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His eyes held mine when he climbed the few steps to get to me, and then he cleared his throat and wordlessly let us in. He stopped the wailing alarm with a code inside the foyer as I asked, “How many stories?” Yeah, I suck at small talk.
“Including the cellar and the roof deck,” he began while discarding his sunglasses on a table in the foyer, “six. This is the parlor floor. The pool is at the garden level right below us.”
“You have a pool inside your house?” I tried to mask my shock, but I knew I was failing as I did a slow three-sixty, taking in the modern and opulent interior. “This is what money looks like, huh?”
“I guess so. I, uh, didn’t design it. This place isn’t me.” He pocketed his hands, an uneasy look crossing his face, and I couldn’t quite place why. “I’m going to my office. You’re welcome to wait here or look around. Up to you.” And with that, he went toward the stairs and disappeared.
I found myself meandering around the “parlor” level, which sounded too fancy for me, then made my way downstairs to check out the pool. My jaw dropped at the sight of a wet bar extending the length of the long, narrow pool with cozy-looking gray couches on the other side. “A waterfall?” I mumbled when spying the cascading water going into the pool, unsure why it was even running if he didn’t live there. And for that matter, why did such an unlived-in space look so clean?
I swiped my hand along the bar top as I passed by. No dust.
I circled the pool, and my heart stopped at the sight of a flash of red exposed beneath one of the couches. I snatched the material, and my shoulders fell at the realization it was a small pair of red bikini bottoms. Well, more like a string bikini.
Did he have women over when he visited home? With the bikini bottoms still dangling from my finger, I tried to remember the last time he’d been to New York, deciding I wanted to damage my heart a bit more at the fact it’d been this year after my split with Thomas.
So you chose to screw someone here instead of me?
“They’re not mine.” The deep voice had me flinching and letting go of the bottoms. Enzo rounded the pool, slowly walking my way.
“Obviously.” I had no right to be jealous, and yet, I was consumed by that feeling right now.
Enzo stopped before me, leaving only a touch of space between us. “You’re upset?”
I looked over at the pool, realizing he had me trapped there unless I managed to maneuver around him or swim to the other side. “Is this another reason you keep this place? So you can have women over when you visit?”
I will not cry. I will not cry. The mantra ran through my head, but along with it were images of a bunch of hot bikini-clad women in his pool all vying for his attention. Maybe they even swam in the nude? I’m a grown woman. A mother. I don’t get jealous.
“Maria.” Enzo reached for my chin, forcing my eyes on him. “You’re jealous?” His faint accent I rarely heard anymore was there that time.
“I’m not.”
“You know it’s pointless to lie to me, right?” He arched a brow, continuing to hold my face.
“It’s fine. You’re a man. You have needs, and I wasn’t meeting them.” I lifted a hand between us, attempting to shove at his forearm so he’d let go of me. I didn’t need him to see the wobble in my chin and the stupid jealousy as it leaked from my eyes, betraying my words.
Frustrated, more so with myself and my reaction to a pair of bikini bottoms, I did my best to turn and escape him. His hand left my chin but only to snatch my cheeks with both palms. “I do have needs, cara mia,” he rasped. “And I told you I’ve been jerking off like it’s my second job because of you.” And then he stepped forward and back we both went. Right into the pool.
I shot up from the water and whipped back my hair, gasping from the shock of what had happened. We were in the shallow end, so I could stand. And when my eyes landed on Enzo, he was shoving his hair back, nostrils flaring. His shirt clung to his frame, molding to every muscular, hard line of his body.
He patted the water at his side. “Alessandro uses this place when he doesn’t want a woman to know where he lives. Hell, he probably spends more time here than his own home, which must be why the waterfall is running. He was probably just here.”
Alessandro? I didn’t want my shoulders to fall with such obvious relief, but there they went. “So you don’t ...”
He shook his head and stared into my eyes. “No,” he firmly said, “I don’t.” And then his lips slanted over mine, effortlessly guiding my legs around his hips so my ankles locked behind him. He deepened the kiss, his tongue finding mine.
I melded into him, but my soaked, clingy turtleneck felt like a barrier between us I wanted to be free of so I could feel his lips trail down my neck as he’d done in his bedroom earlier. “I need this off. Now,” I begged.
He let go of me only long enough to peel off the top, then flung it into the water.
My breasts heaved up and down as he studied me, and I reached behind my back and unclipped my bra. I slowly slid the straps down and tossed it next. The water may have been warm, but goose bumps covered my skin and had my nipples erect.
He cupped his jaw, meeting my eyes. “You really are a distraction,” he murmured. “I didn’t think anything or anyone could get me to ...” He snatched my wrist and pulled me back to him, and in one fast movement, he had me sitting on the ledge of the pool. “You’re making me forget.”
“Forget why we’re here?” I panted, a pinch of guilt hitting me.
“Forget the pain,” he gruffly said, and before I could respond, he brought both hands alongside my body and leaned in, circling his tongue around my belly button. He slid his lips a little higher, then tipped his chin to locate my gaze. “I want you, Maria. So damn much,” he admitted, “but I do need to focus. There’s a lot at stake.”
I nodded in understanding, but then why wasn’t he moving? Why was he still staring at me with heat in his eyes as if I were his everything?
