strange quiver gripped his abdomen to see the bed empty of her tall, athletic form after seeing her there all day yesterday. She had refused to even eat anything, only asking for water again and again. Silently bearing it as if it were her punishment. Looking at him with eyes wide with shock as he checked on her every couple of hours.
Why are you checking on me? she had asked once, her eyes drugged with sleep.
Did she think him so heartless that she was shocked at such a small act of concern? Had he given her a reason to think differently? Why did he care?
Irritated at how scattered his thoughts were, he walked back to the kitchen, following the smell of coffee.
He came to an abrupt halt at the unusual scene in front of him.
Clio stood at the counter, her back to him, unpacking breakfast, he assumed, from the mouthwatering smell.
She was dressed in dark blue jeans that hugged her long legs from ankles to her trim waist and a sleeveless white silk shirt that showed off her tanned arms.
Her hair fell straight to her waist, a river of ambers and reds, glinting where sunlight struck it.
He watched in rising fascination as she slid the lid off one plastic box, grabbed a fork and popped a piece into her mouth.
Pancakes and maple syrup, mouthwatering bacon and coffee—his favorite meal from back when they had been at university. They had all teased him because he would eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Her face turned toward the French doors, she closed her eyes and let out a long moan as she chewed. A drop of syrup stuck to the side of her mouth and she licked it off with another satisfied little groan. Color suffused her cheeks as she repeated the ritual.
Bemused and turned on, Stefan watched as the pleasure she wrought from the little ritual rendered him stupefied.
The next time she picked up another piece with her fork, it took everything he possessed to not join her and direct her fork to his mouth. Or not to taste the syrup on her lips.
“The suite comes with a butler on call twenty-four hours, Clio,” he said, pushing off the wall and walking into the kitchen. “You don’t have to arrange our meals, bella.”
Her fork clanged on the counter, the tinkering sound of it filling the silence.
She turned and watched him with those big eyes, color climbing up her neck.
The silk blouse was so sheer that he could see the outline of her bra, and the dip of her waist. It was so strange how so many small things about her he observed, his fascination arising from the most mundane of moments.
Like the delicate turn of her wrist and the blue veins there, like the crooked slant of her nose, the way she grabbed her hair away from her face with both hands and roughly pulled it back thrusting her breasts up...
Dannazione, the woman was lethal in how quickly she made him think of sex and skin.
Shrugging, she stepped back as he advanced. “I actually wanted to cook breakfast as a thank-you,” she muttered. “But this state-of-the-art kitchen doesn’t even have sugar and milk. So I walked a bit and grabbed breakfast.”
“A thank-you? Why?”
Her expression was straightforward, her shrug a bit too casual. “For looking after me yesterday.”
“Do they always last that long?” he said, thinking of how she had held her head. For a couple of hours, he hadn’t left her side, a tenderness he had forgotten he had possessed keeping him there instead of ordering the staff to help.
It had been a long time since he had done something so simple and satisfying as looking after someone. He used to do it all the time.
Another of his innate traits that he had buried deep.
“Kind of, yeah.” Another shrug. “This whole week has been very stressful and then I didn’t eat anything the whole day of the wedding and then guzzled down that champagne, so it was kind of like inviting the demons to play inside my skull.”
“Why was it stressful? Didn’t the wedding planner take care of everything?” he said, covering the distance between them.
The closer he moved to her, the heavier his blood flew in his veins. Just the scent of her soap and skin...it set up an instant reaction in him.
Blinking rapidly, she clutched the counter behind her. Which stiffened her posture and thrust her small breasts up.
“You’re joking, right?”
“Why were you stressed, bella?”
“Because I was getting married under the strangest conditions that I ever dreamed of and the beast I was marrying thought I had trapped him into it,” she said, thunder filling her voice.
He grinned. “The beast?”
“Yes. Anyway, I know that our contract doesn’t stipulate looking after each other in case of migraines brought on by stupid decisions and showing concern toward each other, so I’m really grateful to you for—”
“Shut up, Clio,” he said, staggered at how easily she had him swinging from mood to mood, like a damn monkey being operated by a switch.
Just fifteen minutes into the day, he had felt a strange warmth in his gut at the way she occupied every inch of the suite that had always been free of feminine intrusion, had given him unrivaled morning wood just by standing in his kitchen and now he was annoyed as hell.
At her and at himself.
All he wanted to do right now was tear up the bloody contract, pick her up, carry her to his bedroom, and peel that denim off of her slowly, inch by inch until he could touch her all over.
“Is the migraine gone now?”
“Yes, thank you,” she said primly.
Was it his arrogance that rankled at being dismissed so well? Or was it the allure of a woman who didn’t immediately fall for him?
Chewing on that errant thought, he picked up one of the coffee cups and took a sip.
The bitter brew on his tongue instantly reminded him of his home, a home he hadn’t visited in so long. “You found a Sicilian blend in Manhattan?” he said, surprised.
A flush claimed her cheeks at his pointed question. “I know a Sicilian coffee stand. I go there every once in a while.”
“My favorite breakfast and coffee. Grazie, Clio.” Leaning next to her, he tried to corral the various emotions exploding inside. Clearing his throat, he offered her an awkward smile. “Take the day easy. Go to the spa or if you want, I can have the pilot take you to...”
Her face fell. “I have no other machinations behind bringing breakfast for you except to say thank-you, Stefan.”
Beneath the caustic tone there was a thread of hurt that struck a chord in him.
Should
