Chapter 24
Finally, the day of the presentation ended. Anabelle was incredibly relieved to have the pressure of the Kinetic ad proposals for Tsar Enterprises off her shoulders. It was a terribly awkward situation for her to be in a business meeting with the man she was dating, especially after all of the drama of the Dream Ball. She wanted to impress him, but she found it hard to focus around him. She was grateful that Raquel insisted on presenting everything herself. Anabelle didn’t think she could withstand the scrutiny in front of him. She desperately hoped Giorgio had been happy with what Kinetic had proposed for his company.
Giorgio picked Anabelle up from work at 5:30 p.m. She felt a bit shy at first when she saw him. They had both agreed to act strictly professional with one another during the meeting. It had felt pretty strange and surreal to her. Much to her relief, he took her into his arms right away when he saw her.
“My beautiful girl,” he said, wrapping his strong arms around her. “Finally, we can be alone.”
It felt so good to her to be held by him. “I know. It was hard seeing you in the office earlier and not being able to talk to you about things other than business, not be able to kiss you…”
He looked down at her and gave her a long, passionate kiss. “Kissing ban is over, m’lady. Let’s get out of here,” he said, winking at her.
“Sounds good to me,” she said smiling, as he opened the door of his Jaguar for her.
They both got in the car, then he looked over at her, his blue eyes warm and searching. “It feels like a lot of time has passed since Saturday night. I’ve missed you.”
“Me too,” she said.
He took her hand and kissed it as he closed his eyes.
His touch and kiss felt even more electric to her, if that was even possible. As though more layers had been added.
He placed her hand back down on his thigh, a bit higher than he had the last time they were in his car together.
Anabelle felt a sudden surge of arousal, vividly recalling their night of passion in the hotel. Her heart pounded. She glanced between his legs again, thinking of how his nude body had looked Saturday night, how crazy well-endowed he was, how he had felt in her hand, what she had done to him. She fought off the urge to put her hands all over him again. Instead, she gently stroked his thigh as they drove. They needed to talk more first.
They drove to Brooklyn together, chatting about the presentation. They were both avoiding the deeper discussions for when they could be close and look each other in the eye.
“That was a great presentation. Bernard and I were really impressed with the ideas you guys came up with.”
“Thanks,” Anabelle said. She wasn’t going to admit which one was hers until after he had made his decision. She didn’t want him to pick hers out of a sense of loyalty. She wanted to win the bid on her own, or not. “It was a little nerve-wracking doing a proposal like that for someone who…I’ve seen naked.”
He laughed softly. “Oh, you’ve done much more than see me naked, you bad girl. I hope that wasn’t just to win our business.” He winked at her, then kissed her hand again.
She watched as he placed her hand back on his thigh and squeezed it. “You know, I’d pretty much take any opportunity I can get to put my hands all over your body and have my way with you.”
He inhaled deeply. Hearing her talk like that as she pressed her hand more firmly against the inside of his thigh, only inches below the bulge in his pants, was going to cause him to get into an accident. “Driving with you in a car is a dangerous activity for me,” he said as he shifted his hips and tried to keep his focus.
“Guess I’d better behave myself for now,” she said.
“Just for now,” he said, smiling, “then I insist you return to your devilish ways.”
They arrived at Anabelle’s apartment. Jasper came up to greet them.
“Hey, little buddy,” Giorgio said as he bent down to give Jasper some ear scratches and pets. Jasper was putty in his hands, purring away.
Just like me, Anabelle thought.
Giorgio smiled as Jasper laid down at his feet for more attention. “Looks like I’m popular around here,” he said. “I hope kitty-mommy is taking notes. I can’t be all that bad if I’ve got your approval.”
“Kitty-mommy is always taking notes,” she said. Anabelle liked seeing him engage so affectionately with Jasper. One of the best ways to a woman’s heart was through her kitty-cat.
“You’re adorable,” she said, admiring his gentle, affectionate way with Jasper.
“Me or Jasper?” he asked.
“Both of you.”
“Good, because you seem to have kept him around,” Giorgio said, looking up at her. He stood up and wrapped his hands around her waist. “Maybe I’ll be so lucky.”
Anabelle giggled. “Maybe.”
She took his suit jacket and hung it up. They went and sat down in the living room. “Can I get you something to drink?” she asked. “Water, soda, juice, wine, beer?”
“A beer would be perfect, thanks,” he said as he stretched his long legs out.
She went to the kitchen, fed Jasper, then brought out two cold ones for them.
He held his up for a toast. “Thanks for giving things another chance. I know this has been a tough situation lately.”
She clinked his bottle. “You’re worth it.”
They each took a sip.
He looked down at his bottle. “I’m really sorry about leaving you for so long that night. I shouldn’t have, especially not after what we had just shared.” He looked up at her, his long, dark lashes, framing his mournful blue eyes.
She leaned forward and kissed him. “I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have left you. If the tables were turned, I’d have been really hurt by that.”
“I was. I kind of felt abandoned and I didn’t know why you would do that,” he admitted. “But now I understand. I’m hoping we can just move past this.”
“So do I,” she said. “Shall I order us dinner? What are you in the mood for?”
He leaned over and rested his head against her bosom. “You.”
She giggled. “Pizza it is. I know a great place. Frankie’s Pizzeria. You’ll love it. Best slice in Brooklyn.”
He sat back up. “Sounds good to me.”
Anabelle grabbed the phone and placed an order for an extra large pizza. She excused herself to go change and freshen up.
When she got back, she found Jasper curled up next to him on the sofa.
“I’ve got a new friend,” Giorgio said, smiling as he looked down at the grey ball of fur sleeping beside him.
“Wow, he really does like you,” she said. “He’s not usually that comfortable with people right away.”
“It must be a good sign,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her back down to sit with him. Jasper woke up, but then seeing all was well, he went right back to sleep.
She smiled. Sooner or later, she was going to have to turn the conversation to what she needed to ask him about.
“Penny for your thoughts?” he asked.
She looked at his face, thinking how gorgeous he was, how sensual. His thick dark hair was more askew than it had been earlier in the day, giving him a bedhead look. She’d rather just starting misbehaving with him right now. But she knew something else had to come first. “We should talk…”
Giorgio nodded. “I know. How about after pizza?”
“Deal,” she said.
They had just finished their first beers, when the pizza delivery guy arrived. Giorgio got up to pay, but Anabelle insisted on treating him to dinner this time. She also brought out another beer for each of them. They tucked into the pizza while watching an old episode of one of Anabelle’s favorite sitcoms. In a happier mood with some laughs and full bellies, they turned the TV off to listen to music instead.
“Thanks for dinner,” he said, leaning over to kiss her.
“My pleasure,” she said, and curled her legs up on the sofa. She got quiet.
>
“I guess it’s time. We should talk about some things,” Giorgio said, reading her mood.
Anabelle looked over at him. She nodded. “I wanted to tell you…”
He held his hand up. “If you don’t mind, I think I need to share something with you first, before we get to anything related to the ball or the hotel room.”
She was surprised at that. “Oh, okay. What is it?” Suddenly, she felt a bit nervous. She curled her legs up closer to her body.
He wasn’t sure how to begin. “The presentation today was a bit…awkward.”
“I’ll say, we hadn’t seen each other yet…”
He shook his head. “That’s not what I mean.” He swallowed hard. “I meant with your boss.”
“Raquel? Yeah, I noticed she was acting different today. She was pretty quiet, more subdued than I’ve ever seen her. She even dressed a little less flashy.” Anabelle thought about it for a moment. “She did seem pretty stiff in the presentation. Like she was uncomfortable. I just figured she was tired and maybe hung over from the weekend. She was also less flirtatious with you,” she said, smiling and tapping his shoulder. “I guess you did give her the cold shoulder Saturday night after all.”
Giorgio nodded, then looked down at his beer.
Anabelle frowned. “What is it?”
“I wanted to wait to tell you until after the presentation was finished. I didn’t want it to be any more awkward than it already was.” He looked at her. “When you saw the two of us earlier the evening of the ball…” he started to say.
“What? It didn’t happen like you said?” she asked, starting to panic.
“No, it did. But when I went back down to the event later, after you and I were in the hotel room together, she ambushed me again. Outside the men’s washroom. It was right before I decided to hightail it out of there.”
“Oh?” Anabelle asked, grabbing a cushion and holding it tight.
Giorgio saw her reaction and read her body language. “Now nothing happened. It was just a minute or so, you’ve got nothing to worry about.”
“Go on,” she said, her voice falling flat.
“I came out of the washroom and she was there. She startled me actually. I asked her what she was doing. She said she was waiting for me, that she wanted to talk to me about something.”
Anabelle’s face fell and she felt her stomach twist into a knot.
“I said it was late,” Giorgio continued, “but she insisted that there was something she needed to tell me. She was holding a glass of champagne and went to lean into me, presumably to whisper something.” He looked at Anabelle. “She was pretty drunk.”
“What did she do?” Anabelle asked, feeling sicker by the second.
“She stumbled and ended up dumping her champagne down the front of my pants. It was quite a shock. Anyway, she was bumbling around and tried to wipe it off with her hand, saying she wanted to help me. I grabbed her wrist to stop her.”
Anabelle’s eyes went wide. “She tried to wipe the champagne off the front of your pants? With her hand?”
“She was drunk, I don’t think she realized what she was doing.”
“Then you don’t know Raquel very well. That’s totally her M.O.,” Anabelle snapped. She was livid. “What else did my rotten, drunk, backstabbing boss do?”
He looked at her. “That was it really. Though she managed to brush the front of my pants before I caught her.”
“She grabbed your crotch?”
He shook his head. “No, just brushed her hand…against me.”
“She touched you? There?” she asked, looking between his legs.
“For the briefest second. She had quite the aim.” He took a deep breath. “Then she mentioned something about the night still being young. I told her to go home and to keep in mind we’re potentially doing business together. She caught my drift and stomped off.”
“And that’s all?” Anabelle asked.
“That’s all. I swear. I headed back up to the hotel room after that.”
Anabelle fumed. “I hate that woman. She knew I was with you that night.”
“She’s a tramp, that’s for sure,” Giorgio added.
Anabelle was steamed. “She pretty much avoided me all day today. Now I know why. I can’t believe I work for someone like that. I may need to look at other options soon.”
“Do you want me to reconsider using Kinetic for the ad campaign?”
Anabelle shook her head. “No, we’ve actually put a lot of work into those proposals.”
“I did like what I saw. We should have a decision in a couple of days.”
Anabelle pulled the cushion in tighter.
Giorgio reached over for one of her hands that clutched the pillow. “Come here,” he said, “I want to be close to you. It’s been a hard couple of days.”
She hesitated, looking at his big hand that softly gripped hers.
“I didn’t do anything, you know,” he said, his face searching hers.
She nodded, then let go of the pillow and cuddled in next to him. Her face still bore a serious expression.
He wrapped his arm around her and held her other hand.
Anabelle was quiet.
“Something’s still bothering you,” he said.
She looked at him. She could get lost in those big, blue eyes. She shook her head.
“If we’re going to move forward, we need to talk if something’s bothering one of us.”
She nodded, then squeezed his hand. “I just don’t know if it’s the right time.”
“What is it?”
“Well,” she started to say, feeling embarrassed, “Raquel aside, there were so many other women coming onto you at the ball, just when I was with you…”
“I can’t control what other people do.”
“I know, it’s not that…it’s just, if Raquel made a second move on you that night, I imagine there were others as well after you went back down.” She looked up at him, trying to gauge his reaction.
He gave her a soft smile. “Nothing happened with anyone, Anabelle. I promise you that.” He reached up to touch her cheek and leaned in for a long, lingering, passionate kiss.
Anabelle felt partially relieved. She melted into him, her hand resting on his thigh. She moaned softly as his tongue found hers. She felt his hand slide down her shoulder and arm to her waist. His hand then slid to her hip, gripping it and giving her a slight tug. She could tell he wanted her. Her body became aroused at his touch, the feel of his lips on hers. She rubbed his thigh, inching her hand a little bit higher.
His mouth opened a bit wider as he continued to kiss her. He slid down the sofa, leaning further back.
Anabelle kept her hand on his thigh, wanting to feel his body again. She moved her hand up and down his thigh, coming dangerously close to heating things up to a boiling point. Then she paused, her mind interrupting the pure desire she had been feeling.
Giorgio’s eyes opened, half-lidded, his full lips parted and swollen from their kisses. “Is everything okay?” he asked.
Anabelle looked down at where her hand rested on his thigh, just below his bulge. It was a teasing touch, she knew. “I…just wonder…”
“What?”
“Well, I know you said nothing happened with anyone, but other women did try, didn’t they?”
“They tried. They failed,” he said.
She pursed her lips. She needed to ask. Her thumb brushed against his leg. “You can tell me if I’m…if this isn’t the right time yet.”
“For what?” he asked, curious. Then his lips curved into a sly smile. “If you want to take me, just ask,” he said in a low, seductive voice. He rested his head against the sofa as his legs parted even more. “I’ll let you.”
Her temperature spiked as she looked back down at his body, open to her, her hand still positioned on his thigh, indicating her desire for him. He was a crazy amount of sexy. “Are you sure you won’t let anyone else? I mean…we haven’t discussed whether or not…”
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br /> “Ahhh,” he said, grinning, “I see where this is going. You really need to just say what’s on your mind.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Women feel that if you really care about us and are paying attention, you’ll know what we’re thinking and what we need to hear, when we need to hear it.”
He laughed softly. “Men are way thicker than women realize. Your gender is rather a mystery to us. You confuse us to no end.”
She bit her lip.
He regarded her for a moment, then smiled. He moved his hand over top of hers where it rested on his thigh.
She looked at it.
He leaned in and kissed her again, even more passionately this time. She felt his hand squeeze hers, then felt his legs open more. As he continued to kiss her, he took her hand and slid it higher.
Her breathing became heavier, her heart pounded.
He gave a soft moan as he slid her hand between his legs to rest over his bulge. He held her hand there as his hips pushed forward.
She felt him harden.
He looked down at where her hand was, then up at her. His cheeks had reddened with his arousal. “I’m just yours. No one else’s.”
“You mean that? We can be…exclusive?” She wanted to be sure what he meant.
“Yes,” he said, smiling at her, “no one else has access. This club is exclusive to one member, you, Ms. Anabelle Parker.” He pressed her hand against him. “If you want that, that is.”
She nodded, smiling. “Yes, yes, I do. Very much.”
“Good,” he said, leaning back in to kiss her, “me too. I don’t want any other guy coming along and touching my woman either.”
“No way,” she said as she felt his body harden even more beneath his pants. She wanted him badly. She moved to undo his belt, then stopped. “There’s something else,” she said.
“I hope it’s just whether or not you can unzip my pants. The answer is yes.”
She groaned. She wanted to do just that. He was sexually, and in every other way, irresistible to her. But she’d regret it if she didn’t bring it up. “I do want to do that, badly, believe me.”
Love in the City, an erotic romance novel Page 22