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“Okay.” My hand itched to reach out and pull him in for a kiss.No strings attached,I reminded myself. Begrudgingly, I obeyed my subconscious.
“Remember, my room is right next door if you need anything in the next five minutes.” His words sounded suggestive, and my skin tingled from the excitement they brought.
* * *
After a delicious lunchof crab Louie salads and a ninety-minute hot stone massage, we made our way around the property. I couldn’t deny the fact that I was so relaxed from the massage. Rick, my masseur, had done a splendid job melting all the hidden tension right out of me. Standing with the salty ocean breeze blowing through my hair and whispering through the trees made me feel like I could fall fast asleep. I felt Michael’s hand as he traced figure eights on my back. What was it about him and his touch that made my toes curl and my skin tingle?
As for the property, there were three buildings that housed half of the rooms available at the hotel. These formed a box around the center of the grounds. The main building, which we were staying in, was three times the size of the others and made up the fourth side of the boxed arrangement. It was its own private oasis: a gorgeous oceanic atmosphere outside the walls, a private and intimate escape for its visitors inside. Every room had a balcony that overlooked the pool and a charming courtyard furnished with several tables and chairs. There was a gigantic two-way fireplace, perfect for cozying up with someone at night, a twelve-foot water wall surrounded by rocks and café style seating, and a spacious gazebo that housed more tables and chairs. It was indeed a perfect location to enjoy a meal or cocktails with someone or to just enjoy some solitude in the sumptuous and stunning ambiance. The pool was large and heated, the hot tub steaming in the cool March air.
“I don’t think I’d ever get sick of staying here.” I sighed as Michael’s arm came around me. His body was warm against mine.
“It really is a gorgeous space.”
I sucked in a breath. “This is it!”
I felt Michael’s laugh before I heard it. “This is what?”
“This is what you need to create.” I turned facing him, my eyes dancing as inspiration hit. “Scratch your original designs and create something like this. The buildings are perfect, and the design is intimate and unique.”
Michael rubbed at his chin in consideration.
“You could still do it bigger.Nottoo much bigger, even though you have the space. But this hotel is awesome. It should be your muse. I could totally see something just like this in Monarch.”
His eyes followed mine as I turned back, looking at everything, checking it out again. “Interesting insight, Ms. Moretti.”
“Is that a yes?” I was about to jump out of my skin and do a happy dance. I was bursting with glee, a smile spreading over my lips, taking over my entire face.
“It’s anI’ll think about it. It’s a sensitive time for development and construction. But”—he took my hand and kissed my palm—“it’s something to consider.” He planted a soft kiss at my temple, then said, “Let’s go get ready for dinner.” He kept his arm around me as we made our way back to our building.
* * *
My temper was steaming even morethan the hot shower I’d just taken. After we had briefly discussed my presentation, I told Michael I was going to take a nap before dinner. Complete and total lie. Instead, I called the girls to fill them in on the last day and a half. They’d really wanted to talk more about Michael, but I needed their help to devise a plan of attack.
I couldn’t believe he had just shut me down like that with his parental and noncommittal tone—“I’ll think about it”—the words every placating parent uses when they mean “No.” I was bristling, knowing that his reaction was because of his father. But if I’d learned anything recently about Michael, it was that I’d have to play it smart, andnice, to work him over to my side. Being irritated or argumentative would not cut it. The girls devised a perfect plan for getting him to see exactly howrightI was.
I felt sexy and confident in the dress I had chosen. Red, one-shouldered, and sexier than anything I’d ever wear to a meeting.
A brisk knock at my door had me hustling. I’d been mentally playing everything out in my head, and I’d lost track of time. Allan Blaire was going to be the demise of me. “Be right there,” I called.
I felt my breath leave my body. There he stood, clean-shaven, dressed to the nines in charcoal gray slacks and a black dress shirt. A sweet aromatic scent mixed with woody notes of cardamom, orange, and fir gave him a wild smell and captured his desire to rule and to conquer. If only he could get out from beneath the shackles his father kept him in. He smelled like amanand looked like sex. Everything about him made my mouth water.
“C-come in. I’m sorry, I’m just running a smidge behind.”
“You look sensational,” he practically growled.
I felt him walk past me, the energy coming off him almost like his hands feathered all over my body even though he hadn’t laid a finger on me. I already felt the pulsating between my legs. My body was hungry for his touch, for his taste, to hear the sounds he made as he pleasured me, to hear his groans as I pleasured him.
“Thank you.”Play it cool. Don’t let him know how much he gets to you.
I felt his eyes on me as I sashayed barefoot to the dresser, put my earrings in, and fastened the clasp of my bracelet—a simple chain of gold with a dangling heart. The charm, with the initialsAJLSengraved on it, a gift to each of us from my grandparents at our high school graduation. I always wore it for good luck, and tonight I needed all the luck I could get. Swaying Michael over to my vision for the hotel was going to be quite the battle. Especially when that meant him fighting his father. Hopefully, he could figure a way to convince his boss when I finally found a way to convince him.
Nude heels sat like obedient little soldiers awaiting their orders. I tossed my hair over my shoulder, stealing a look at him. He held my eyes as I slid my dress open, exposing my leg, showing off the contour of my calf as I raised my foot and slipped it on. His eyes roamed over my body as I shifted my weight and raised the other side of my dress higher than necessary to slip my left foot into the next one. My four-inch fuck-me heels accentuating my legs, my dress hugging every curve of my body, offered me the perfect mix of sensual and sexual. I licked my lips as Michael’s eyes traveled back up my body to my face. “I’m ready.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed.
“Yes. Yes, you are.”
* * *
