Talia rose from her desk, proposal in hand, and headed to Rafe’s office. Her steps faltered when she realized how personal she had referred to him. No, she should go back to referring to him as DeLuca, keeping things uncomplicated. Three days had gone by since that night and, though she’d barely seen him the whole day, she was sure he was going on with his life like nothing had happened, unlike her. She was in her own game of hide and seek, actually a part two of it.
Before, he was the one avoiding her, now she was the one doing the hiding. But enough of that, she needed her proposal approved and signed. On the yacht, he’d told her to brief the proposal into one page and she’d done just that in three short paragraphs. For her presentation, she had only three minutes to convince him that the project would benefit the company and she was sure she’d done that too. Now the only thing that was left was presenting it to him and there was no way she wan
He slowly shook his head. “That’s the thing. Sex doesn’t fix it, otherwise you would have walked in on a whole lot more.” He exhaled heavily, taking a step back, “I tried that countless times before I came here.”Talia wasn’t quite sure what to say or do. This was a side of him she had never seen. In fact, she was sure he had never shown anyone this version of him. The mask was completely off and he looked lost, frustrated and tired. Was he at the edge of his rope? Why had he chosen to reach out to her?“How do you feel?” she asked concerned, her foot sliding forward, wanting to go to him.He ran a hand through his hair with a heavy sigh, disheveling it and it was like the action stripped him of the last layer of control he had clearly been holding onto tight with both hands. He looked utterly and completely worn out.“Exhausted, annoyed, antsy, depleted.”He sounded like it. He also
Talia stretched as she slowly came out of slumber. A muscle in her neck pinched and she winced, wondering if it was time to get a new pillow. As she opened her eyes, she realized her surroundings were unfamiliar to her.Where am I? she questioned as she tried to push herself up onto her elbow. Then suddenly she stilled when something moved behind her, almost bumping her arm right from under her. She looked down to see a large sleeved arm next to hers.Her eyes went wide. I guess it is safe to presume that that was the pillow.She squeezed her eyes shut and bit the inside of her cheeks. No, no, no, no, no! First, she took stock of her clothes, running her free hand over them and sighing in relief when she found everything still in place. Then, slowly, she turned her head to look behind her, trying to not make any sudden movements that would wake him. That was the last thing she needed. There was no need to turn too far, the man
“Signore.” Rafe gave a small grunt of acknowledgement when Enzo called out to him, his mind focused on the paperwork in front of him. It had been a long time since he’d felt energized and not forced to work. He was going to capitalize on that before things went back to normal. “You look different.” That got his attention. With his brows pulled together, he looked up at Enzo where he stood across from him on the other side of the mahogany desk and asked, “What do you mean?” Lips pulled, eyebrows raised, he answered, “Relaxed, rested… unlike your normal self.” One side of Rafe’s lips rose in half a smile. He looked relaxed and rested? He sat still and thought on those words and, truly enough, he didn’t feel that ton of weight on his shoulders, his chest didn’t feel packed and congested and he didn’t have that headache that had become normal to him. He was lighter, freer and if he could dare to say, happy. He hadn’t felt happy for the hell of being happy in a very long time. That was
She fought harder to break free but he only tightened his hold, wrapping his other arm around her to cage her in. When it was clear to her that he wouldn’t budge, she gave up with a slap at his chest followed by a glare that could reduce a lesser man to a whimpering fool. He wasn’t that. In fact, the sexual charge running through him made him even more arrogant.“Permission? No. Consultation? Most definitely.” He lowered his head and kissed her then, punishingly.She gasped in his mouth and pushed at him. He moved his other arm to wrap around her shoulders and held her firmly against him, not even air could pass between them. Her protests then changed as she fiercely kissed him back, rising and sliding up his body, as her pelvis pushed up seeking his. He lost it then.Rafe dropped his hands to her waist and hoisted her up. Her legs wrapped around his waist immediately. One moment of sanity told him that his door was still open. Yes, it wa
Elbows on the desk, thumbs at her temple and her other fingers intertwined over the forehead of her bowed head, covering her shame-filled face she said, “Carrie, I’m losing my mind.” She chuckled dryly. “No,” she continued, “I already lost it.”“Where? I’ll help you look for it,” she sniggered.Talia knew Carrie was trying to be funny but there was nothing the least bit funny about what had happened last night. Hot, mind blowing, and a little embarrassing, but not funny.“DeLuca’s office floor.”The sniggering stopped and Talia could almost hear Carrie’s mind work as what she’d said churned in her head, processing those three words and reading in between the lines. She felt a hand wrap around her wrist and begin to pull. Talia tensed her muscles, refusing to budge.“I’m sorry. I don’t think I heard you right!” Carrie yelled in a shrill
Talia’s blood ran cold as she sat frozen in her seat. Then just as quickly her body flushed as the memories of the previous night invaded her thoughts. This can’t be happening! Her mind screamed at her. She wasn’t ready to step into that office again just yet. The shame was still too fresh.“Why?” she squeaked.His brows pinched together confused and she realized then it would have been better if she hadn’t sounded like a mouse in a trap when she asked that.“You’ll find out once you go.”That was just it, she was scared to. What if what he wanted was that sequel Carrie was so excited over?“Do I have to?” she asked. The words quietly slipped out without a thought.“Any reason not to?”That caught her guilty ass by surprise. What was she doing? The last thing she needed was anyone getting suspicious about her and DeLuca’s… interaction.
Rafe glared at the closed door, his good mood disappearing as fast as she’d ran from him. That hadn’t happened as he’d expected, but then again neither had last night. He had an inkling of the type of woman she was, but he'd thought that she would want to be with him as much as he wanted to be with her, or for the very least to cling to him. He’d had women glue themselves to him for much less than a kiss and they’d, they’d gone beyond just a kiss, though not far enough. But still! He’d never given a wider opening to anyone to get what they wanted from him. He was more than ready to give her whatever she wanted, he even signed the proposal without reading it for crying out loud! Not his finest moment, but at the instance he wanted something priceless from her, so parting with a few million a year was worth it. Had last night meant nothing to her? It had meant everything to him. For one, he’d slept again, not as well as he had with her i
“I can’t believe you are here with me, again!” Carrie shouted over the loud music as she jumped around to the beat. Talia nodded, amazed herself. She was more of a jazz lounge kind of girl, and yet here she was again, at a club, skimpily dressed again, hoping to get Rafael DeLuca out of her mind, again. What was wrong with her? He was just a man, and yet he had her doing things she normally wouldn’t, like having an orgasm on the boss’ office floor. Talia ran her hand down the single braid of her hair. She needed to figure her life out. She needed to get a grip on reality and her sanity. Nothing good could come of it. “Instead of getting an ulcer over it, why don’t you just get it over with?!” “Get what over with?” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t act stupid. You know what I mean. Sleep with him.” Talia glared at her friend, wondering again, how they became and remained friends for so long. Carrie was way too liberal when it came to sex and Talia was not. She still believed in the one a