more lightly than she felt, she said, ‘I think introductions are overrated. We’ll most likely never meet again. What’s the point?’
His eyes glinted in the dim light. A tiny smile tipped up one corner of his mouth. ‘We don’t have to divulge real names if you don’t want to. But I would like to call you … something.’
Orla went hot again. So that he could call her something in the throes of passion? The wicked thought made her pulse spasm between her legs.
He held out a hand then, a mischievous look in his eye. ‘I’m Marco.’
Orla put her hand in his and for a second her mind blanked when his big one enclosed hers completely. When she felt the calluses on his skin.
‘I’m … Kate.’
‘Nice to meet you, Kate …?’
Orla smiled at his obvious query as to her second name and pulled her hand free. ‘Just Kate.’
He nodded. ‘Kate Kate, it is. And I’m Marco Marco.’
Lord. No man Orla had ever met came close to this man. He enveloped her in sexual awareness. She felt energised. Alive.
‘You have a meeting here tomorrow?’
Immediately Orla rejected another reminder of reality. She shook her head. ‘Let’s … not talk about tomorrow.’
He went still and his eyes narrowed on her face. She could see him look at her mouth and she imagined she could feel it tingle.
He said with a rough edge to his voice, ‘No real names and no tomorrow. You’re right. The present is so much more interesting.’
He leant forward, glass in his hand. ‘I was about to leave when you walked in.’
Orla’s heart hitched. ‘You were?’
He nodded. ‘But then I saw you and I stopped.’
Mesmerised by his dark gaze, Orla asked faintly, ‘Why did you stop?’
‘Because you captivated me.’
‘Oh …’ For a long moment she said nothing, could only look at his mouth as a tight wire of need seemed to link to the insistent throbbing between her legs.
‘This is where you say you noticed me too …’ Marco supplied helpfully.
Orla’s eyes rose. She felt dizzy. She was losing it. No longer herself. ‘I didn’t see you at first…. I don’t know why.’
The man’s mouth flattened for a second. ‘I was hidden. In the shadows.’
Orla nodded slowly. Something touched her—as if what he was saying had a deeper resonance. ‘You were…. That’s why I didn’t see you. At first.’
Orla couldn’t stop talking. ‘And then when I did … I couldn’t look away.’
She blushed now and clasped her drink in two hands. ‘But I didn’t want you to think I was encouraging you.’
‘Don’t worry,’ came the dry response. ‘You gave a fairly frosty signal to stay away.’
She looked up, incensed. ‘I’m not frosty!’
He got all heavy-lidded. ‘I know …’
Orla went hot all over. Her nipples ached now they were so tight. Her belly clenched with need. She’d never been this turned on in her life.
The bar space was like a dark decadent cocoon. Orla glanced around and noticed that the table of men had left. So had the amorous couple at the bar. There was only one other remaining older couple, and she hadn’t even noticed. She felt a jolt of shock.
Marco lifted his glass and downed what was left of his drink in one go. For a second Orla had the wrenching sensation that he was going to leave and the feeling of rejection of that idea stunned her. She didn’t even know this man!
He put his glass down and Orla took a quick fortifying sip of hers. He looked at her for a long intense moment and she couldn’t even break the tension because it resonated within her. She wanted this man with an urgency that was completely alien. And thrilling.
His voice was deep. ‘I wanted you from the moment you walked in. I want you so much I ache with it. And I can’t remember the last time I wanted a woman this badly.’
Orla’s mouth went dry. The sum total of their physical contact so far had been his hand on her wrist to restrain her from leaving, but she knew that if he put his mouth anywhere near hers she would go up in flames.
Something about his brutal honesty connected with her. It was so much more seductive than if he’d insisted on some meaningless patter for another half an hour when they both knew that what was happening between them was crazy. Unreal. Unprecedented.
Feeling shaky at the thought of even contemplating what she was contemplating, Orla said, ‘I … I want you too.’
His eyes flashed and the throbbing heat between her legs intensified and she had to fight to stay still when she wanted to move around and ease the ache somehow.
She blurted out, ‘But … I didn’t come down here to meet someone, for a one-night stand.’
He looked deadly serious. ‘I know.’
His eyes on hers, hypnotising her, he said, ‘I’m going to get up and pay for these drinks at the bar. If you want to leave, I won’t stop you. But if you don’t …’
He didn’t have to finish. If she didn’t … she would spend the night with this man. In his bed. After a long charged moment, he stood up, reminding Orla of just how powerful and tall he was, calling to that deeply feminine part of her that exulted in the sheer biology of a potentially strong and virile mate. She’d never met someone so intensely masculine who made her feel so female.
Then he turned and went to the bar with a fluid grace that made Orla stare after him helplessly. Her mind went into turmoil. She had so much to think about—papers for the meeting tomorrow that she should go over. The reality of facing the demise of her family business. And yet, right here, right now, it all seemed very far away and not that important.
Somehow she got up and grabbed her bag. She was struggling to hang on to sanity, elusive as it was. She felt hot, feverish. Excited, scared. She couldn’t just let this man take her to his room. It was crazy, ridiculous. Dangerous.
Determined not to be led by her suddenly out of control hormones, Orla intended to leave the bar so that when he finished paying she’d be gone.
But just when she drew level with the tables nearest the bar she couldn’t help looking up and her gaze clashed immediately with a dark one reflected in the mirror behind the bar. Her heart stopped. Her breath got short and choppy.
His face was unreadable, those eyes so dark that she couldn’t make out the expression, but she couldn’t look away. Much like when she’d seen him first.
She realised that he’d
