Marcello’s gaze locked with hers, those brilliant emerald eyes of hers glittering like dew-kissed leaves at dawn. He could drown in them. The way her lashes clung together, soaked and heavy, only heightened the allure. A single droplet clung to the tip before falling, slow and deliberate, like a pearl cast from heaven and he watched it as if the world had narrowed down to that one moment.

Her trembling lips drew his attention next, full and parted, slick with the same water that dared to ...