, back at the club," he started. "I didn't-"

"Elio, you don't need to say anything about what happened, okay?"

He let out a long breath.

"Caterina, I really didn't mean to interrupt your night out with your friend," he said. "It was the guy that was practically dry humping you in the middle of the room that set me off. You clearly wanted to be left alone, and the asshole wasn't getting the hint."

My eyes widened in shock. It wasn't usual for him to actually explain himself to me whenever the two of us got into a heated dispute. Normally, Elio was one to play the seniority card and go off on a tangent of how I need to be more caring and vigilant.

"Oh. Well...."

"There. All done," he said brightly.

Elio stepped back to examine his work and flipped the handle. A second later, hot water was streaming out of the shower head with its usual ease.

He gathered his toolbox and turned to face me.

I offered a small smile. "Thank you."

Suddenly, that unexpected look he'd given me back when he'd first arrived reappeared. His eyes grew hooded, and his features darkened with lusting desire. His honeyed voice rippled over my exposed skin.

"Enjoy your shower," he drawled with a seductive grin.

My heart slammed viciously in my chest as I proceeded to watch him leave. As soon as I heard the front door shut behind him, I made a mad dash back to the bedroom. I quickly reached out to Anna and shook her awake.

"Mm? Huh? Cat?" Anna mumbled. She rubbed her tired eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Sorry to wake you, Anna, but I really need someone to talk to right now," I gasped.

The two headed into the bathroom. Anna took a seat on the counter while I stepped back behind the shower curtain to finally get the remaining soap out of my hair. I told her about everything she'd missed while she was asleep everything, minus the fact that I was desperately attracted to Elio.

Anna was partly furious that she'd missed a so-called glorious sight of watching him fix my shower, which sent both of us laughing into hysterics. Once I turned off the water I stood there for a brief moment.

"Anna, I feel like I'm in deep, deep trouble," I told her quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"I've known Elio for a long time. He's always been this annoying, overbearing know-it-all. He was one of the main reasons why I needed to go away for school. I just couldn't stand the way he always treated me like some child...." "But now? Something's changed hasn't it?" she asked.

I bit the inside of my cheek. "Yeah. Something has definitely changed. I... I think I like him. And I don't know what I'm supposed to do about it."

Was I really going to allow myself to like Elio, of all people?