The corner of his mouth ticks up into a small smile. I realize then that he smells like whiskey.
“Liked what you heard?” he murmurs, reaching a hand out to the knot on my robe and looking at me with something I can’t decipher.
My breath hitches as heat pools in my core. Slapping his hand away, I take a step back.
“No, thanks,” I hope I sound full of the snarky conviction I definitely do not possess.
He smirks, raising one eyebrow as he trails a hand down the front of my robe. He then reaches up and pulls the face mask off slowly, discarding it onto the floor, and I suddenly feel so utterly exposed to him—exposed, indignant,bothered.
“You’re a bad liar, Natalia.”
And with that, he turns back into his room and slams the door between us closed.
12
Anderson
I’m still fumingwhen I slam the door closed. Fuming and… aroused? How is that fucking possible? Yes, she’s gorgeous, but I need a little more than good looks for it to work for me. I may sleep around, but the obnoxious sister of my business partner is not going to be one of them—nor do Iwanther to be. She pisses me off, and she looks hot in dresses. That’s about all I need to know.
My anger can be an issue.
I want to kick myself when I remember how I dealt with Rosalina’s affair—how I threw myself into a dumbass bachelor trip to India, fucking everyone with a pussy who was willing. How it led to the biggest mistake of my career—how the thought of Rosa with another man made me careless, made me lose my mind with fury so much that I lied under oath, lied on our joint tax forms, and lost my business.
I was only trying to protect my broken heart. I was only trying to get back at her. Since we were filing taxes jointly, I took us both down in a fiery rage.
It backfired, because she still ended up with the man she fucked.
And me? I got slapped with a tax penalty, got famous for tax evasion, and spent my life’s savings on the best PR firm I could find to salvage any remaining thread of integrity. Even today, Rosalina gets a good chunk of my yearly income in alimony. Since we were married for longer than ten years, and because her instance of adultery was forgiven, the judge ruled that I had to pay her yearly for the length of our marriage—thirteen years. Only five years to go.
So yeah. My anger is a problem.
I’ve forgiven her—and myself—for the most part. I send her bi-annual checks, gritting my teeth the entire time. But there’s nothing I can do. We were young and stupid, and we didn’t sign a prenup.
I rub my face with my hands, groaning. Something about the way Natalia looked at me when I pulled that mask off… it was like I was seeing the person behind the loud remarks and hot temper. I was seeing the young girl, face wet, completely bare. I had to see it—her face. I had to touch her. But why? Something about her ignited some deep-rooted, primal part of my being.
I hop into the shower, ignoring my raging hard on. Letting the water run over my face, I close my eyes and take a few steadying breaths. The deal tonight was important, and Luca fucked it up. In fact, Luca often fucks things up by thinking with his heart rather than his head, scaring off potential clients. They expect a CEO, a go-getter, the man who started the company from the ground up all those years ago. He overcame so much adversity, and people admire that about him. So, when he waffles, it makes him—and me—look bad.
Which is why things need to change, and soon.
It doesn’t feel like his heart is in it anymore, and that’s a problem for the company.
I hop out of the shower and towel off. I run my hands through my hair, put on the suit that was cleaned, and gargle mouthwash. When I’m done, I grab my phone, my room key, and a condom.
13
Natalia
I setan alarm and wake up early, intending to eat breakfast alone and maybe take a quick walk along the beach. We’re leaving tomorrow, so I want to be sure I can at least say I went to the beach while I was in Hawaii. To my surprise, Luca is sitting at a table reading the paper when I walk into the breakfast area of the hotel. The sun is shining through the windows in thick beams, giving the entire room a golden glow. Perhaps that’s why he looks so happy.Youthful.
“Hi,” I mumble, taking a seat. I’d thrown on some casual clothes for breakfast, and since it’s so early, I am counting on being able to change in my room a little later. I’m not sure what the agenda is today, but since Luca is wearing joggers and a sweatshirt, we obviously have some time.
“Where’s Nathan?” I ask, stealing a piece of his bread. “And why are you smiling like that?”
He grins and puts his face in his hands. “He’s still sleeping. I’ve never been this happy, Natalia,” he says quickly, looking around. “I feel like the bubble is inevitably going to burst soon.”
“Why would it? Why do you have to be such a pessimist?” I steal another piece of bread and slather it with butter. The waiter comes and takes my order—coffee, carbs, meat, check, check, check…
Luca looks at me, and his slightly asymmetric smile turns his expression somber.
