by Zoe Ann Wood
A flight attendant arrived, silently checking whether any of the guests in her care needed anything. Daniel shook his head at her, afraid she’d disturb Ava from her sleep.
He should be sleeping, too. By the time they arrived in Rome, it would be morning, and he’d have no time for a nap. They timed their meeting so they could freshen up at the hotel first, but they’d have to rush, especially since they expected morning traffic in Italy’s capital would be brutal.
But sleep wouldn’t come, hence his reading-slash-Ava-watching. Man, he was being creepy, spying on her while she slept. Not that he could see much of her, curled up and covered as she was. He resisted the urge to stroke the back of her hand to see if it was as soft as he imagined, then groaned quietly and shut off his light. If he couldn’t see her, he could keep these thoughts at bay. He usually kept himself busy enough to forget, which was why his company was flourishing while his personal life had taken a swift and sad dive. But quiet moments like this one left him vulnerable.
He hadn’t had a serious relationship in four years, much to the dismay of his parents who moaned about grandbabies every chance they got. But even the lovely, intelligent women Daniel took on dates or to charity functions couldn’t chase away the thoughts of Ava, and he wasn’t about to lead some poor woman on if he was actually hung up on his colleague. It wouldn’t be fair to anyone involved.
The fact was that he’d been a goner the moment he’d first laid eyes on her. Just over four years ago, he’d taken over his father’s company after his mother had forced his father into an early retirement. Daniel had agreed to the change, since his father had suffered a heart attack that had nearly killed him. His doctors had told him that he needed to relax in order to recover, and Daniel’s mom had taken that directive to heart. They’d rented out their beautiful brownstone in Boston and bought a sprawling estate in Florida, never looking back.
Daniel had picked up the reins as CEO and turned his father’s successful car battery manufacturing company into a billion-dollar eco-conscious empire he was immensely proud of. And he couldn’t have done it without Ava’s help.
Overwhelmed after taking over his new position, he’d realized he needed a ‘right hand’ kind of person who would assist him and be loyal to him, not to his father’s antiquated management system. She’d been one of the new hires at the time, the last batch his father had authorized before Daniel’s takeover. Her résumé had impressed him, and he’d asked her—through email—to prepare a report on a company he’d wanted to acquire.
The report she’d written had been short, grammatically correct, and succinct without being dry. Nothing had prepared him for the interview with her, though. She’d walked into his office with a determined confidence he admired and answered his questions quickly and without unnecessary meandering. Impressed, he’d known he would be promoting her within three minutes of her arrival. He would always do what was best for his company, and promoting Ava Burke had fit that description. He needed her to ensure his company thrived.
The only problem he’d faced every day since was that she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever met.
Their car stopped in front of the newly renovated hotel on Via Labicana. Ava stepped onto the sidewalk, her hands slack at her sides, and stared down the road.
“Is that…?”
Daniel grinned. He’d had a similar reaction to seeing the Colosseum for the first time, only he’d been twenty-two years old, backpacking across Europe with his college friends, Sebastian and Evan.
“Yep,” he said. “That’s the real deal.”
“It’s so big,” she breathed. “Imagine them building it without modern machinery.”
Daniel thought about it. “Well, they had slaves in those days.”
That earned him an unimpressed look. “Trust you to ruin the moment.”
“What? It’s true. The building has a horrible history.” He didn’t want to go into detail, but thousands of slaves had perished there, both during construction and later during gladiator games performed for the enjoyment of the masses.
“I know that,” Ava countered. “But I was admiring it for its grandeur. I’m not as jaded as you are when it comes to playing tourist.”
With that, she rolled back her shoulders, putting on her Business Ava veneer, even though she was still wearing leggings and Chucks. But the expression was well familiar—this was the woman who got things done. A force to be reckoned with.
Hiding a smile, Daniel followed her inside the cool marble-lined interior of the hotel lobby.
Several minutes later, Ava was fuming. Her gorgeous hair was escaping her braid as she stood at the reception desk, glaring at the hotel employee who was visibly sweating under pressure.
“What do you mean, we are sharing a suite?” she barked. “My assistant specifically requested two bedrooms.”
“I-I wasn’t the one who made the reservations, miss—er, madam—”
Seeing Ava’s fingers do a nervous twitch like she was contemplating shaking the man, Daniel cleared his throat. “I’m sure the staff will fix us separate rooms.” He turned to the receptionist. “How long would we have to wait until you prepare us different rooms?”
The man swallowed thickly. “The cleaning service we ordered has already moved to a different location. With the morning traffic…” He shook his head. “There’s no way to know.”
Ava made a strangled noise in her throat. Then she pulled her inhaler from her purse and did a short, angry puff. Daniel felt for her; her asthma and dust mite allergy were a problem when traveling. This was why he’d authorized her assistant to always request a thorough cleaning of her room and covered the cost himself—he’d seen how miserable she was in the middle of an asthma attack. The hotel itself was equipped to handle such requests, since it was a luxury gem, but apparently its boutique size meant they didn’t have the right machines on site.
“Fine,” Daniel said, “then you take the entire suite, and I’ll get another room. I don’t mind.”
It nearly killed him to say those words. The thought of sharing a suite with Ava, seeing more of her private side, was so, so tempting. Which was exactly why he needed to avoid it at all costs. They’d traveled together often, yet she’d always emerged from her own room already dressed for the day, ready to do business. Now, images of her sitting across from him at the breakfast table, wearing nothing but her bathrobe, sparked in his thoughts, and he ruthlessly stamped them down.
The receptionist closed his eyes for a moment, the perfect image of a man heading to his own pyre. “There are no more rooms.”
Silence fell, and only the low whirr of the air-conditioning unit disturbed it while the three of them—and the young bellboy, who was shamelessly eavesdropping on their conversation—stared at each other.
“Fine.” Ava snatched a keycard off the desk. “Fine.”
Grabbing her purse, she marched toward the elevator behind the reception area. The bellboy scrabbled to follow, his trolley filled with their luggage.
“I’m sorry, sir,” the receptionist was saying.
Daniel didn’t wait for the rest of the apology. Taking his own keycard, he hurried after Ava, catching the door of the elevator just before it shut.
“Hey,” he said, looking down at her. In the small, old-fashioned elevator, they were all cramped together, and the presence of the bellboy made conversation impossible.
She ignored him, staring straight ahead. The short ride to the fourth floor was over in a blink, and then they were entering their suite and tipping the bellboy.
Daniel sighed with relief when the door closed behind the curious black-haired man, and turned toward Ava.
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured, turning in a half-circle.
The living room area opened onto a small rooftop terrace which offered a perfect view of the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill beyond. It was a great spot for an intimate breakfast or a private dinner… No. Daniel wrenched his gaze away from Ava and glanced at the two sets
of doors leading from the large room.
“You pick first,” he said, nodding toward the doors. “I don’t mind either way.” He would crash on the couch if that was what it took for Ava to feel comfortable again.
She stood rooted to the spot, chewing on her lower lip. “I’m sorry you’re stuck with me,” she said finally. “I didn’t think this would…” Gesturing helplessly, she fell silent.
Aw, man, she thought she was imposing on him. Daniel understood where this may have come from: he was her boss. But in this case…
“I don’t…” Daniel didn’t know how to phrase what he wanted to say. Toeing the line between professional and friendly had become an art with her, yet his practice deserted him in this crucial moment. “Burke, I don’t mind staying in a suite with you. But I don’t want you to be upset. I know how much privacy means to you.”
Her gray eyes were strangely luminous in the bright morning light coming through the windows. If he didn’t know any better, he’d have said she was on the verge of crying, but he couldn’t figure out why. Their relationship had never been strained, he’d made sure of that. And yet here she was, quietly freaking out.
“I can go,” he said, his voice going rough. He faced away from her, pretending he was admiring the view but really needing a second to process her behavior. Was his presence really that repugnant to her? He’d never… He’d been so careful to never even stare at her for too long—he valued her far too much as a professional to ever jeopardize their working relationship.
She sniffed. “I don’t want you to go.”
Something in her tone had him turning back to her, and he caught a moment’s anguish on her face.
“Ava,” he said, stepping closer. “What’s the matter?”
She didn’t step away. Their gazes locked, and there was an expression in her wide, beautiful eyes that he’d never seen before. This wasn’t Business Ava he’d come to know so well. It wasn’t even Soft Ava with her tired smiles and loose hair. It was a whole new facet of her that shone brightly, and Daniel was pulled to her like a moth to the flame.
This was the look of a woman who cared.
He raised his hand, stupidly, unable to resist, to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Ava,” he repeated, unsure of what he was going to say.
Her shallow intake of breath broke the magic spell. She stepped back, reaching for her inhaler again, her cheeks coloring.
Daniel let his hand drop down to his side, mortification spreading through him. “I’m so—”
“I’ll take that room,” she chimed in, pointing to the doors to his left. “You take the other.”
He shook himself, trying to get his brain back on track. “Are you sure? You haven’t even checked—”
“I’m sure,” she said, already turning away from him and extending the handle of her wheeled suitcase. “I’ll see you in half an hour. Better get ready for that meeting!”
Her voice was too cheerful, too bright to be anything but fake, yet Daniel couldn’t bring himself to call her on it. He’d already messed up once. What had he been thinking?
He was sleep deprived and bone-tired. That was the best explanation he could come up with. It destroyed his ability to keep his emotions in check, and some of them had leaked through the cracks, threatening to torpedo his relationship with Ava.
Dragging his own suitcase to the classy bedroom, he closed the door and leaned against it. The bed beckoned him with plush pillows and crisp white sheets. If he drew the thick curtains, he could pretend it was night, burrow under the covers and not surface for the next sixteen hours.
But he had a meeting to attend and a contract to sign. And he always did what was best for his company, so he would shower, dress in his sharpest suit, and order a double espresso from room service. If Roman coffee couldn’t keep him on his feet long enough to seal this deal with Paolo, nothing could.
He just hoped Ava would go along with his master plan: to pretend that the past ten minutes had never happened and to forget all about them. Then maybe everything would go back to normal.
Pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes, he sighed. After that vulnerable, honest look she’d given him, he had a feeling nothing would ever be normal again.
Three
Ava
She showered in record time. She’d hung her business suit in the bathroom to smooth out the worst of the wrinkles—there was no time to call room service to have it pressed. There was also no way she was stepping into the living room before she was ready, her armor firmly in place.
Then she sat on her enormous bed, clutching her hands together and trying to come up with a plan. She only needed to attend the meetings with Daniel. The rest of the time, she could work from a café—but she had to find a good excuse for ditching the quiet of the lavish suite. Or she could shut herself in her room, though she doubted she’d get much work done if Daniel moved about next door. They’d planned on working through the weekend with little distraction because their teams back home were under orders to only contact them in the case of emergencies.
Ava would also have a serious chat with Nadia about booking them a suite. It was a mistake that could have easily been avoided. Yet here they were, and her insistence on getting another room would only prompt Daniel into thinking about why she didn’t want to spend more time with him.
Stupid dust mites. She’d tried everything to lessen the effects of her allergy, but whenever she stayed in a hotel room that hadn’t been thoroughly cleaned, her asthma took a turn for the worse. Sighing, she dumped all but one pillow in an armchair and put a dust-mite-proof cover on the remaining one. Hoping that would keep her from wheezing through the night, she clenched her jaw, preparing for battle.
Stop being dramatic. Daniel’s concern earlier hadn’t been out of the ordinary. He was a good friend and a better boss. Of course he’d noticed her freaking out.
But he touched you. You never touch. That was…also true.
Most of all, she was concerned that he’d correctly interpreted her dismayed look earlier—she’d been trying not to panic over their sleeping situation, and yet an entire long weekend in close proximity was her worst nightmare. Her brain had scrabbled to catch up with his offer to go elsewhere. Had she really made him think he was unwelcome?
She couldn’t let him think that. They’d need to talk, sooner rather than later, or their work relationship would suffer.
Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and stepped into the living room. The coast was clear, and if she listened carefully, she could still discern sounds of running water from Daniel’s bathroom.
Plopping down on the large leather couch facing a massive flat-screen TV, Ava powered up her tablet to check her emails.
The first message in her inbox had steam coming out of her ears.
“Daniel,” she called, “we have a problem.”
He barged out of his room, his shirt barely buttoned, his feet bare. “What is it?”
Ava quickly focused back on her tablet. She did not need this image seared into her brain—and yet she couldn’t avoid the scent of his soap that wafted into the room after him, or the heat of his body when he leaned over the back of the couch to peer at her screen.
“Paolo Corti’s assistant just messaged me,” Ava explained. “Paolo has canceled today’s meeting. He wants to see us for dinner tomorrow. He’s invited us to a restaurant his family owns.”
Daniel’s long exhale was the only sign of his anger. “I don’t want to see his family restaurant. I want his signature on my contract.”
“This doesn’t bode well,” she said.
“Do you think he’s going to try adding more ridiculous clauses to the contract?”
Ava heaved a sigh in response. Yeah, that was what she was afraid of as well. “I’ll call our team with the update. They’ll need to be ready for us if we want to close this quickly.”
“I’m starting to think we shouldn’t have given in to his first demands,” Daniel growled, raking hi
s fingers through his still-wet hair. It stuck up in spikes, far removed from his usual neat style.
“Do you want to speak to him? Ask what it’s all about?” She had her phone out and was dialing Paolo’s assistant’s number before Daniel even answered.
“Thanks,” he said, sinking onto the couch beside her.
“It’s ringing,” she whispered, glancing at him from the corner of her eye.
And it just kept ringing until the call was cut by some prerecorded message in Italian. Ava didn’t speak a word of the language past grazie and buongiorno, so she disconnected and tried again.
“I don’t think anyone’s there,” she said, frowning.
“This is ridiculous.” Daniel yawned, covering his mouth. “We shouldn’t even go to that dinner.”
Ava looked at him. He leaned back against the couch, throwing his forearm over his eyes.
“Do you want to go back home?” she asked, keeping her voice level. Losing this contract would put them behind by weeks, if not months, and they’d have to search for a new manufacturer. On the other hand, they might do better by staying away from a partner who strung them along to exert some ridiculous influence over them.
Daniel groaned, then got to his feet. “No, let’s… Let’s see what he’s got to say. I need to sleep in a real bed before flying again.” He turned toward his room, then glanced over his shoulder. “I’m going to crash now. You okay on your own?”
Ava nodded. “I slept for seven hours on the plane. I don’t want to go to bed too early, it’ll mess up my sleep schedule.” She placed the tablet on the coffee table, thinking of the free afternoon suddenly stretching in front of her.
She was in Rome. A thrill went through her. She’d never been to Italy, despite her many work trips with Daniel. Their business partnerships had required them to fly to Tokyo, Seoul, London, and Sydney, and she’d never taken the time to travel to Europe for vacation. She always spent those rare free days with her family, snuggling with her two beautiful nephews.