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“I’m not stopping you,” he said as he let his gaze linger on the swell of her breasts. The pendant hung down between them just lost from sight under the towel. He wouldn’t mind running his hand over her curves. Did she still taste like champagne and strawberries?
“Argh!” she wailed and actually stamped her foot. It was too cute not to laugh. “Cash,” she said again as she narrowed her eyes at him, “Please leave—” The towel slipped and she caught it just before her breasts popped out.
“This is far more entertaining than waiting in the lobby. I’m good right here.”
She glared at him. “Fine.” She turned toward the bed and stumbled, dropping the towel. She swore as she grabbed it and tried to rewrap it around herself.
He decided to take pity on her. Pushing off the wall, he walked over to her and took the ends of the towel out of her hands.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
He just smiled and unwound the towel, keeping his gaze locked on hers as he rewound it around her body, securing it tightly. It had taken every strand of restraint he could muster to not look down when he had the towel open, but he’d managed it.
“I’m helping you,” he said. His voice was a bit hoarse even to his own ears. If she were paying attention at all, she’d have to know what kind of effect she had on him. His hard-on was rubbing against his zipper making him uncomfortable.
“There,” he said as he went back to lean against the wall by the door. It was much safer for him to stand far away from her. “Now it won’t fall off.”
She put her hands on her hips and frowned at him. “I still need to get dressed.”
“Go for it. I’ll wait,” he said trying to keep the grin off his face but losing the battle. She glared at him until a knock at the door interrupted them. “Were you expecting anyone?”
She shook her head and looked slightly trepidatious.
The sound of paper reached him and he looked down at the floor. There was an envelope. He bent down and picked it up. “You checking out today?”
She shook her head. “I hadn’t decided yet.”
He ripped open the envelope.
“Excuse me, that was obviously meant for me. It’s none of your business,” she said as she started forward. She reached for the note, and he held it out of her reach.
“So far notes have only gotten you in trouble. I don’t want you running off to meet some lunatic. You almost died the last two times.” He dropped the envelope and flipped open the note.
Dear Riss,
Such a pleasure to meet you last evening. I do hope you will join me at my shop today. We have so much to discuss.
Yours,
Allesio Umberti
A cold sweat broke out across Cash’s back. His voice was clipped and calm when he asked, “When did you meet Umberti?” But not calm enough he decided when his gaze met Riss’s and she shrank back and bit her lip.
“I…I…he showed up at the hotel right after you left. He said he knew Alicia and he wanted to talk to me about her.”
“What did you tell him?” Cash ground out.
Riss’s brow creased. “Tell him? Nothing. I didn’t say anything. He asked me to meet him at his shop today. I asked if…” she let out a sigh. “I asked if you could come as well. I said that I was going with you to see Alicia’s stuff before lunch.”
Cash swore as he moved forward until he was mere inches from Riss. “Understand this. Allesio Umberti is a very dangerous man. You will stay far away from him.”
“But he?—”
Cash spun Riss around and backed her up until she was pinned between the wall and his chest. “Larissa, I won’t tell you again. Stay away from Umberti. People around him end up getting killed.”
She stared at him with her large violet eyes, and it was all he could do to not shake some sense into her.
“He said there’s a family bible and that Alicia hired him to find it. He said it shows my entire family tree. Cash, I need that book.”
