Her breezy, efficient tone made him smile. ‘Hi, it’s me,’ he said, settling back against the seat. ‘How are things with you?’
He listened as she started to give him a run-down on the office. He’d hardly been in today but by the sounds of things she had kept everything running smoothly.
‘How did your meetings go?’ she asked when she had run out of the day’s events.
‘Fine. All finished. I’m caught up in traffic. I’ll be at least another hour.’
‘OK; well, don’t worry—I’ll lock up here—’
‘No, you are going to have to wait for me,’ he cut across her firmly. ‘We have things to sort out before I go to Edinburgh.’
‘Can it wait?’
Her brisk tone had gone now and he could hear the caution creeping in.
‘No, Charlie, it can’t.’ He hung up.
Charlie went down to Marco’s kitchen and switched the kettle on. There wasn’t much else to do. She had finished all the filing and had even made a start on tomorrow’s jobs.
As she waited she glanced around at the kitchen with new eyes. Although she had been in here a hundred times before, she had never paid much attention to her surroundings other than to admire the expensive fittings, the pale ash cupboards and the black granite worktops. Now she was looking at it all with new eyes.
She was trying to picture herself and Jack here and it was surprisingly easy. If she said yes to Marco they would sit as a family at the kitchen table, laughing and talking … She could even see Marco and Jack playing football in the garden and racing the remote-control cars out on the patio. There was no doubt that the two liked each other. She had watched them together over these last couple of weeks and there was an easy rapport between them that couldn’t be faked.
In fact, Marco’s patience with Jack had completely surprised her. For an inveterate bachelor he was remarkably good with children.
Not that that should make any difference to her answer. It was a definite plus that Jack and Marco got on but she couldn’t say yes just because of that.
But there were other positive points in favour of saying yes, a little voice reminded her unequivocally. For a start there was the fact that she wanted to go back into Marco’s arms. Every night she lay in bed and she ached for him.
She had felt lonely after Greg had left her—in fact, she had thought she was heartbroken, but it was nothing to the gaping great chasm she had inside her now.
It didn’t matter how many times she told herself that she should have more self-respect than to love a man who didn’t return the feelings. She still wanted him, and she still loved him.
And that was why her answer had to be no, she reminded herself fiercely as she spooned some coffee into a pot. She couldn’t live a lie, pretending to be emotionally detached, pretending she didn’t care that Marco saw her in terms of practicalities rather than love. She should never have weakened and said she’d think about it. Because when she did get the strength to say no again he’d probably think she had been stringing him along. But she hadn’t, she just couldn’t bring herself to say the word and make the sensible choice.
She could tell recently that he was becoming impatient. And by the tone of his voice on the phone just now it sounded as if they had reached crunch point. She could have tried to stall him by telling him she had to get home for Jack, but the truth was that Jack was sleeping over at Karen’s house tonight, as it was her son’s birthday party. And anyway she couldn’t in all conscience put this off any longer.
The sound of the front door opening jarred on her senses like a starter gun. This was it; there was no more room for prevarication. Sorry, Marco … she practised the words in her head. The answer is still no …
‘I’m in the kitchen, Marco,’ she called out as she heard him cross the hall. She heard his footsteps change direction and stop in the doorway. She could feel his eyes on her back.
‘I’d finished everything upstairs so I thought I’d make a drink. Would you like one?’ So much for not prevaricating, she thought deprecatingly.
‘No, thanks.’ His voice was brusque.
She didn’t look around, and just continued to pour the boiling water over the coffee grains. The rich aroma suddenly reminded her of mornings in Italy and the heat of their passion. Don’t think about that, she warned herself sternly.
He walked towards her and then reached across to put an envelope down on the counter beside her.
‘What’s that?’ she asked warily.
‘Air tickets: I booked you a flight from Heathrow to JFK on the 20th of the month.’
She looked down at the envelope and made no attempt to pick it up or to move.
‘I want you there in your capacity as my PA. But I also want you there as my partner.’
He put a hand on her shoulder and turned her firmly to face him. And suddenly she was very close to him … too close, in fact. His body was just a whisper from hers.
She looked up at him and wanted to drown in the darkness of his eyes.
‘I’ve waited long enough for your answer. I need to know now.’ He reached and touched her face. The whisper-soft caress made her senses soar. ‘Will you move in with me?’
‘I think it’s too big a step … too great a risk.’ She tried to focus on the practicalities of the situation, just as he had advised. ‘I’ve worked very hard to be independent and if I sell my house and things go wrong with you—’
‘Don’t sell it.’ He cut across her decisively. ‘Hold on to it and rent it out.’
‘So if it doesn’t work out between us I just move back in as if nothing has happened?’ Her voice held an edge of derision.
‘It’s just a security net.’ Marco shrugged. ‘I’m confident you won’t need it. Things will work out,’ he said calmly.
‘I don’t know how you can be so sure. You lived with someone once before … and that didn’t work out did it—’
‘That was different,’ he said dismissively.
‘How was it different?’ She looked up at him and willed him to give her one shred of evidence that he might learn to love her the way she loved him. All this businesslike discussion when he was so close was just tearing her apart. She longed for some emotion … some wild declaration of feelings.
‘Some relationships aren’t meant to progress beyond an affair. But you and I have something real … something solid to build on.’ His eyes moved over her countenance searchingly.
It should have been enough but it wasn’t. She took a deep, shuddering breath. ‘Marco—’
‘I want you, Charlie …’ he murmured huskily.
Her heart bounced unsteadily against her chest at the sudden words.
God, she wanted him too. Did it really matter that he was talking in practicalities to her? Greg had given her all the words of love in the world and they hadn’t meant a thing in the end.
Tears prickled behind her eyes.
‘OK, I’ll join you in the States but—’ She had been going to say that they could talk after that about moving in together.
His lips on hers abruptly silenced the words. At first the kiss was gently searching, and then suddenly it became hungrily possessive, plundering her softness with brutal, forceful intensity.
‘No more prevarication, Charlie … you’ll join me in the States on my terms and then on my return you will join me here in this house and in my bed.’
His mood was dangerously forceful, but the really frightening part was that she started to yield to him instantly.
‘Maybe … we could give things a try …’ Her arms wound up and around his neck.
‘That’s better …’ There was a smug satisfaction in his tone at her acquiescence. ‘I don’t know how I’ve waited this long for you …’ He murmured the words huskily against her lips. ‘You’ve been playing a very dangerous game with me, Charlie …’
‘I don’t play games.’ She felt almost delirious with need as he trailed fiercely heated kisses down her neck. ‘I’ve made one mista
ke in my life and I’m just scared of making another.’
He pulled away from her a little and looked into her eyes. ‘I know you’ve been badly hurt in the past. And perhaps deep down you believe that you are still a little in love with your ex.’ He put a finger on her lips, silencing her protests. ‘It doesn’t matter … your ex-husband is in the past, Charlie, and I know you are sensible enough to realise those feelings aren’t reliable. What we have is real … it’s sensible and it will work.’
The word sensible might have jarred on her except for the way he was looking at her and the tone of his voice. She was aware that his hands were high around her waist and that his thumbs were stroking the edge of her bra.
‘Now …’ his hands moved and he swiftly started to unfasten the buttons on her blouse ‘… I’ve got four hours to kill before heading to the airport. Let’s seal the deal and go to bed.’
‘You are totally outrageous, Marco …’ She trailed off as he leaned forward and kissed her with a slow, seductive passion that rocked her world completely.
‘Outrageously hungry for you …’ He growled the words close to her ear.
The jacket of her suit fell to the floor and then her skirt was being unzipped before it joined her jacket. Her bra was quickly removed as she felt his hot lips move down towards her soft curves.
Charlie raked her fingers through the darkness of his hair. She was beyond any reasonable, sensible thoughts now. All she could do was give in wholeheartedly to the feelings of desire that were suddenly raging out of control inside her.
Sex with Marco was incredibly enjoyable and satisfying but also completely exhausting, Charlie thought with a smile as she lay in his arms.
She remembered how things had got completely out of control between them in the kitchen. He had ripped her clothes off whilst kissing her and touching her with an expertise in seduction that blew her mind. The very memory made her blush. She had pictured many things in that kitchen but she hadn’t pictured herself naked, with Marco taking pleasure in her against the counter-tops!
It had been crazy and wild and wonderful and then he had brought her upstairs to his bedroom and had taken her all over again. She was still breathless and still gathering her senses.
‘I’m going to have to go. I haven’t packed and I’ve got to be at the airport in an hour.’ He gave her a swift kiss on the forehead before pulling away from her.
She watched as he walked over towards his wardrobes and opened them. He was completely unselfconscious about his nakedness, she noticed. Although it was no wonder really because he had an incredibly perfect body. It made her marvel all over again that Marco wanted her. He really wanted her. It didn’t matter to him that her body wasn’t perfect or that she wasn’t a model-like beauty. He liked her the way she was.
The knowledge made her glow inside or maybe that was just the after-effects of some very stimulating lovemaking, she thought with a smile.
Marco took out a suit and hung it on the side of the door. Then he went into the en suite bathroom.
Charlie took the opportunity to get out of bed and retrieve her clothes that were scattered on the floor. She had just put on her underwear when he appeared back in the room, a towel wrapped around his waist.
She felt shy suddenly as his eyes swept over her figure, which was absurd, given the circumstances.
‘Do you have to go and pick up Jack?’ he asked casually.
‘No, he’s at my friend’s house for the night.’ She reached for her blouse and quickly put it on.
‘So we could have had the night together if I wasn’t rushing off?’
She nodded.
‘That’s unfortunate.’ He shook his head. ‘This conference couldn’t have come at a worse time.’
‘Never mind, we will see each other when you get back.’
‘Unfortunately I’ll be on a tight schedule when I get back. I have a meeting with Dr Sinclair at the hospital to hand over my list of patients for the two months I’m away. And after that I’ve got to catch a midnight flight to LA.’
Charlie felt a flicker of disappointment, as she hadn’t realised he was leaving for the States so soon. ‘I thought you were leaving a few days after you got back from Edinburgh?’
‘Sarah has changed the schedule to fit in an extra interview on the Ed Johnson show.’
‘That’s a very popular programme.’ Charlie reached for her skirt and stepped into it.
‘Yes, prime-time stuff, so a great start to the tour. Sarah can be irritating but she knows what she’s doing.’
Charlie didn’t even want to think about Sarah, never mind talk about her.
‘But it means I’m going to need you to reschedule a lot of my appointments for the extra days I’m away,’ Marco continued lightly.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll sort things out.’ She looked away from him. All this talk of business straight after their lovemaking was disconcerting. ‘We’ll catch up when I join you in New York,’ she added softly.
‘I’m so glad I asked you to move in with me.’ He smiled. ‘Because you and I are going to get along just fine, Charlie … do you know that?’
‘I hope so.’ There it was again … that practical tone in his voice that flayed at her emotions. She tried not to think about it too deeply and instead started to tidy her hair, brushing it back from her face with her fingers.
‘I know so …’ he walked back towards her ‘… because you are just what I need. Reliable, uncomplicated and perfect in every way.’
That sounded like an endorsement for the perfect PA, not a live-in lover.
For a moment she couldn’t bear to look up at him because the ache inside her was suddenly heavy and deep. She loved him so much and longed for him to return her feelings.
The need was so intense that it flayed her and that in turn made her angry.
What did she expect? she asked herself furiously. This was Marco. He was a warm and passionate lover but not one for flowery sentiment. Practicalities came first; she would have to accept that if she wanted to make their relationship work.
He put a hand under her chin and tipped her face upwards, his eyes moving searchingly over her countenance.
She tried to veil her feelings and look at him with self-assurance. He smiled as he noted the proud way she held his gaze. Then he bent and kissed her softly on the lips, making the ache intensify, tinged with sweet, searing desire.
She was very glad that he didn’t look into her eyes again as he pulled away … because she was sure he would have seen a glimpse of her pain and that would have been too much to bear.
He turned to open a bedside drawer. ‘I’ve got a spare front-door key in here somewhere … ah, yes, here it is. You may as well start moving some of your belongings in whilst I’m away.’
Marco held the key out towards her.
She didn’t take it immediately. ‘What about work?’ she asked uncertainly.
‘What about it?’ He looked at her wryly. ‘I was hoping we’d continue as we are … for now anyway. But don’t worry I’ll be a very flexible boss,’ he added teasingly.
When she still didn’t take the key he reached out for her hand and pressed it into her palm. ‘Now … that’s enough talk about work. We can sort details like that out at any time.’
‘Yes … I suppose we can.’ Her hand closed over the key. She was going to do this. Because she wanted Marco … wanted him with all her heart. And maybe one day he would return her feelings. Maybe he just needed to learn how to trust her, and if she was patient everything would come right …
He smiled. ‘So how about going back to bed?’
The sudden huskily sexual request took her by surprise. ‘What about your flight?’
‘I’ll take a later one.’ He leaned closer and kissed her and it was so incredibly possessive that she instantly melted against him. ‘We’ve got some more catching up to do before I go anywhere,’ he growled.
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE stretched limousine turned on to Fif
th Avenue and Charlie looked out at the familiar names … the Rockefeller Centre, Saks, Tiffany’s, Cartier. She felt as if she had been beamed down into a film set and that this wasn’t real somehow.
The lights of the city glittered diamond-bright against the velvet darkness of the night and the whole place seemed to pulsate with life and energy.
Excitement curled inside her. She was finally here in New York and Marco was waiting for her at the hotel.
He hadn’t been able to meet her at the airport because of a book-signing session, and although she had told him she would take a cab into the city he had insisted on sending a limo for her.
Charlie couldn’t wait to see him. It was two long weeks since he had left London and she hadn’t thought it was possible to miss someone this much. Just the sound of his voice on the phone had made her throb inside. She longed to be held in his arms.
The limousine pulled to a halt in front of an impressive hotel. A doorman hurried down the red-carpeted steps and opened her door.
She stepped out onto the street and was immediately engulfed by noise. The sound of the traffic and the urgent blare of a siren seemed to reverberate between the tall buildings.
By contrast the inside of the hotel was tranquil, with a pianist in the centre of the lobby playing classical music on a gold baby-grand piano. Fresh flowers perfumed the air and the blue and gold décor was elegantly sophisticated.
She walked across the thickly carpeted foyer towards the reception area.
‘Ah, Ms Hopkirk, Dr Delmari has left a message for you.’ The receptionist handed her an envelope from one of the pigeonholes as she signed the register. ‘You are in suite 200 on the top floor. I’ll arrange for someone to bring your luggage up. Have a pleasant stay.’ He slid a key card across to her.
Charlie opened the envelope as she walked towards the lifts. Inside there was a short note in Marco’s flowing handwriting.
Hi Darling,
I’m going to be longer than I thought. It’s a damn nuisance but it can’t be helped. Don’t forget we are to attend the literary dinner at the Plaza Pendinia tonight and we have to be there by eight. Hope you feel up to it after your long flight.
Mistress to the Mediterranean Male (Mills & Boon By Request) Page 43