“I almost slept with him.”Talia made the announcement in the dark and noisy dance floor of the club to Carrie. After agonizing and overthinking about what had happened on DeLuca’s yacht the previous night, she’d decided to join her friend on her weekend club hopping, hoping the loud music and dancing, and of course the alcohol, would help take her mind off things, but she just couldn’t get over the frustration of that night. What annoyed her most was she wasn’t sure what frustrated her most: the almost that never happened or what happened that led to the almost.“I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you right.” Carrie stopped bobbing and turned fully to face her, her brows raised right up to her hairline.Talia took a sip of her martini and said again, “I said, I almost slept with him.”Carrie’s head reared back and she blinked several times before she chuckled, an evil snarky laug
Rafe stood, stretching from the chair he’d been glued to for over ten hours now, and turned to sit on the desk, his back to the closed door, as he watched the sky turn a burned orange through the floor to ceiling glass wall that had always been behind him. He always ignored it, but now it had his full attention. He never once looked out of this glass wall and at the beautiful view it provided since he arrived. He always had the shutters down and the lights and air conditioner turned on for light and air circulation.Why exactly was that? He wasn’t one to get distracted easily. He also wasn’t well known to pay attention to things he believed inconsequential or not worth his time. He snorted sadly at himself. He was too busy with important things to waste his attention. But now, with this deep hole in his chest, he wondered if it would have made some difference if he’d just paused once in a while.He sighed heavily, as he looked o
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