Making Mina Strings Attached(11)

Ivy nodded. “Absolutely. We’ve cataloged everything from your office, and from the safe in the living room. I believe the crew is currently transporting the last items from the salon. Oh, and I ate the last of your pesto,” she grinned and Marco laughed in surprise.

“I’m happy to see that your sense of priorities is in order,” he said. “Good pesto should be valued above rubies.” He gave a conspiratorial wink. “Or at least above pottery shards.”

Mina watched the play between them with more than a little envy. She didn’t think she’d ever be comfortable enough with Marco to act like that.

“I didn’t know when to expect you back,” she said. It came out sounding petulant and she flushed in embarrassment. Marco stepped forward and took her hand.

“If I’d had a better timetable I would have made sure to keep you informed. Sometimes these deals happen suddenly. I will try to stay more connected in the future.” He brushed a kiss across the back of her hand and Mina heard Ivy gasp. She resisted the urge to yank her hand away.

“It wasn’t a problem.” She forced a smile and tried not to breathe a sigh of relief when he released her fingers. “I just would have preferred to be able to complete the work without disturbing your living arrangements.” She nodded at the crates and boxes that still littered the living room. “I hope this isn’t too inconvenient.”

Marco’s eyes lingered a little too long on her lips as she spoke and Mina could feel her flush deepening.

“Your presence is anything but an inconvenience,” he said, his tone warm and caressing. “I’m happy for you to be here for as long as you like.” Mina couldn’t break her gaze away from his, the banked heat there sending a shiver up her spine.

They stood like that until Ivy cleared her throat. Mina stepped back reflexively, trying to put as much distance as she could between her and Marco without looking like she was running away, but the smile that threatened to appear on his face showed that he knew exactly the effect he was having on her.

Ivy’s face was pink under her black hair and she shook her head once as if she didn’t believe what she was seeing.

“Ah,” she started and then stopped to clear her throat before trying again. “I’m going to go downstairs and see if the moving team has gotten the last load of cases secured.” She threw a look at Mina. “You two can finish making whatever arrangements you need to.” She turned and walked to the door, stopping for a moment.

“I’ll meet you downstairs at five, okay?” She raised an eyebrow and Mina nodded in agreement. “Yes, that should give us plenty of time to get there. And thanks,” she pushed a curl out of her face. “For everything.” Ivy smiled—a rare sight—and headed out with another shake of her head. Mina watched her friend wander down the long hallway and marveled at how lucky she was. She knew she’d have to explain everything to her sometime, but for now she just thanked her lucky stars that Ivy was on her side.

Thank you for everything—for all your hard work, for letting me stay with you, for helping me apartment hunt, and especially for not demanding an explanation of the sexual tension between me and the millionaire.

Mina owed her big time.

“You have plans this evening?” Marco’s voice cut sharply through her thoughts, and if Mina didn’t know better she’d say he sounded upset. Maybe he wanted you to himself, her inner voice teased and Mina muffled a snort. Yeah, like I’m going to let that happen.

“Yes,” she said, giving him a fixed smile. “Not to worry. As soon as we can get this last load of crates out of here we will be out of your hair.”

He took a step towards her and she fought her instinct to retreat.

“I told you,” he said, “there is no need to hurry. As a matter of fact, I was hoping that I could persuade you to join me for dinner so you could update me on your progress.”

Mina swallowed. Dinner? So not a good idea…

“I’m sorry.” Her voice cracked and she flushed again. “I’m afraid that’s impossible. Like I said, I already have plans this evening. Perhaps we can arrange a meeting later in the week?”

Marco smiled and Mina felt her heart rate crank up another notch.

“But today is Friday! There is no later in the week. Unless you’d like to make plans for the weekend,” he took another step forward, “in which case I am entirely at your disposal.”

He was standing so close to her now—and he smelled so good, sounded so good—she was fighting every instinct she had not to either run screaming or fling herself at him. She raised a trembling hand to her temple and brushed away an imaginary curl just to keep herself from grabbing him.