“You saw me last night?”
Her and her big mouth! Why couldn’t he have just gone on just kissing her? “Er...at the lobby. Briefly.”
He quirked an eyebrow arrogantly. “And you noticed my socks?”
“It was noticeable,” she said lamely.
“Strange. I didn’t see you.”
“There were lots of people milling about.” And there was a potted plant.
“A pity. Think of all the hours we’ve wasted.” He pierced her with a glittering stare that made Sabrina’s satiated body hum to life again. “We could’ve been in bed since last night.”
He walked to her, his long, sinewy limbs graceful and predatory. He stood right in front of her opened legs then dropped to his knees. “Bellisima,” he whispered, looking his fill. “I think I would like to have you painted like this, strega, open, glistening, and wet. Just for me.” He declared the last sentence with a hint of possessiveness. Before she could think whether she liked it or not, he was reaching down and Sabrina saw him freeing his cock from the confines of his underwear.
She gulped. She wasn’t a virgin, but she had only one sexual experience in her life. The memory was hazy, just a lot of bungling between two kids who didn’t know what they were doing. She knew it was in poor taste to compare but Chase wasn’t as big as him, not by a long shot, no pun intended.
He fisted his cock and rose slightly on his knees, and Sabrina closed her eyes like the virgin that she wasn’t at what was coming next.
“What did I tell you?” he rasped.
Her lids shot open. “Eyes on you.”
“I want to see your eyes the moment I take you.” He grasped her inner thighs and just as he was about to plunge inside her, the doorbell rang.
They both froze.
Luca let out a staccato of angry Italian. “It’s probably room service. Ignore it.”
But the doorbell kept ringing and the mood had been broken. Sabrina planted her shoes on the carpet, righted her skirt, and pulled up the strap of her dress with trembling fingers. Luca pulled up his pants, swearing bilingually.
She watched him stride to the door, his movements jerky. He yanked at the doorknob violently, his mouth opening to blister the hapless hotel staff. He stilled.
“Luca!” A femine voice trilled by the doorway.
Chapter 6
A woman in a skirt and suit pushed past Luca into the room, stopping abruptly midway inside the foyer when she spotted Sabrina rising from the couch. Dark, curved brows drew together in a slash above a pair of heavily tinted sunglasses. Full lips painted a muted beige pink flattened into a thin line. If the woman were a cat, her fur would have bristled. She advanced slowly but inexorably towards Sabrina, clutching a black rectangular bag that looked like a laptop bag. Her heavy cloud of perfume advanced and choked Sabrina like a heavy mist.
She heard the click of the hotel door being shut and glanced behind the woman’s shoulder. Luca was striding towards her direction, his face unreadable. He swept past the new arrival and retrieved his shirt off the couch, buttoning it without any hint of self-consciousness that he had an audience.
Sabrina's cheeks burned. She wished she could be as blasé as Luca. They burned hotter when she spied her panties on the floor near the bar. Shit. She shot Luca a wild glance and tipped her head subtly to where the incriminating evidence lay. His gaze followed her prompt, and one side of his lip pulled up mockingly. He turned to her and did a one-shoulder shrug.
“Clearly I'm interrupting something.” The woman’s tone was bland, her English accented. She had concluded immediately that Sabrina was a foreigner.
She was studying her behind those inscrutable sunglasses, and Sabrina pulled herself straighter to meet her scrutiny straight on.
“You weren’t picking up your phone.” It took a few seconds for her to realize she was addressing Luca while still observing her. “Chiara wanted me to go over the press kit with you one final time before Markos sees it.” Her dark hair was bundled in a tight chignon. The woman oozed confidence and professionalism.
Sabrina felt…rumpled. She glared beyond the woman’s shoulder. Luca was pouring himself a drink. Her panties were still on the floor. Jerk.
“I’m sure everything is perfectly in order with you in charge.” Luca’s tone was mild, but was there a frisson of something Sabrina couldn’t put her finger on.
The stranger’s mouth pulled into a wide smile, baring her perfect teeth. “Thank you for that vote of confidence.” She was still staring at Sabrina. It was downright rude. “But both Chiara and I would like you to go over it one last time.”