by Lynda Chance
He took three steps backwards as they stared at each other, both wildly trying to control the oxygen coming in and out of their lungs. His gaze held hers with an emotion that he kept simmering below the surface, until his eyes dropped to her breasts and his features were transformed by a look of pure satisfaction. The expression on his face sending a shiver down her spine, Maria glanced down and saw the purple bruise he’d left on her skin.
Sucking in a frantic breath at the sight of it, she whirled around, fumbling for the door handle, wanting nothing more than to get the hell out of there. His words stopped her and she froze in place.
“I saw the expression in that motherfucker’s eyes when he looked at you. I didn’t like it, got that? Stay out of his fucking path, Maria, you understand me? Fucker looks like he eats little girls like you for breakfast and you’re not going to be his next goddamn meal, got it?”
She stood facing the door, her back to him, while she tried to breath. It took several seconds, but finally, she was able to regulate her oxygen intake. Not turning around, not deigning to answer him, she walked from his office and shut the door with nothing more than a soft click.
****
Maria didn’t stop until she was upstairs in her private suite. Walking into the bathroom, she pressed the switch until the small room was flooded with bright light. Swallowing hard, she opened the button she’d hurriedly put back into place on her way up. Now, she stood staring at the mark Garret had left on her breast. The mark he’d purposely left on her breast.
Studying the bruise and not understanding the way it was making her insides quiver with butterflies, she began to question her sanity where he was concerned. She ran her trembling fingers over the splash of out-of-place color on her otherwise unblemished skin.
Why was she doing the things she was doing? Why was she taking these chances with him? Granted, there hadn’t been a thing she could do about the visitor he’d had or the way the man had reacted to her, but what had induced her to dress up just to rile Garrett? And even more disturbing than that … why did she know in her heart that she was going to do dress up again tomorrow?
****
Garrett sank into the chair behind his desk and ran his hand down his face. Holy hell. He should have known after he’d broken form and kissed her in the elevator that something like this would happen eventually.
He just hadn’t known it would be this soon.
Who the fuck would have ever suspected that something as simple as another man paying marked attention to her would have sent him off the deep-end? But it damn sure had. That son-of-a-bitch’s eyes on her, the open way the man had been discerning her as if she were fair fucking game—it had sent Garrett over the edge. And combined with that had been her over-the-top sexiness that morning. She’d had no idea he’d been expecting the man, so Garrett knew for a fact that her choice of weapon that morning had been aimed at him, and not his visitor.
What the hell was it about that girl? She kept him unsteady … fuck, almost unstable.
There was something about Maria Alvarez … and he didn’t understand exactly what it was, except for the obvious sexual attraction he felt for her. But there was something else that she had that he admired. And that was making it even more difficult to stay away from her.
He admitted, he didn’t have much to do with any one, single woman on a regular basis. The incident a few years back had soured him on women; he now saw them as expedient for one thing, and one thing only. He just couldn’t trust them. He hadn’t met a single one who had honest intentions.
But Maria? She was about as damn honest as one could get. Granted, it was honest hate and anger that she felt for him, but she damn sure didn’t try to hide her feelings or pretend otherwise. If she was trying to hide stuff, then she was doing a piss poor job.
But now, after this morning, he knew she was up to something. The changes in her today had been subtle, but they’d been meant to land a blow, and damned if she hadn’t hit her mark.
He needed to come to a decision and quickly. The girl was more than competent; she’d been running the hotel more than capably ever since he’d arrived and who the hell knew how long before then. He had to make a decision about the Keys and finish up his business there. But after that, he didn’t need to be in Florida much longer, if at all. If he stuck around, he needed to admit to himself the reason he was staying.
That reason formed like a rolling picture in his head that wrapped around his brain and wouldn’t let go. Maria. Naked. Under him. In his bed. Under his control…
Yeah, his reason for staying was as simple and as complex as that. He wanted her. And he would have her.
Chapter Four
When Maria arrived downstairs the next morning, Beth glanced up from the reservation desk, a somber expression on her face, as if the light had already been extinguished from the day. “He’s not here.”
Knowing exactly who ‘he’ was, Maria let out a slow breath. “Where is he?”
“He went to the Keys, I think to meet that land-developer guy. That Villareal dude is kind of scary, isn’t he?”
“Yeah. I wouldn’t want him for an enemy, that’s for sure. But I’m pretty sure he’s met his match in Garrett.”
Beth nodded her head in agreement. “Garrett said to tell you that he’ll be gone for a few days.”
Maria smiled at the other woman. “Well, yay for us, right?”
Beth gave her a puzzled smile in return but shrugged her shoulders. “If you say so.”
****
Late the next evening, Maria wearily pulled herself out of the water, her arms and legs shaking from the two extra laps she’d added to her routine. Turning to grab a towel from the table, she sucked in a breath at the sight she encountered.
Garrett was leaning against the same chair where he’d been the first time she’d seen him … and he was doing the same thing now as he had been then, staring at her relentlessly. He was fully dressed, didn’t appear to be about to make use of the swimming pool, and she knew he’d sought her out on purpose. Her entire being flooding with something she wasn’t about to try to dissect, she ignored the flutter in her belly. “Hey,” she threw out nonchalantly as she wrapped the towel around her torso, not bothering with her hair.
“Hey,” he grunted back.
As she ran her damp palms down the sides of the towel, she stated the obvious to break the looming silence, “You’re back.”
“I am.” His words were precise and succinct, leaving her no indication of his mood, and at the same time, they kicked the butterflies up to such a degree that it was now impossible to ignore the quivering in her belly.
The fact that her belly was quivering—that only made her want to get away from him, from whatever it was that was making her feel this way. She stood perfectly still, wanting to get to the door but not prepared to have to walk so closely past him to reach it. “So … how was your trip?”
“It sucked shit.”
She glanced at the door again, gauging her possible escape. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled distractedly under her breath.
“Are you really?”
Having no idea how to respond to that, she lifted her shoulders, just once.
His eyes narrowed, as if finally understanding that she wanted to be any other place than where she was standing now. “You want to know why it sucked shit?” he asked impatiently.
Maria had no clue where he was going with this, but she didn’t think she cared to follow, so she shook her head.
Her negative response didn’t stop him from giving her an answer, though. “It sucked shit because Villareal happens to be a player. Evidently, he thought the way to soften me up to his terms was to get me laid.”
The blunt response sent a provocative shiver down her spine for several reasons. One, she didn’t want to think about Garrett getting laid. Two, she didn’t want to acknowledge the reason she didn’t want to think about him getting laid. And three, the question of why he was telling her all of this was scr
ewing with her head and making the butterflies stronger, all at the same time.
When she continued to remain silent, he pushed away from the chair and took several steps towards her, as if he were stalking prey. “You want to know the reason that the thought of getting laid by some random chick in the Keys sucked shit, Maria?”
Quickly, she shook her head. No, she didn’t think she wanted to know. Not if she didn’t want a mess of convoluted crap exploding this very second.
He took another two steps forward and stopped, blasting her with an angry, accusatory look. “Can’t think about fucking anybody but you.” As he scanned her up and down, his words sent a vicious hit to her equilibrium and she put a hand out to the table, balancing herself before she fell over.
He resumed walking toward her and Maria began scooting backwards, until her back hit the tiled wall. Within seconds, he came to stand in front of her, and lifted her chin with a single finger. His voice when he spoke was low, rumbling, “I know this is the point where you start screaming about lawsuits and harassment.” He stared down into her eyes and she began having to fight an almost-overwhelming need to lean into him. His words turned harsher as he continued, “but I don’t want to hear that shit right now. Do me a favor and save it for later.”
Still unable to get her vocal chords to function, all she could do was stand on her own two feet and clutch the towel around her middle while he studied her with penetrating eyes. Roughly, almost violently, he put his hand at the top of the towel and with a smooth, aggressive move, whipped it from her and tossed it away.
Galvanized by his action, she attempted to jerk from his hold, tried to get away and leave, but he sank his fists around her wrists and held her arms down at her sides while he looked her over. His gaze was glued to her breasts, and with a dart of heat, she realized he was looking at the fading bruise on her chest that he was responsible for. “Did it hurt?” he asked in a low, heated voice.
She swallowed, her heart hammering, and forced out an appropriate answer. “No, but you had no right.”
His gaze left her chest and forcefully landed on hers. “You don’t think so?”
“No,” she panted, attempting to wrench away from him again.
His hands clamped down hard, holding her in place and his answer came abruptly. “How fast do you think I’d own the right if I set my mind to it?”
At his words, she grew still as she sucked in a breath, realizing she had little control over her wayward attraction to him. If he gave it his all, as he intimated he might, she’d undoubtedly be doomed before the contest even began.
His fists still holding her wrists, she felt his thumbs begin to caress her skin. “Come on, baby. We both know where this is headed.”
Maria literally felt her eyelids get heavy as her legs began to tremble. Her body might be experiencing a certain physical weakness, but she still retained control of her voice, and she attempted with everything she had to make it strong now. “I’m not going to tell you again. Leave me alone, Garrett.”
A dark cloud descended on his face. “That is not fucking happening.”
Her brain splitting and feeling as if she were losing all control, she attempted to put up a fight. “I’m going to—”
“Yeah, I know,” he interrupted, dragging in a harsh breath. “You want your day in court, got it. Might as well give you some decent ammunition against me.” His gaze slid quickly down her bathing suit to her legs and his muscles seemed to tense where he stood. Holding her wrists hostage, he let out a tormented groan and pushed his torso flush against hers. His erection was full and straining against his pants, pushing into her stomach.
Maria felt a heady delight at the impact, but before too much more could register, he bumped her face up with his chin and took her lips under his. There was nothing gentle about his kiss. It wasn’t rough, or brutal, but it held no gentleness. He simply took her mouth as if he had every right, as if it were his and his alone, as if he’d been doing it for years and years.
With his lips almost smothering hers, his air of self-confidence enveloped her and she realized all at once that that was the one thing that most attracted her to him. He walked into a room and he owned it. He opened his mouth and he owned the attention of everyone around him. His lips fell to hers and he owned her. His body touched hers and he owned her even more so.
Thank God that was something that only she knew. He’d never know, he could never know, not in a million years.
His hands released her and he lifted them to wrap around her face. He tipped her chin, affording himself better access and the kiss deepened. The trembling in her stomach turned into full-blown sexual excitement, and in the recesses of her mind was the thought that if his self-confidence didn’t manifest into such full-blown arrogance, that maybe, just maybe, he’d be the perfect man to have for a lover. Sexy. Dominant. Take-charge.
Certainly her libido was telling her that he was the perfect man as he held her against the wall and continued to kiss her as if it were a given that she’d wind up in his bed. His tongue stroked against hers, learning every inch of her mouth with a dedication and skill that had the oxygen snagging in her lungs. His teeth nipped at her bottom lip, his hand running to her chin and holding her in place as he devoured her. Bottle rockets exploding in her head, she vaguely realized that with him, she was in danger of drowning, in danger of losing her independence, because he was the type of man who’d expect more than a mutually satisfying, sexual relationship. He’d expect to own her, to have full control over her … to dominate her.
Under his onslaught, her brain was only half functioning as she had that thought once again. So it was with no small shock that she suddenly found herself leaning against the tiled wall without any support from him. He’d released her and stepped back, and now stood a few feet away. The look on his face seemed to contain agitation or confusion, as if she’d messed him up somehow. Running his hand through his hair, his features tightened and became the same mask that his face usually reflected.
Her heart skipping a beat at the sudden lack of emotion in his eyes, all she was capable of doing was leaning against the wall while waiting for him to make a move.
She didn’t have to wait long. With an intense, lingering look, he swung around and walked out of the room, the door ringing a loud echo behind him.
****
Maria tiptoed around Garrett the entire next day. He was making her antsy, so much so that she couldn’t stay one hundred percent focused on her job, and that worried the crap out of her. Determined to force him from her brain and resolving to do better at her job, she set out to ignore him.
That evening, the Calderon party was in attendance. The family and their friends were in town for the wedding of one of their grandsons, and Maria was determined to make their stay perfect as well as memorable.
The Calderons were a lovely family. They’d lived in Miami at one time and still had family and friends in the area. The older couple had been coming to the hotel for years, more often than not making a vacation of their stay here, and usually, at some point, having their two grandsons in attendance. Maria was well acquainted with both young men, having gotten to know them off and on through the years.
It was Friday night, and they’d reserved the ballroom for a hotel-catered rehearsal dinner before the small church wedding the next day. Evidently not wanting to step on any toes, they’d not only invited the entire wedding party to the dinner, but all of their out-of-town guests as well. The party was a huge affair, with approximately a hundred and fifty guests.
Before the family’s arrival that afternoon, Maria had inspected their block of rooms one last time. Finding a small fault with only one room, she’d called maintenance but one employee was taking a day of vacation and the other man was resolving an issue with the swimming pool pump. Knowing that the pool problem was more crucial than this, but determined to make these rooms perfect, she hadn’t hesitated, but had gotten on her hands and knees to clean the stain from the carpet he
rself. She didn’t mind helping or the hard work, but the outfit she’d been wearing was now wrinkled and smelled of cleaning fumes.
Glancing at her watch, she slipped to her room to change clothes, knowing that she’d be amongst the partygoers that evening. Letting out a breath, she knew she’d been foolish to think she could have done the cleaning in her best outfit and come out of it unscathed. She’d planned to wear that particular dress tonight; it had been perfect, and, as her clothing pieces were limited, it was about her only choice for the event.
Already knowing her small wardrobe by heart, she steeled her spine and pulled out The Dress as she thought of it, the one garment that somehow transformed her into someone gorgeous when she clearly wasn’t. It was that once-or-twice-in-a-lifetime article of clothing that should somehow be treasured and only brought out for special occasions. An article of clothing that was timeless, that she could own forever if she treated it lovingly and only wore it sparingly. Looking at it now, draped across her bed, she began berating herself for not finding the time to go shopping for new clothes. It wasn’t as if Garrett wasn’t paying her enough now, because suddenly, she could easily afford to shop if she wanted to. If she had time.
Refusing to let the small detail of having to wear The Dress unbalance her, she pulled her clothes off and slipped into the shower.
****
Late that night, Garrett returned to the hotel. He’d been gone most of the day, having felt a need to escape from the unrelenting pull he felt toward Maria. While he’d been gone, he’d done some unnecessary banking and visited several properties in the area. His day out hadn’t helped much; he hadn’t been able to fully get her out of his mind for more than ten minutes at a time.
And that only pissed him off. He was beginning to get a nagging feeling in his gut that was telling him that fucking Maria wouldn’t be enough. Refusing to believe it, or in fact to even allow the thought to take hold, he walked inside the lobby with determined steps. Just one more fucking taste; that should be enough to hold him for the day.