Mister Irresistible: Bachelor International Book 2

by Me, Tara Sue

  I could ignore her question and try to change the subject to something else.

  I ended up telling her the truth. “If I’d read the email, and learned you were my match, I’d have called either Tenor or Mia and explained that you and I had met once before. That I was still wanting to have the date with you, but that they needed to get your approval first.”

  “That’s what you would have done?” It looked like her eyes were a bit teary, but surely that was only my imagination. Why would Wren cry over a man she kicked out of her life years ago?

  “Yes,” I said, desperately wanting to know what answer she’d have given Tenor or Mia in that situation, but again being too damn scared to ask for fear of my little bird flying away once again.

  It had been hard enough when she left me five years ago.

  Chapter 6

  Luca

  Five years ago

  “What do you mean she’s not a patient anymore?” I half yelled at the woman behind the desk. I knew, of course, she was just the messenger. She wasn’t the one who’d released Wren from the hospital. Unfortunately for her, though, she was the only person I could talk to at the minute. “I was just here two hours ago and there was nothing said about her being released today.”

  I’d been nearly living at the hospital for the past several days. Spending most of my time in the tiny waiting area because Wren refused to see me. She’d actually refused all visitors, so it wasn’t as if she’d singled me out. I couldn’t stand the thought of her being in a hospital room alone. By herself, in a strange country, with people speaking a language she knew very little of.

  And no one was talking about what happened or what sort of injuries she had.

  Ski accident was all I heard. Ski accident. That was it. And that told me nothing.

  The woman at the desk refused to get into an argument with me, which only made me more furious. Just as I was getting ready to launch another question at her, a door off to the side opened, and a tiny woman in a long white doctor’s coat stepped out.

  “Mr. Botticelli?” she asked.

  “Yes,” I replied, the fact that she knew my name momentarily cooling my rage.

  “Come with me, please.” She spoke in a commanding tone I’d not pictured someone of her stature having and turned without waiting or looking to see if I’d follow.

  I hurried to catch up with her, needing to get to the door before it closed. She continued down the hall then made a right turn before stopping at the door of a small office.

  Once we were both inside, she moved behind a desk to sit and pointed to a chair in front. “Have a seat.”

  I sat gingerly, leery about why I’d been brought back into this office.

  “I am Dr. Ricci, and I was the primary doctor for Wren.”

  I nodded.

  “Just so you are aware, anything I tell you, she gave me permission to pass along to you. Understand?”

  I nodded again.

  “Wren was discharged today because we have done all we can for her, medically, and she wanted to return home to the US as soon as possible.”

  I glanced at my watch, wondering if I left the hospital now, if I could make it to the airport and catch up with her before she took off.

  “In case you’re thinking about doing anything foolish,” she said. “You should know that her plane has already taken off. My specific instructions were not to tell you anything until I was notified that she had left the country.”

  I narrowed my eyes, not quite believing her. “I wasn’t aware international travel could be arranged so quickly.”

  “As I’m sure you know, the resort where the accident occurred has a certain reputation it would like to uphold. It was in their best interest to ensure this matter was dealt with as quickly and as quietly as possible.”

  I disliked this office and this doctor more and more with every passing second. “What you’re saying is the resort wanted to get Wren out of the country as quickly as possible so she couldn’t raise a stink?”

  “I’m merely saying both sides got what they wanted, Mr. Botticelli.”

  “What is it Wren wanted you to tell me?”

  “That she knows you’ve been staying here at the hospital, and that her wishes about seeing you have not changed. She requests that you not try to find or contact her.” She took a deep breath. “I suggest you abide by her wishes. Wren has a tough road ahead of her. I’m afraid because of the amount of physical therapy she’ll need, it’s going to be a very long and painful road.”

  “Physical therapy?” I asked. “What kind and for how long? She’s a dancer. That’s what she loves.”

  “I’m afraid I’ve given you all the information I’m allowed, Mr. Botticelli.”

  “But you didn’t give me anything!”

  She leveled her gaze at me. “Are you going to make me call security?”

  It was useless to attempt to get anything else out of her. The hardened lines of her face told me she wasn’t bluffing about calling security, either. “No,” I said to her. “I’m leaving.”

  I tried everything I could think of to track Wren down. Every resource I had, I used. Every favor I could collect on, I called in. I worked day and night to find her. Months later, the only thing I had to show for my efforts was a long line of dead ends.

  “She doesn’t want to be found,” Carmella told me, one day about three months after Wren had left. I’d just received a report back from the last investigator I had actively searching. As much as I wanted to think differently, I knew Carmella was right.

  The time had come to cut my losses and accept the fact that Wren didn’t want to be found. The truth was crushing, and part of me hated myself for allowing anyone to have such an impact on my life.

  “Why don’t you come to mama’s for dinner tonight?” Carmella asked. “She’s always asking after you, and she’d be delighted to see you and so would Gianna.”

  I swallowed my snort. I was certain Carmella’s mama would be more than delighted to see me. She’d probably dance in the streets. She’d been trying to subtly and not so subtly push me together with Carmella since we were five. Carmella, on the other hand, wanted me for her best friend, Gianna, who spent so much time at Carmella's house, they could be sisters.

  “I couldn’t do that,” I said. “I’d hate to impose on her.”

  “Please.” Carmella rolled her eyes. “You know how much she cooks. There’s no way you could be an imposition.”

  While we were both correct, I didn’t want to be an imposition, and her mother always made enough to feed a small country. My actual concern was something completely different. If I showed up at her house for dinner, the news would be all over the grapevine within minutes. Someone would alert my sister, Maria, and in less than an hour, she’d be planning my wedding.

  On the other hand, Gianna would be there. Though we had dated off-and-on throughout the years, she scoffed along with me whenever anyone tossed a hint our way about marriage.

  Maybe Gianna was exactly what I needed at the moment. Someone to distract me from life for a few hours. I hadn’t talked with her much since Wren left, but like Carmella said, my little bird had no plans to return. Even if she did, how would she be able to find me?

  “Gianna will be there?” I asked.

  Carmella nodded.

  “I think I will,” I told her. After all, what could it hurt?

  I learned that night never to ask that question again.

  Chapter 7

  Wren

  I was sure somewhere there was an etiquette guide on how to make small talk with a man you thought was The One, but in the end turned out not to be. Surely there was. Someone had to have written it, if for no other reason than to help their own self.

  But if they had, I’d never found it. All I knew was that I was sitting almost entirely in Luca’s lap. Not that he seemed to have a problem with my current position, but I thought it’d be best to leave no doubt in his mind that nothing of the sort was on my mind.


  Well, it was, but I wouldn't admit that to him.

  I placed the half empty water bottle down on the floor at our feet and shifted my body so it wasn’t touching his any more. Luca frowned and I seriously considered scooting back closer to him. Not because of his frown, but because of how cold the parts of me that had been touching him became.

  I told myself to deal with it. I’d lived the last five years without the warmth of Luca’s touch, I wasn’t going to shatter into a million pieces at its absence now. At least I hoped I didn’t. Luca lifted his hand, and for a split second, I thought he would touch me. My breath caught in my throat because I wanted it so badly. I allowed memories I’d forbidden myself to remember flood my mind. My eyes closed as I recalled the way his fingers had once swept across my skin. His insistence on not leaving one inch of my body untouched had awoken me like no one else.

  Aware I’d probably start moaning if I didn’t think about something else, I opened my eyes. Luca sat at my side, leaning forward with his fingers entwined. Waiting?

  For me?

  I cleared my throat to get his attention. “I’m feeling much better if you want to head to the reception now.”

  He glanced at his watch. “The reception ended about ten minutes ago, and I’m sure they’ve started dinner service.”

  “Do you want to try to make the dinner?”

  “No, I don’t want to arrive late.”

  I winced. “I’m sorry. I totally screwed up your night.”

  “You did no such thing,” he said.

  I wasn’t sure how he possibly came to that conclusion. Not logically, anyway. Of course I’d screwed up his night. At that very moment, he was supposed to be having dinner, and instead, he was sitting in the lobby with me because I’d passed flat out when I recognized him. I opened my mouth to tell him that very thing, but he stopped me.

  “I didn’t want to go that stuffy reception and dinner to begin with, so I should thank you for giving me an excuse not to attend. And trust me, if I really wanted to be there, I would go.”

  I nodded. That made sense. “What do we do now?” I asked. The shock of seeing him again had faded somewhat and it was sinking in that Luca was here, in Boston, sitting beside me. My mind had tricked itself over the years that Luca was nothing, and meant nothing, but my heart had done no such thing, and not only was it aware of how close he was, but it was alerting my body to that very fact.

  He turned to face me more fully, and I knew immediately he felt the same. “I don’t know,” he said. “All I know is I don’t want our evening to end right now.”

  I dipped my head briefly. “Me either, but I don’t want to talk about the past tonight.” I looked up to see if he understood and felt the same.

  I couldn’t tell if he understood or not. All his expression conveyed to me was he was fighting a war inside. What was he battling? Had I read him wrong?

  “But, you know,” I said to give him an out. “If you don’t want to do anything, it’s okay. I understand. I mean—”

  He interrupted by taking my face in hands and pressing his lips to mine in a kiss that spoke of his own longings over the years we’d been apart. I let myself get lost in his kiss and shut the door in my mind to keep anything other than the moment and Luca outside.

  The broken part of me tried to give a warning. Tried telling me I’d already walked down this road once and that the second journey would not end any differently. I slammed the door in its face. I’d already been about as broken as a person could be. If tonight was all Luca and I had, I planned to grab onto it with both hands and hold on for as long as possible.

  He broke the kiss, but kept his hands on me, as if he feared I’d run if given the chance, and when he spoke, his voice was labored. “Come to my room. We can order room service.”

  I remembered the days and nights we’d spent in his room in Italy. We’d stayed locked away from the real world, either wrapped up with each other in bed, or just lounging around, talking. Every so often we’d leave so he could show me around his country, or we’d find a quiet and out of the place to eat when we grew tired of room service. It had been the best period of time in my life, and now, for one night at least, I could have those days back.

  There really was no decision to make.

  “No talking?” I asked, just to be certain.

  He pulled back enough to look into my eyes. “We won’t do anything you don’t want to.”

  He’d broken my heart in Italy. It’d probably be shattered again when he left, but at the moment I didn’t care. I’d lived five years without him, but not a day went by that I didn’t think about him, didn’t long for him, and that I didn’t regret the way I’d left things.

  This wouldn’t be a do-over because those were impossible. What it would be was a do again. A better option in my mind, anyway.

  He still held my face in his hands, but his forehead was wrinkled. Did he think I was going to say no? I nearly laughed. There was no probability of that happening. “Lead the way.”

  His eyes widened in surprise. He had thought I was going to turn him down. “Are you sure?” he asked.

  I felt emboldened by his uncertainty. I slipped my hands from where they rested around his shoulders, down his back, until they rested just above his ass. His eyes grew dark with need, causing mine to do the same. All said, we probably weren’t being entirely appropriate for being in public, but at the moment I didn’t care.

  I kept my hands where they were, holding him in place, and I shifted my hips, pressing myself against him. He sucked in a breath as I moved against his erection. My own caught in my throat at the same time. I’d forgotten how large he was.

  “Be sure, Wren.”

  “I’ve never ached for anyone the way I ache for you,” I told him. “In fact, the only thing I’m sure about at this moment is how much I want you to take me to your room.”

  Chapter 8

  Luca

  I no longer felt as if I resided in the real world. It seemed more likely I’d somehow stepped through a portal or a wormhole or something similar and ended up in an alternate universe. There was no other way to explain how Wren was in my arms. I’d never before felt like I needed to ask someone to pinch me to ensure I wasn’t sleeping.

  But even in my dreams, Wren had never appeared to me so open, so soft, so needy. I wanted to kiss her again, but she’d asked for me to take her to my room, and I told myself I could wait until we were no longer in public to have my lips on her again.

  Though I’d already asked and she’d confirmed that yes, she was certain my room was where she wanted to go; I hesitated. Only for a half second, but it was a half second she picked up on.

  “Unless you don’t want to?” she asked.

  Idiot, I scolded myself. Now she thought I didn’t want her, when in fact, that couldn’t be further from the truth. I wanted her too much. So much that I’d trade anything to have another chance with her.

  “There’s nothing I want more,” I assured her.

  To prove it, I slipped my hand into hers. She gave me a little smile, and we made our way across the lobby to the elevator bank. While we waited, I couldn’t stop myself from stroking my thumb across her knuckles. Her skin felt softer, and I couldn’t help but wonder what other differences there were between the Wren I knew then and the woman currently at my side.

  Though I’d vowed to myself I would wait until we were alone and locked behind the privacy of my suite’s doors before I placed my lips on her again, I made no such promise about the other parts of my body. My hands had to be on her somewhere. It didn’t matter how. I’d be just as happy holding her hand as I’d be with my arm wrapped around her shoulders or waist. As long as we were touching in some way, I’d survive not having my lips on her just yet. At least for a minute or two.

  She’d made it very clear that talking was out of the question. I had no problem going along with her request, however, I wanted to tease her about it. Several people got into the elevator with us, and since we’d b
e the last to get off, I pulled her into a back corner.

  Once the doors closed, I lowered my head to her ear and whispered, “I’m going to need a bit of clarification on the no talking rule. Do you mean no talking about certain subjects or no talking period?”

  She tried to look around me. I supposed to see if anyone overhead, but I blocked her way.

  “Is dirty talking allowed?” I asked and nibbled on her ear. “Am I allowed to say that even though you look sexy as hell in that dress, I can’t wait to get it off of you?”

  “Luca,” she half moaned in warning, but I wasn’t about to stop.

  “Is asking you a question off limits? Or can I ask how you want to take my cock the first time?”

  I took a step closer to her, meaning to ask her something else when she pulled my head down and whispered, “To answer your third question, yes, it’s allowed, and to answer your fifth, I want it so hard and so deep, there’s no way I’ll look back and think this is all a dream tomorrow.”

  It took all I had not to push her against the wall, hike her gown up to her waist, and take her there in the elevator. “I believe that can be arranged.”

  By that time, we were the only ones left on the elevator. I stepped back, wanting to put space between us for at least the next little bit. We’d waited this long, surely we could wait the handful of minutes it would take to get into my room. The doors of the elevator opened silently, and we stepped into the cool air of the hallway.

  There were only six guest rooms on the floor, and I placed my hand low on Wren’s back to steer her to the correct door. Within seconds, we were inside, picking up where we had left off. Her hands slid down my back as I worked to unzip her gown.

  Even though we were both adults, and we were doing something we’d both agreed to, I couldn’t help but think we should talk. Wren had been the one to suggest otherwise, and I hadn’t verbalized any objections, but it didn’t sit right with me. We’d had ten crazy, passionate days together, and I’d fallen harder and faster than I’d ever thought possible. Yet, she’d been able to move on as if it had been nothing to her.