Momentum (3 page)

“I’ll be right back,” Marco said, and left the room.

“Where the hell is he going?” she said to no one. Huffing out an impatient breath, she went to wash her hands with the ice-cold, slightly brown-tinged water coming from the bathroom tap and then set about picking up the discarded clothes and other items from earlier. At least she wasn’t feeling hungry or nauseated from her dinner for once.

Daddy, why did you do this to me?

Fighting tears and an alarming amount of rage, she shoved her clothes into her suitcase. It wasn’t one of those newer ones that rolled but it did the job. Marco returned and said, “Oh, good, you are packing.”

“What do you mean, ‘oh, good’?”

“You’re coming with me.”

“I’m what?” She stopped what she was doing and turned to face him, tapping her toe.

She could almost see Marco digging his heels in. Why had she agreed to dinner? This amount of grief wasn’t worth a decent meal.

“I am not leaving you in this, this
place
. You will sleep in my hotel room tonight.”

If she had been a cartoon character the steam would’ve blown the top of her head off. “Are you freaking kidding? I mean, I know you want to get laid, but this is
not
the way to go about it.”

Marco’s eyes narrowed and he advanced a step. Natalie took an involuntary one back and then cursed herself for not standing her ground. “You think that I would use a woman’s situation to get into bed with her?”

“I really don’t know what you would or wouldn’t do.”

“This is true, but I would never do that. I am many things, but I am not a rapist. I would never force myself on a woman.” He retreated, leaning back on the door. As they continued to glower at each other he crossed his arms over his chest again and she wanted to scream. Natalie wondered idly if men had any idea how hot most of them looked when they did that. Maybe someone taught them that move in high school health class or something.

She brought her mind out of the gutter quickly when he continued. “I will sleep in the other bed, by the way. I have two beds in my hotel room. Does that make you feel better? And I promise to behave as a gentleman.
Mia madre
would expect nothing less, and if I do something to offend you I’ll give you her phone number. Now, if you are assured I will not attack you, will you come with me?”

Natalie glanced around the room. She didn’t know Marco, but for some reason she believed him when he said he wasn’t a rapist. With his looks and foreign air of exoticness he no doubt had his pick of women, so why would he bother? And if he was willing to let her call his mother… With a shrug, she answered, “All right, I’ll come with you. But I need a few minutes to get my stuff together and check out.”

Too bad there was little to no possibility of getting the money she’d paid for the room back. She could really use it. Scurrying around the room, she got the rest of her stuff together. Marco came over to take her suitcase. “I will wait in the cab for you.”

She held up a hand. “Wait.”

“Yes?”

“I, um, I have my car here. I’ll follow you.”

Marco nodded. Giving her a quick sweep from head to toe, he stepped out of the room. She dropped onto the edge of the bed, wondering if she would regret agreeing to go with him. A woman only had so much willpower.

Chapter Two

Marco took Natalie’s bag to the cab with him and slid inside. Natalie followed without a word and he found himself studying her. Why was he feeling so possessive and protective of this woman whom he’d only met a few hours ago? This went beyond how he would normally act around a woman.

Natalie closed the car door behind her and walked the short distance to the office. He watched as she handed over her key and then nodded, her head dipping as if she couldn’t hold it up. Vowing to get to the bottom of whatever was going on with Natalie, he waited as she exited the office and headed for a car he wouldn’t let one of his servants drive.

He had to physically restrain himself from going over there and demanding she leave the piece of junk in the lot. She had agreed to leave the disgusting room and if he went outside and began to yell about her car she would probably turn around and go right back into the room just to spite him. No, better to fight one battle at a time.

She got into her car and he signaled to the cab driver he was ready to leave. “Hey,” he called to the front, “just make sure she stays behind us. I don’t like that thing she’s driving.”

“You got it, pal.” The driver saluted him in the mirror and Marco figured the man was good for it since he’d already given him a hefty tip, and of course the meter had been running the entire time he’d been inside Natalie’s motel room. That was fine. Money changed everything—Marco knew that better than most anyone else.

He swiveled in his seat and tried to surreptitiously watch out the back window to make sure Natalie was still following them. They arrived at his high-end hotel and he got out, peeling a bunch of twenties off the roll in his pocket. Natalie’s eyes widened when he turned around and her gaze landed on the stack of cash. Marco didn’t like traveling without cash. His
papi
had taught him to always have money at your disposal, and Marco was grateful he’d had it tonight.

Marco placed a hand on the small of Natalie’s back and she stiffened. Apparently there would be no more casual contact and he found himself mourning the loss of it. Earlier he’d genuinely enjoyed holding her hand, and it had seemed as if she’d gotten used to it too. With a sigh he pressed the button for the elevator and then heard a noise beside him.

“Does that mean what I think it does?”

“What?”

She indicated the button. “PH. Does that stand for penthouse?”

“Yes, why?”

“I’ve never been in a penthouse before. Or any hotel nearly as nice as this…” Her voice drifted off and for about the millionth time tonight he found himself curious about her circumstances.

The elevator doors opened and he gently pushed her in ahead of him. When they opened again on the top floor and she stepped out she came to a dead stop and he nearly plowed into the back of her.

“Wow.”

Marco took in the marble furnishings and thick carpet with a shrug. “It’s just stuff.” Using his electronic key card, he opened the door to his suite and held it for her. “After you.”

Natalie walked inside. “How many rooms are there? This place is huge.”

“Counting the bathroom, only three.”

“Oh, only three.” Glancing into said bathroom, she said, “And the bathroom is bigger than my entire motel room was.”

“If you would like to take a bath there’s a Jacuzzi tub.”

Natalie groaned and his cock hardened to the point of pain. He’d promised he wouldn’t force her, but a little slow seduction was allowed, surely?

“A bath sounds absolutely awesome. I used to love taking them in the huge claw-footed tub we had at home.”

Her eyes took on a faraway look and he mused that he probably never looked like that when he was thinking of his own home back in Italy, which was actually his parents’ estate, since it was common that men lived with their families until they married and he hadn’t been willing to start a war with his
madre
over him moving out. It had turned out to be one of the main reasons he’d decided to come to the States, though. His
padre’s
constant nagging of him, and to a much lesser extent, Paolo, about learning the business had driven him to the other end of the Earth. His brother didn’t have the strength of will and sheer stubbornness of Marco, and had followed less than a year later when he couldn’t stand the fighting anymore.

With a sigh he took her bag into the bedroom and she followed. Grabbing a luggage stand, he then hefted her bag onto it. “Would you like a drink? I have a fully stocked bar.”

“Just water is fine.” She was tugging at her sleeves and he frowned.

“I will not hurt you,
cara
.”

“I-I know,” she stammered and then blushed.

“Come out to the living room and we will have a drink before bed.”

After a moment’s hesitation she returned to the living room and sat down on the edge of the couch. “This is the nicest hotel room I’ve ever been in, by far. I’ve only seen places like this in magazines or a movie.”

He’d stepped to the minibar, but turned around. “Would you prefer bubbles or no bubbles?”

“Bubbles? Huh?”

Marco couldn’t stop the smile creeping up on his face. “In your water.”

“Oh! No bubbles, please.” She made a face and he squatted down with his back to her to reach into the minibar’s fridge and also to cover his now fully formed grin. He felt a rush of warmth in his chest, but before he could analyze what it might be, it was gone. He stood and grabbed a glass from the small setup at the counter and brought both it and her bottled water over to her before returning with a tiny bottle of red wine.

Natalie jerked her head toward it. “Why do they bother?”

“Bother?” Marco looked down at the bottle in his hand. “Bother with what?”

“It’s so small.”

“Oh, that,” he replied, chuckling. “Yes, it is funny to see how small everything is in a minibar.”

“I guess that’s why it’s called mini, huh?”

“Yes, I suppose so.” He opened the wine and poured the whole of it into his glass before tapping the glass gently to hers. “To our first night together.” With a wink that made Natalie blush again, he took a sip of his wine and she took a much larger gulp of her water.

“Do you have to do that?”

“Do what?” Playing dumb with Natalie was more fun than he’d had in ages.

“Turn on the Italian charm.”

“I am not turning it on,
cara
. It’s how I naturally am.”

She chuckled, shaking her head, and the urge to kiss her nearly flattened him. “I bet.”

Marco cleared his throat and willed his dick to behave. “Would you like me to make you a bath?”

“Oh, I couldn’t. I mean, I’ll just do it myself. You’ve already done too much. Way too much.”

“I enjoy doing nice things for you.”

“Yeah, well…” Her sentence trailed off and Marco decided to leave it for the moment.

“All right then. Do you mind if I watch a little television?”

“Of course not. It’s your hotel room.”

“It is both of ours.”

“Um, okay.” She shot up and disappeared into the bedroom and he heard a little sound of distress.

“Are you all right,
cara
?”

“Fine.” Now he heard her low voice littered with an impressive number of swear words and his eyebrows shot up. Then he remembered she’d grown up on a ranch. No doubt the men around her did not respect a woman like he’d been taught to. His
madre
would have his head if she ever heard him using such language around a woman.

She came out of the bedroom with a bundle of clothes and toiletries under her arm, including one of the fluffy hotel bathrobes, and he had to fight a smile. He would’ve given blood to be a fly on the wall as she turned on the taps and started humming to herself as she presumably undressed and got in the tub.

With his thoughts squarely in the bathroom, he ran the heel of his hand absentmindedly over his raging erection and then considered whether or not he’d have enough time to take care of things himself before her bath was over. But there was only one bathroom in the place and he didn’t want to be caught lying in bed with his hand on his dick, so instead he ruthlessly tamped down his arousal and tried to concentrate on the movie he was watching. Hopefully his hard-on would go away and he wouldn’t have to spend the entire night with a stiff, aching cock.

When it became obvious he wouldn’t be able to keep his attention on the movie, he gave up and went into the bedroom. Marco left his boxers on and pulled on a t-shirt in deference to any sense of modesty that Natalie felt and climbed into one of the beds, pulling the comforter to his waist. He flicked on the television in there and watched the news, making note of the weather since he and his brother had a long drive ahead of them tomorrow to reach the next event.

After what seemed like an eternity of a looping reel in his head of her naked, wet body in the bathtub, Natalie entered the bedroom area. She’d piled her hair up on top of her head and was wearing a ratty pair of sweats and a t-shirt. Marco was pretty sure she was braless since he could easily see the outline of her plump tits and he hoped he wouldn’t tent the sheet folded over his lap.

“Did you have a nice bath?”

Natalie smiled and Marco’s chest seized for a few seconds until the effect dimmed and he once again felt like himself.

“It was heavenly, thank you.”

“I’m glad you were able to enjoy it. Very often I don’t take advantage of the nice things in these hotel suites.”

Natalie looked around her. “If that’s the case, why don’t you guys stay in a cheaper place? With an entire season of travel places such as this must ratchet up your costs significantly.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Marco replied, shrugging. “It’s not my money anyway.”

“But don’t you feel bad you’re wasting it?”

“Not when I’m able to offer a Jacuzzi to a beautiful woman.” He grinned and Natalie’s face flamed. For a few seconds he allowed himself to fantasize that’s what she looked like when she came and he had to suppress the groan trying its damnedest to work its way free.

Natalie wagged a finger at him. “I thought you said you were going to behave.”

“Who’s not behaving?”

“You’re something else. But I really do need to get to bed. I don’t have anyone to share the driving with tomorrow.”

“Yes, you need your rest,
cara
.”

With a little awkward wave Natalie climbed into bed and Marco instantly regretted it wasn’t his.

Someday soon, I hope.

* * * * *

Natalie jerked awake when sunlight hit her face, warming it. She blinked and looked around.

Where the hell am—

Her thought was interrupted when it all came flooding back—meeting Marco, having dinner, him coming back to her motel room and then bringing her here.

Oh God. Why did I let him into my room?

A wave of embarrassment made her feel hot all over and she pressed her eyes closed, hoping it was a dream. But when she opened them again, she was still in Marco’s hotel room. She cocked her head and thought she heard him singing in the shower. The next thought that tumbled into her sleep-induced haze was
run
. If Natalie played her cards right she could be up, dressed and out the door within a few minutes.

But Marco had been so sweet, letting her stay here and keeping to his promise not to seduce her—for the most part—that she didn’t want to make him think she was ungrateful by leaving. She should at least stay to thank him. After that, she would get out of his way so he’d feel free to leave whenever he wanted to. Scrambling out of bed, she reached for the first clothes she could fish out of her suitcase and pulled them on, sending wary glances toward the bathroom door to make sure Marco wouldn’t arrive on the scene while she was still dressing. It seemed as if it wouldn’t be right to lock the door of the bedroom in the hotel room he’d paid for.

Marco exited the bathroom in a rush of steam and she couldn’t help the smirk that was fighting to take over her face. He spotted her and smiled. He’d pulled a towel around his hips, and it looked to be hanging on for dear life. Natalie had never wanted to yank a towel away from someone so badly before.

Her eyes were drawn to his chest and abs. Neither was overly cut, but there was enough definition to show that the man worked out. There was no way you could be a successful bull rider if you didn’t. Not yet willing to meet his eyes, instead she made the trip back down his body, past the sizable bulge that no thin cotton towel could conceal, down his legs sprinkled with a generous amount of black hair, all the way to his bare feet. Why were bare feet on a man suddenly so sexy?

“Good morning,
cara
.” Natalie jumped and met his gaze finally. He did his own tour of her body, frowning the slightest bit. What was his problem? It was doubtful he didn’t like what he saw based on his actions the night before.

Before she could ask there was a knock. Marco turned back toward it and she was treated to a great view of his ass as he walked into the foyer area to answer the door. Dragging her gaze away from those perfectly rounded glutes, she took in the musculature of his back, which shifted as he opened the door and had a brief conversation with whoever was outside. Belatedly she realized she shouldn’t be standing somewhere visible in case he didn’t want people to know she was there, and scooted back into the bedroom.