CHAPTER FOUR
Marco Cavarelli had no idea what this young woman was talking about, but he heard the wobble in her voice and, when she started touching her breasts, knew it was time to leave. He didn’t need to hear her life story; he had enough problems of his own. He moved decisively away from her.
‘Don’t you want to stay a while?’ the woman asked petulantly.
‘No.’ He really hadn’t the energy to argue with a hotel guest and had an important appointment in an hour. He should have let her fall off her chair on her own. But he wouldn’t do that to a woman – especially one with such an air of vulnerability about her that made her appear fragile and lost, in spite of the contrary evidence. Or maybe he was just too much of a gentleman and should have known better than to try to rescue a damsel in distress.
‘Listen, I don’t care in the least if you want to drink yourself silly, but I do have an interest in this hotel and its reputation.’ He headed for the door, eager to leave this woman – who didn’t seem to mind picking up strange men, and who ought to know better than to get drunk in a strange city. But he hesitated, his hand hovering over the door-knob. No, he couldn’t leave until he knew she would be safe. He picked up one of the bottles, unscrewed the top, and thrust it under her nose. ‘Drink,’ he commanded.
She snatched the bottle from him and sipped it, before banging it back on the bedside table defiantly. ‘I’m not a child, you know.’
His eyebrows lifted, saying it all, as he towered over her. He was wary of sitting down – didn’t want this young woman, beautiful as she was, to misunderstand his motives.
The woman suddenly deflated. ‘I don’t know how to deal with this. Don’t you want to sleep with me either?’ She grabbed his hand, tears glittering in her eyes. Her dress had shifted around slightly, showing more of her breasts than was decent, and her nipples pushed proudly against the thin silk. His gaze was drawn to them and a glimmer of heat shafted through his groin, surprising him. An ache of desire, which had been missing for quite some time, now coursed through his blood like a shot of adrenalin and he tamped it down, horrified that his body should betray his morals. But, seconds later, the young woman in front of him sniffed like a child, and he plucked a tissue from the box on the bedside table and waved it in front of her, his vaguely lustful thoughts instantly disappearing.
She took it from him, but simply scrunched it up in a ball and swiped at her eyes. ‘Thanks.’
He looked down at her dispassionately: the delicacy of her bone structure; her thick hair the colour of maple leaves just turning in the sunshine, her long slim legs, her full lips, trembling with emotion. As he took it all in, he felt another kick of desire. She was enchanting to look at – but also very drunk and defenceless, and he should not even have entered her room.
‘I’ll have breakfast sent up to you tomorrow morning – somehow I don’t think you will feel like making an appearance in the breakfast room. But be assured, if the church bells do not wake you by seven, the street cleaners will.’
As he took a step forward, unsure whether to shake her hand or pat her on the head, she grabbed his jacket lapels and kissed him full on the lips. He tried to pull away, but she deepened the kiss, holding on tight, and suddenly he wanted to kiss her back. A moan escaped her lips and his earlier unwanted surge of attraction leapt into overdrive. He tightened his arms around her shoulders, enjoying her sweet, soft lips, urgent against his.
Winding her leg around his, she drew him closer still. The movement was enough to catapult him back to reality. What on earth was he playing at? He loosened his grip and set her away from him, drawing his hand roughly across his mouth. ‘A beautiful young woman should not behave like this with a stranger. Get some sleep; I’ll wait until you are in bed.’
‘I’m sorry – I don’t know what I was thinking. It’s just that I was supposed to do this with my boyfriend for the first time, but he was doing it with someone else – probably not for the first time, to be honest.’ Her eyes filled with tears and she swiped at them with the back of her hand. ‘I really thought we were ready for a proper relationship. I am so dumb.’ She ran her hand over her brow. ‘I feel sick.’ She shrugged off her dress in one fluid motion and threw it on the floor, turning to face the handsome man. She stood in front of him wearing only white lacy pants and bra, and a confused expression. ‘What was your name again and what did I just confess to you?’
‘Marco, and you said nothing that I will remember in the morning, you can be assured of that.’ She really was a sad case, he decided, his mouth settling into its forbidding line once more as he resolutely tried not to look at her curves.
She unhooked her bra and Marco turned away as a flash of pale breasts, upturned pink nipples and tempting cleavage, assailed him. Sapphire dropped onto the bed and crawled under the duvet, murmuring, ‘Please ignore whatever I said, my mind is so fuzzy, I just need to sleep.’ She closed her eyes, but immediately opened them again, directing her gaze at Marco. ‘Did we talk about the stars tonight?’
‘Briefly.’ Marco wanted to touch her hair, wild as a lion’s mane as it fanned over the pillow. Her eyes were trusting, almost pleading and he fought the urge to sit on the edge of her bed and hold her hand, or read her a story – or something – until she was asleep.
‘I don’t think they’re real Blahniks, by the way – the shoes. I bought them on eBay for thirty pounds.’ She shook her head sorrowfully, burrowing into the pillow.
‘Thank you for clearing that up,’ Marco said solemnly. ‘I was concerned about their authenticity.’
But the young woman already sounded drowsy and he would be glad to leave before the urge to join her became overwhelming – to rest his head for a while on a soft pillow and let the heat of a woman’s body warm him for a while, to sleep the innocent sleep of an untroubled mind.
She smiled, a secret smile, and blinked groggily. It was a smile to melt the hardest heart. ‘You said I was beautiful.’ Her eyes closed and he watched as the pull of sleep and alcohol quickly overtook her. How could such a sweet, innocent-looking young woman be so wanton? It made him sad to see how vulnerable she looked in sleep. He rose from the bed, world-weary, kissed her goodnight on her forehead and pulled the door shut behind him.