of heaven.
His feelings were all over the map. Since he was not a man to even recognize the fact that he had emotions, the sharp shift in outlook was both alarming and bemusing.
Maria. It was all about Maria. Offstage, problems loitered, ready to shatter his giddy, postcoital bliss. But he refused to countenance them. One night. One mad, insanely wonderful night. That’s all he wanted, all he asked for. When the sun rose, he would pick up the reins of civic obligation once again.
But tonight was his. His and Maria’s.
He woke her with a kiss. A kiss that started with a quick nibble on a tender earlobe and ended up with her stretched out on her back, his teeth raking the spot where neck and shoulder met.
“What are you doing?” she mumbled, refusing to open her eyes.
“If you have to ask, I must be doing it wrong.”
“Alexxx...” Two syllables stretched to the breaking point.
Her shoulder was particularly sexy. How had he never noticed that? “You’re sweet and soft and I want you more now than I did a half hour ago.”
“Is that even possible?”
He choked out a laugh, trying to decide what he should taste next. “Look at me and tell me you feel it, too.”
Long lashes tipped in gold lifted. Her irises were more blue than green right now. Her pupils were dilated. She was sated and drowsy and completely irresistible.
When she licked her lips, he could swear it was unconscious...that she had no clue what that little movement did to him.
“I should go to my room, Alex.”
He frowned. “Why?”
“We have to be circumspect. You’re a very important man. Gossip could be detrimental to your career.”
“Screw my career.” How could she even think like that? They were naked and wrapped in each other’s arms. It pissed him off that she had the presence of mind to be concerned about propriety.
She feathered the fingers of both hands through his hair, sending a shiver down his spine. “Be sensible, Alex. Please.”
“I’m always sensible,” he said through clenched teeth. “I’m sick of being sensible. As far as I’m concerned, you’re not leaving this room until Monday morning.”
“What about the editing and revising?”
Bless her wonderful, conscientious, puritanical heart. She was trying to save him from himself. “We both have laptops. No one expects to hear from us tomorrow or Sunday. It’s the perfect scenario. I’ll make love to you until neither of us can breathe, then we’ll order room service, work on the document a bit and go back to bed.”
“You’re serious...” Her gaze searched his face, looking for God knows what.
Even he could see that his behavior was an anomaly. His father would be horrified. But his father was far, far away, and Alex was in the midst of a sexual awakening of unprecedented proportions.
What if sex with Maria was more than scratching an itch? What if this was what he’d been missing his entire adult life?
She exhaled, perhaps signaling capitulation. “I’d still have to go to my room and get a few things. What if someone sees me?”
“We’re on the same floor. Opposite halls, granted...but it will be a quick trip. Quit worrying.”
At long last she nodded slightly. “Okay.”
When she climbed out of bed and began to search for her clothes, he was stricken with the notion that she might not return. He took her chin in his hand and stared into her eyes. “You won’t change your mind?”
He’d meant the words to sound like a command, but they came out closer to a plea than he would have liked.
Both of them were naked. Upright. He could lift her and take her again right now. The image made him breathless.
“I’ll come back,” she said.
As a bit of insurance, he confiscated her bra and undies and stuffed them in a dresser drawer. “I want you to think of me when you’re walking half-naked down the hall.”
“I can’t do that,” she said, her expression aghast. “What if someone sees?”
“I suppose you’d better hurry.”
* * *
Maria scuttled down the carpeted hallway, her arms wrapped around her waist. The building was air-conditioned to arctic levels, and she knew her bare breasts were noticeable beneath her thin top. The knowledge made her face hot, but not as much as reliving what had just transpired in Alex’s suite.
If she had not promised to return, there was a good chance she would have avoided him until Monday. Could he read her that well?
Once safely inside her own room, she rested her back against the door, breathing rapidly. She was not the kind of woman who had affairs right under the noses of people who knew her...who expected her to be hardworking and ethical and dedicated to Alma’s cause.
Were all those expectations in her head? Maybe people were just people...fallible, unable to predict, good and bad.
Wanting Alex as a lover didn’t negate her contributions to the work of the delegation. As a group, the delegation had been sent to Miami with express instructions to take the weekends off. Healthy, productive humans knew how to relax. So why was Maria freaked out about the notion of being spontaneous and irresponsible with Alex Ramon?
Avoiding her own question, she found a straw tote that looked more like a purse than a suitcase and began stuffing it with essentials: toiletries, clean undies, her billfold, a comfy pair of yoga pants and a loose cotton top. The paperback novel she was in the midst of.
On second thought, she took the book out of the bag. Chances were, Alex didn’t plan to give her much opportunity for reading.
When she had rounded up everything she thought she might need for the weekend, she stared at the perfectly made bed. Damn. She wasn’t cut out for a life of deception and hanky-panky. Placing the tote beside the door, she set to work making the room look lived-in.
She tossed the covers until the bed was a tumbled mess. Then she went into the bathroom, dampened a towel and washcloth and crumpled them on the floor. Finally, she opened a packet of soap and wet it before placing it in the shower.
Feeling more than a little ridiculous, she examined her quarters with an eagle eye. The delegation was well-known already, at least within the hotel. Service workers noticed all sorts of intimate details. Maria wanted to make it perfectly clear to anyone who might be paying attention that she had definitely slept in her own room, tonight...not in room 1724.
Grimacing at the realization that she would likely have to repeat this same charade tomorrow afternoon, she shook her head at her own foolishness and decided she had kept Alex waiting long enough.
Opening
