Page 9 of Hidden Heir, Italian Wife

“Hmm?” Bree was made of lead. From toenails to eyelids, all of her was too heavy to function. Her brain was a bed of moss, her entire being dulled into supreme indolence. “Issokay.” Even her lips were too sated to move. “I’m onna pill.”

“Are you sure?” The mattress shifted.

“Yes.” She made herself drag her eyes open to find his wide chest dominating her vision. The fine hairs lay in a treelike pattern that stretched toward his light brown nipples.

He was propped on his elbow, looking alert and powerful. His shoulders were satin, his mouth a stern line. His penis was naked so he must have removed the remains of the condom.

When she lifted her gaze to his, he penetrated hers with a steady stare, not nearly as destroyed by their lovemaking as she was. Angry?

“They’re in the bathroom next to my toothbrush,” she said of the pills, growing indignant. “See for yourself. Or do you mean…” She reached for the sheet, beginning to feel chilled.

The sheet was bunched below their knees. He was lying on the edge of it and didn’t move, forcing her to lie here naked before him.

“I had a physical after Kabir left.” Her friend had suggested she check that he hadn’t been cheating, leaving her with more than disappointment. He hadn’t. “I don’t have any health concerns. Do you?”

“No. I get checked every year and always wear condoms.”

“So it’s okay.” She quit tugging on the sheet and sat up to hug the one pillow that was still on the bed. “I can get a morning-after pill from the pharmacy on the way to the train station if you’re worried.” She had time, she noted with a glance at the clock.

Blues hit her as she realized she was not only at the end of her vacation, but very much at the end of her time with him. And, like the end of a vacation, stepping back into reality hit like a slap in the face.

“That would be wise.” He rose to gather his clothes.

He paused when his phone buzzed. He drew it from his jacket pocket and sighed, standing naked as he read it, an erotic silhouette of the masculine form against the striped light of the closed blinds.

If her phone had been within reach, she would have snapped him like that and called it “blind passion.” Amused with herself, she opened her mouth to tell him, hoping to return to some of the lighthearted humor they had enjoyed all day, but he swore under his breath.

“I have to go.” Tense energy had taken hold of him. When he flashed her a look, it was almost as though he blamed her in some way.

“Is everything okay?”

“An ongoing problem with a competitor. Nothing life threatening, but I should have been in Naples by now.” He pulled on his clothes. “I’ll leave my assistant’s card in case you need to get hold of me.” He flashed another of those piercing looks at her.

His assistant? That told her where she was in his circle of intimates, didn’t it?

She picked up the sheet and pulled it up to wrap across her breasts, under her arms, wondering what she had done to make him rush away—

No. No more blaming herself for men who left. Her heart might be twisting with a desire to maintain the connection they hadseemedto share, but she’d been a one-afternoon stand for him. He hadn’t tried to disguise it as anything more than that. In fact, he’d given her countless opportunities to reject him, and when she hadn’t, he’d delivered exactly what he’d promised: electrifying sex that had made her forget Kabir existed.

She refused to pine and torture herself with wondering if he would have invited her to Naples if she’d been staying in Europe longer.Shewas the one who was unavailable.

“I guess this is the part where I say thanks, this was nice?” She aimed for a flippant tone and must have nailed it because he shot her a look of arrogantly lifted brows that rejected her tepid adjective.

Spectacularwas more fitting. So wasunforgettable. She would be damned if she would stroke his ego, though.

After a charged moment, he showed her a card, then scribbled something on it. “That’s my direct line. Reach out if you need to.” He left it on the table with a muted snap.

So she could be left on read? No thanks.

She waited for him to ask for her number. To say he wanted to see her again.

“I enjoyed this.Grazie.”

He didn’t sound grateful. He sounded mad.

She was still on the bed wearing only the sheet. She suddenly felt cheap and couldn’t bear it. She only wanted him to leave.

“You’re welcome,” she said with one of her mother’s stage smiles, the kind that covered anything from a wardrobe malfunction to a lost crown. “I have a train to catch so… .” She wiggled her fingers.“Arrivederci.”

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