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Of course, they were going to get awkward anyway when he walked into their meeting and she realized it had been him the whole time—and that he had known who she was.
But she didn’t ask.
That no longer felt quite as powerful as it had before, when he had been half-blind with arousal. Had he made a mistake?
He watched her dress, then got up and walked her to the door. “Thank you for this,” he said.
“Thankyou,” she countered, lingering a little, trailing a hand over his chest.
He breathed in and let himself enjoy her scent, even though he knew it was going to drive him crazy the next time they were face-to-face and were forced to be professional. He had no idea how he was going to get through this. Already he longed to grab her by the arm and pull her back to bed.
If there wasanyoneelse, he would have canceled his appointment and booked with a different specialist. But there just weren’t Barks-Howard’s specialists—Adriano hadn’t been able to find a single one in Italy, and had only been able to find two others in the entire United States, both of whom had been unavailable due to parental and sabbatical leave respectively.
Instead, he cupped Amy’s neck one last time and kissed her cheek gently. He felt her body start to melt back into his and knew that they had to separate now, while they still could.
“I’ll see you—around.” He had almost said he’d see her tomorrow. He really needed to get ahold of himself, or he was going to give the game away.
But the game was going to be given away regardless. It was hopeless. He couldn’t put the toothpaste back in the tube. All he could do now was try to control the force of his own desire for her.
She left and walked down the hall toward the elevator. He lingered in the doorway as she pressed the button. The elevator arrived right away, of course—the penthouse level had its own private elevator. There was no one else using it. There was no wait.
For the first time in his life, Adriano found himself a little jealous of people who did things like wait for elevators. If the elevator had been a little slower, he would have had a little more time to look at her. To enjoy that soft smile on her face, the way she leaned against the wall like he had removed every care she had in the world, the way her dark hair spilled around her shoulders. It had been pinned up at the bar, and he was sure it would be pinned up when he saw her again. He would never have the chance to see her likethisagain.
She gave him a little smile as she stepped into the elevator. He found himself wanting to run after her and thank her, once more, for letting him feel normal again for just one night.
But then the elevator doors were closing, and she was gone.
CHAPTER5
AMY
Back on the ninth floor, a feeling of surreality settled over Amy.
What was she supposed to do now? Was she supposed to act like that hadn’t just happened? Just resume her evening as though it was any other?
She couldn’t, no matter how much she might have liked to—and the truth was that shedidn’twant to. She didn’t want to pretend to herself that everything was the same, that she hadn’t just had one of the most sensual experiences of her life. She couldn’t undo it now.
She put on the TV, but it was impossible to focus. She turned on a nature program, which didn’t really require focusing—the animals could run around just as well without her full attention—and grabbed the room service menu.
“Can I help you?” the receptionist asked when she pressed the button for room service on her phone.
“I need some champagne,” Amy said.
“One glass?”
Amy hesitated. “Go ahead and send up the whole bottle,” she said. “Put that on my room account.”
“Of course, Ms. Daniels. That’ll be right up for you, and we’ll send you a chilled glass too.”
That was a nice touch, but also, Amy couldn’t help wondering whether the penthouse came with chilled glasses and champagne already in the room. She didn’t like to think what a room like that must have cost. She was paying through the nose just to stayhere.
Of course, Mystery Man wasn’t going to be here as long as she was. Maybe that was why he could afford such a swanky room.
The champagne arrived, and she poured a tall glass and took it with her into the bathroom, still pondering. As she ran herself a hot bath and eased into it, she found herself wondering about him. He’d said he was in town on business. What kind of business was it? What had he come to Denver to do?
Stop thinking about him. You told yourself this was a one-and-done thing.
Too wired to sleep, Amy lay in the hot bath and drank two more glasses, topping up the water a couple more times before she finally allowed it to go tepid. Only then did she pull the plug, get out, wrap a towel around herself, and stumble to bed.
