AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He paced from one side of his bedroom to the other, dressed only in a pair of low-slung jeans, feet bare, chest bare, mind spinning. One ear though was trained on the bathroom door, where he’d left Portia on her own because it had felt like the right thing to do after what they’d just shared. Like they both needed to retreat for a minute to their separate corners or something.
When she emerged though, he frowned, stopped pacing, and stared.
“You’re dressed.”
“Very observant, Marco. No flies on you.”
He would have laughed, except seeing her body wrapped back up in those corporate clothes sucked all the good humour out of him.
“Why?”
“Well, I don’t know, call me old fashioned, but anytime I’ve gone on the tube naked, people have tended to stare.”
That brought a reluctant grin to his face. “I’m sure they would. I know I would. Then I’d take photos.”
She rolled her eyes.
He prowled towards her, pulling her into his arms. “Hungry?”
Surprise etched itself on her features. “Why?”
A gruff laugh. “Am I suddenly not speaking English,cara?”
Heat flushed her cheeks, delightful and charming, reminding him again of the air of innocence that he glimpsed when she let her guard slip slightly. “You are, I just don’t get it.” She took in a breath. “I don’t get what you want from me.”
“Don’t you?” He caught her chin, lifting her face to his, so there was no hiding from his curious gaze. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“Well, yes, actually, and we’ve already…” her voice trailed off into nothingness.
He shook his head. “But why leave? The night is young…”
“It’s not, actually, and I have to work tomorrow. As do you, I imagine,” she pointed out, so for a moment, something dark like thunder rolled on the periphery of his mind.
“Stay the night.” It wasn’t a question. He couldn’t say why, but he needed her here. He liked women, he liked enjoying his fill, and he sure as hell wasn’t ready for Portia to walk away.
“Marco—,” she frowned, eyes running over his face. “Why?”
“Because I want you again,” he said, simply, honestly. “Because I want to sleep with you, in my bed, and wake up and enjoy you all over again. Because I think that would be a fun way to start tomorrow. Don’t you agree?”
“Well, yes, I do, and if ‘fun’ was all I cared about, I’d stay over in a minute, but I get to work at seven o’clock most mornings, so whatever you’re planning for tomorrow isn’t possible, and I have to be able to concentrate throughout the day which means, I don’t know, actually sleeping at some point throughout the night, something I seriously doubt I’d do much of if we shared a bed.”
That was a fair assumption.
“You work too hard.”
“We’ve had that conversation.”
“Fine. Stay for dinner.”
“I have a fridge full of food,” she said, simply, shrugging her shoulders.
Frustration tightened his gut. Marco wasn’t used to being told ‘no’. He didn’t like it. His ego smarted, but it was more than that. It was particularly Portia saying no to him that made his nerves quiver.
“Okay,” he said with the appearance of non-concern. “Have it your way.”
But at the door, he reached for her hand, lacing their fingers together. “Come back Friday.”
He said it casually, but he didn’tfeelcasual. He was disgruntled and annoyed, wishing she wasn’t leaving so soon, but at the same time, he instinctively knew better than to scare her away by coming on too strong.
