Page 37 of Sasha’s Secret

“Okay—you asked for it, remember.”

Rocco helped her settle more comfortably in his lap. As she regaled him with various tales of her childhood—including time spent on American bases in Europe—he found himself more and more bewitched. Everything about her drew him even more deeply under her spell—her smile, her voice, even the way her hand rested on his forearm, as if she couldn’t get enough of the skin-to-skin contact. He had no complaints about that.

He could have listened to her all night, but sooner or later, they’d have to go to bed, and he wanted to know if she wanted to spend the night with him again. He was about to ask her when she gave a deep sigh and laid her head on his shoulder.

“I wish I didn’t have to get up so early tomorrow, but Linzi has a Zoom interview with a European entertainment news channel, and I need to help her get set up. I’d better go.”

She started to get up, but he wasn’t about to let her go so easily. “You don’t have to. You could still stay here until the morning. The bed’s big enough, and I get up early anyway.”

She leveled a narrow-eyed glare at him. “Not making this any easier, Equizi. I’ll tell you now, if we share that bed, there’s no way my ass is staying on my side, and if I don’t stay on my side, there’s no way I’m going to get enough sleep to push the right buttons tomorrow. Besides, when I say early, I mean early.” She laid her palm against his cheek. “I’d hate to disturb you on my way out. How about if I make dinner tomorrow night to make it up to you?”

It sounded like an excellent idea on the face of it, but a memory clamored to make itself heard. “Wait. Didn’t you tell me you don’t cook?”

Indignation swirled around her. “I don’t. Much. Doesn’t mean I can’t.”

He was tempted to agree, but his mother had raised him to be a gentleman. “Why don’t we have dinner on Saturday, when you won’t have to get up so early?”

Sasha curled her fingers into his shirt and tugged, bringing his face closer to hers. “You calling me old, mister? You don’t think I’ve got it in me to last the day?”

“Oh, I think you’ve got it in you to last the day, cara, but will you last the night?” With a grin, he waggled his eyebrows in what he hoped was a suggestive manner.

The way she kissed him was pure sin wrapped in hot seduction. There was nothing more alluring than a woman who believed in the power of her own sensuality and sexuality.

When their lips finally parted, something odd happened in his chest when he read the reluctance in her gaze. She didn’t want to leave any more than he wanted to let her, and the lack of resolve in her next words proved it.

“I think I’d better go now. If I stay any longer, you may not get rid of me.”

“Then stay. I told you—I don’t mind if you wake me up early.”

She pressed her forehead to his. “Don’t do this to me, please. I really have to go.”

He’d have given anything for her to stay, but he didn’t want to make it any more difficult for her than it already was, so he conceded. “All right, but take this thought with you—you’re always welcome here.”

“In your apartment?”

“And in my bed.”

A flash of understanding passed between them, and in one lithe, sinuous movement, she dismounted his lap and stood. Rocco watched her supple, feline stretch, before following her and offering her his hand. “Come on—I’ll see you to your door.”

Sasha gave him a pained look. “I’m only a few feet away down the hall. I think I can find my way home safely.”

“I know you can, but I never leave my date to find her own way home.” And didn’t that make him his own worst enemy?

She raised her eyebrows. “Is that what I am now, your date?”

“If you want to be.”

Her radiant smile hit him like a runaway train. She draped her arms over his shoulders and touched a light kiss to his lips. He’d never get enough of her kisses. “I want to be.”

“Then I’m taking you home.”

The house was quiet as they strolled down the hall to Sasha’s suite. With luck, this was the last night he’d have to leave her at her door. When she opened that door but didn’t go in, he hoped it was because she felt the same way. When she turned to him, all soft, delicious female, pupils dilated with the same want and need pulsing through his veins, he knew it was.

She licked her lips. “I guess this changes things now.”

Rocco couldn’t disagree. “I guess it does.”

Chapter 9