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Her stomach swooped and her steps halted as she stared at the numbers on the wall. 210. Subconsciously she knew the stairwell was just around the corner, but she pretended it didn’t exist. What a funny, fire hazard design for a hotel with absolutely no way out of the second floor except through Harrison Montgomery’s room.
Reason had stepped out, and in its place came some sort of Lewis Carroll narrative where she was Alice, far beyond the looking glass. The illogical side of her brain teamed up with her woman parts and flexed, already claiming victory. No denying part of her still wanted him, while the other parts of her—mainly her heart, which had the memory of an elephant—wanted to run away and hide.
Staring at the door, her fist tightened until her knuckles popped.
Knock.
Just do it.
Be reckless. Have fun for a change and forgive yourself.
You need this.
But no matter how much she wanted to let go, her body remained paralyzed, her heart knowing all too well that Harrison Montgomery wasn’t something she could simply shut off. He was a live wire, a hot fuse, and she would surely end up burned in the end.
So why wasn’t she leaving? Surely the elevator had returned by now. What was it about this man that made him so magnetic? She was helpless under his spell. Even now, when she knew—knew—she could not go down this path with him again.
Harrison had been a star on the varsity football team. Devastatingly gorgeous, with eyes so bright and mysterious, anyone could tell he hid a big secret.
There was something so untouchable about him, something girls wanted to unlock, but he never allowed anyone close enough to fully see the real him. Yet every once in a while, she’d glimpse the raw side of him, so vulnerable and aching, he’d let her soothe him, but only for a moment and then it was gone.
For the most part, he kept himself locked up. But those secrets he hid, Mariella knew they caused him to run away—from his hometown, his high school diploma, his planned future, and her.
Maybe he thought he could fool her, but he never could. Even now, with his purposefully refined clothing and that air of sophistication he put on downstairs, she recognized the intensity boiling under the surface. Some men simply weren’t made to be gentlemen, and Harrison Montgomery was one of those men.
Perhaps his private nature was part of the allure. She wanted to unravel him. Did that make her as pathetic as all the other girls that wanted him before?
Looking down at the room key, she considered her three options. Knock, enter, or get the hell out of there before she got hurt.
A vision of her younger self sobbing into her pillow, wondering what she’d done wrong, filled her mind, and she stepped back as if her fingers were just burned.
Forgotten pain knifed through her. This was a mistake.
Backing away from his door, she pivoted just as the handle clicked, and her spine stiffened, sending her shoulders bunching up to her ears.
“Mariella?”
Her breath chilled in her chest. Every muscle froze at the deep timbre of his voice. He had such power over her, she didn’t trust her subconscious, thinking she’d purposely come this far so he’d catch her. Some self-sabotaging part of her wanted this to happen so she’d be forced to face him and get the answers she’d waited more than a decade to hear.
A warm hand brushed over her shoulder and down her arm, sending a sharp shiver up her spine. “Were you leaving? Come in and have a drink with me.”
Her eyes closed. The word no cemented like a boulder in her throat, but she couldn’t get it out.
His touch caressed the hand hanging numbly at her side, brushing softly across her knuckles until her fists unclenched and he could lace his fingers with hers.
“Come on, Mariella. It’s been too long not to catch up. Come inside.”
And that was all it took. Her tension slackened, and she followed him inside like a foolish lamb off to the slaughter.
CHAPTER 4
“How’d your interview go?”
He still wore his suit, but he’d removed the jacket and tie. The pants were a unique slate blue, like his eyes, and his cuffs were French, secured with gold cufflinks in the shape of his initials, HM.
This wasn’t the same kid she used to fool around with in high school. This was a man who lived way outside of her pay grade. New inadequacies mounted, compressing the towering old ones that still remained.
She shook her head, feeling like a small-town hick in the shadow of his success.
“That good, huh?” He chuckled and went to the mini fridge. “Well then, how about that drink?”
Her gaze settled on his socked feet. The men she knew didn’t wear dress socks like that. She was in way over her head. “I really can’t stay.”
