Bart finished his jog through the hotel estate. Parrots were wild here and sang to each other. The palm trees shaded the jogging path, but almost no one was out.
The heat burned through him so he understood why.
The moment he returned to his hotel suite, he peeled off his sweat-stained lime green t-shirt and tossed it in a pile he’d probably burn.
In Italy, it was hot but not this sticky.
He headed straight toward his shower when his cell phone rang. He stopped, saw it was Gio, and answered. After their hellos, Bart tore off his sweat pants too and turned on the water in the shower. Gio asked, “You coming to Peter’s family party tonight?”
“I guess.” He stuck his fingers beneath the spray and adjusted the water for the right temperature. He opened his closet to find a business shirt and some slacks for the day.
He planned to meet potential inventors and see what they offered for clean fuel that he would fund if it was the right project. He tossed his work clothes on the bed while his brother asked, “You’re breathing hard. Did you just get back from a run? I doubt you’d answer if it was sex.”
Running gave him focus and last night he’d kept thinking about Rebecca--how could he explain to Gio, when he didn't understand his fascination? “Yeah. I needed to clear my head.”
Gio asked, “Why?”
He rolled his shoulders and stared out the window at the tropical estate where the sun shone over a blue pool in the middle of an oasis. Naked, he was invisible to anyone from his top floor--unless he stepped out on the balcony and opened the glass doors. He imagined Rebecca, outside and waiting for him. He'd admired her bravado, a woman obviously out of her element but rising to the challenge, so he wouldn't put it past her. His body pulsed. “I met a beautiful woman last night.”
Gio laughed. “And you didn’t use up all that energy on her?”
Fair. His brothers knew he always enjoyed a woman that struck his fancy, but no one else had ever risked her neck, tailing him in traffic. Her bright cherry-red hair with blonde roots and turquoise eyes made her unforgettable--she'd been unusually confident while out of her element. He’d gone to confront her, but instead, he’d asked her… on a date. How strange she’d called it that. “No. I let her go home.”
“Well, if she couldn’t sate you, there are plenty of other women happy to meet the demands of a Morgan."
This coming from his happily married brother. He checked the bathroom. Finally there was enough steam to make it a sauna. Bart walked back into the bedroom. “I’m not looking for an easy, no strings attached-”
“You aren’t?” his brother interrupted.
"Stop." Rebecca’s full mouth, outlined in rose, had captured his imagination. He rubbed his temple. “After what happened with Nadia, I wanted to change.”
His brother sounded incredulous. “So you didn’t sleep with this mystery woman because you’re interested in her?”
Rebecca both scared and fascinated him. She'd worn an older sundress with a stain on it to the yacht club and then for drinks with him. But she knew about Maserati tires and caught him off guard with talk about Prince Charming. She hadn't simpered or acted like a shy virgin when he'd admired her figure--which he'd give a ten. Her arms, toned, her calves sleek, her figure slender. While he'd been pursued before, no one had ever been so upfront about it. They were from two different worlds and would never fit. Bart gave his brother the nickel version of last night. “No, that’s not it. She was unusual.”
“How so?”
Bart needed to shower and change. He didn’t need to think about Rebecca anymore. “It was just how she talked and acted.”
"Unusual good, or bad?" Gio badgered. Bart selected his tie for work.
“Neither.” He just couldn't explain, so he said, “Look, I need to shower and get ready for my meeting with the inventors I invited to pitch me their ideas to receive my funding.”
Gio said, “Okay, see you tonight. And you can bring this mystery girl.”
Rebecca at his brother’s estate? At the house his father called the seat of the House of Morgan. His father would be mortified, which made it appealing. “I’ll think about it.”
But he couldn’t imagine it. He put his phone on charge and finally took that shower.
The idea of Rebecca at his side tonight never left his thoughts. Would she be able to hold her own in conversation?
Let it go, Bart.He’d find someone else, someone more his style.
But once he tied his tie, he picked up his phone to put it in his pocket, knowing good and well that Rebecca had added her number.
He scrolled his contacts and there she was. She even put a heart next to her name with an emoji. No one else had one of those in his phone. If he called, it didn’t mean he was interested in forever. That was silly. But his pulse elevated and he held his breath while he pressed the call button.
A moment later he heard the click and froze. He walked out onto his balcony and stared down at the pool as people meandered below, ordering drinks or settling in their lounge chairs. “Rebecca?”
