Author: Bella Andre

“How about I take you to one of my favorite places?”

Marcus had struck her, from the first, as a very private person. His offer meant even more to her because of that.

“I’d love that.” She hated having to remind him, “The things is, most places I go get pretty crazy.”

“Don’t worry, I think the spot I have in mind will be perfect.” He brushed his finger across her lower lip, sending shivers through her. “It’s very remote.”

Her voice was barely more than a breath as she said, “Remote is good.” Images of those half-dozen things they could do to each other somewhere remote had her blood running even hotter than it already was.

She was about to press her lips against his when he murmured, “If I kiss you again, we might never leave the hotel."

“Okay.”

A split-second later, his hands were in her hair and he was pulling her mouth down to his. Starved for him again, she straddled him in the chair as they made out.

It was the first time she’d been in control of their lovemaking and just as much as she’d loved obeying each of his sensual commands, she loved this too, loved knowing that she was driving him crazy with her mouth, with her hands on his chest as she ran them beneath the long-sleeved shirt he’d put on after their shower. An incredibly sensual shower that should have kept her sated at least until the sun went down.

Only, her need, her desire for Marcus, knew no rational bounds. Fortunately, she thought with a smile, he seemed to feel the same way.

She broke their kiss and said, “I’ll be right back.”

Slipping off his lap, before he could catch her, she went to get a condom. When she returned, she was pleased to note the surprise—and desire—light his eyes at the fact that she’d stripped out of her clothes.

Still shy with her nakedness, it was the pleasure in Marcus’s eyes as she moved toward him that made her bold. He reached for her as she came closer, but instead of getting back on his lap, she slowly dropped to her knees between his.

“Nicola?"

His voice was raw, almost hoarse, as he said her name and her hands trembled as much with desire as uncertainty as she went to unzip his pants.

He took her hands in his. “You don’t have to do this.”

She met his gaze head on. “I want to.” And she did, wanting it so much it shocked her.

Praying that he wouldn’t be disappointed with her technique—or lack thereof—with his help, she managed to pull his pants open and his boxers down. She reached out to touch him, to stroke her fingertips down the soft skin covering such incredibly hard heat.

“That feels good. So good, Nicola."

Without thinking, she bent forward and tasted him. On a loud groan, his fingers came to her hair. She knew he could have taken control of things, could have turned the tables on her and held her there while he took his pleasure in her mouth, but even though she was realizing a part of her would be pleased by that dominance, this time around she was glad that he was letting her take things entirely at her own pace.

His skin was clean and salty all at the same time and she realized one taste wasn’t nearly enough. But before she could do anything more, Marcus finally took control and lifted her up from her knees to straddle him again.

“I wasn’t done,” she protested.

At that he pulled her mouth down to his and kissed her hard. She was so lost to his kiss she was surprised to realize he’d put on the condom until he pushed into her, so hard and fast she gasped against his lips.

He stilled inside her, asking “Nicola?” and she realized he was still worried about hurting her.

She replied first by rocking her hips closer to his, then by saying, “Perfect. Absolutely perfect.”

And as they both found the peak and jumped off one more time, it really was.

* * *

When they were about to step out of her hotel room a short while later, she steeled herself to deal with what needed to be dealt with.

“Why don’t you go down first and I’ll meet you by the side entrance?” She lifted her baseball cap and big sunglasses out of her bag. “I’ll be wearing these and an oversized shirt.”

Fifteen minutes ago she’d been warm and safe in his arms. Now she was coldly strategizing how to get out of the hotel without being seen together. And she hated it, hated being able to see the contrast so clearly.

“I don’t like doing things this way, Nicola.”

“I don’t either, but—” She sighed, shook her head. “What do you think about Smith’s life?”

“He’s done well for himself. I’m proud of him.”

“Yes, but do you envy him? Have you ever wished you could be on TV and have women asking for your autograph?”

“Hell, no.”

She’d known that would be his response. “I know you hate having to hide like this, but you’d hate what would happen to your life if we did it the other way even more."

Marcus stared at her for several tense moments. “I’ll meet you downstairs.”

She watched him leave, the door closing a little too hard behind him, and she had to swallow past the lump in her throat. She hated that he was upset, but she knew she had to stand firm with him about not letting anyone know about their relationship.

Not because she had any more fear that he might be using her like her ex had. Marcus clearly had zero interest in fame or bright lights. And she was pretty sure he didn’t need the money that selling their story of “sinful nights” would bring in.

Unfortunately, her fears were of an altogether different sort now.

She was very much afraid that she was going to make the mistake of falling in love with him if she wasn’t super careful about keeping a big, thick wall up around her heart.

The thing was, Nicola would have claimed him as her boyfriend in front of the world in a heartbeat if she thought their relationship had any chance of working out. But she knew better than to believe in that fantasy. She and Marcus were having great sex. Lots of it. Of course they would connect during all that intimate skin-to-skin contact, with all the hours they were spending together.

But the fact was that on Monday she would go back to her life and he would go back to his. The last thing she needed was visual reminders of their time together or interviewers asking her what had happened to the gorgeous businessman she’d been seeing.

Yes, she wanted to protect Marcus from the circus his life would become if he were linked with her.

But she needed to protect herself, too...and remember to prepare her heart for their inevitable goodbye on Monday morning.

Chapter Fifteen

Marcus had spent a lifetime being fair. After breaking up at least a thousand fights between his brothers and sisters, he’d always assumed he was skilled at seeing all sides of a problem and analyzing it without getting emotionally involved on either side.

So then, what was his problem where Nicola was concerned? She didn’t deserve his anger, his frustration over the sneaking around stuff. It wasn’t her fault that she was famous. She’d given him the chance to walk away from the complications of fame the night before and he hadn’t taken it.

He needed to get over himself, and fast, before Nicola drew into herself any more and disappeared completely on him long before they ever said goodbye on Monday morning. He could feel her closing herself off more with every mile they covered in his car as they crossed over the Golden Gate Bridge, heading north into Marin. And the fact was, he hated losing his connection to her even more than he’d hated having to be in goddamned stealth mode leaving her hotel room to go pick her up at the VIP side entrance.

He reached for her hand and threaded his fingers through hers. “I’m sorry.”

Her eyes were big, surprised, as she turned her beautiful face to his. “Marcus?”

“Will you forgive me for being a jerk?”

He was glad, so damn glad, to see her full lips curve up slightly at the corners. “There’s nothing to forgive.”

He lifted her hand to his lips, pressed a kiss to the palm. “There is. I won’t do it again."

He kept her hand on his lap, pulling her closer to him. They were too far apart in his car. She belonged on his lap, curled up against his chest, where he could stroke her hair, where he could keep her safe, where she could relax and let go of the stress of her high-pressure life for a little while.

“That night in the club,” she said softly, “you didn’t sign up for this. I’m the one who needs to apologize for not being upfront with you from the start. I should have apologized a long time ago for letting you believe I was just any girl.”

“You could never be just any girl. And it has nothing to do with the fact that you’re famous.” His hand tightened on hers. “You’re very special, Nicola. Very, very special."

* * *

Didn’t he realize he couldn’t say things like that to her if he didn’t want her to fall head over heels for him? Lord knew the spectacular sex was bad enough. Now he was telling her how special she was...

Worried he was going to say something else even sweeter—and knowing damn well the wall she was trying to build around her heart didn’t have a chance of holding out against much more—she decided his family seemed like safe ground.

“Speaking of special,” she said, “I’d love to hear about your siblings. Even with just three kids in our family it was really loud and crazy in the house I grew up in.”

“Loud and crazy is dead on,” he agreed, lighting up the way he did every time he talked about his family.

One day he was going to be the most spectacular father. Husband, too. She tried to ignore the pangs of longing in her chest at those unbidden thoughts, along with the shot of jealousy that hit her over the lucky woman who would share those things with him. But somehow, even knowing she was being ridiculous to feel those things for a man she’d only known three days didn’t make her feel any differently.

“Lori said she’s a twin. Are she and her sister really similar?” Marcus laughed at that for long enough that she said, “I’m taking that to be a no.”

Still grinning, he said, “Their nicknames are Naughty and Nice.”

“I take it Lori’s Naughty?”

“And Nice, a.k.a. Sophie, is a quiet, mild-mannered librarian.”

“Do they get along?”

“Sure,” he agreed, “except for when they don’t.”

She managed to remember enough of what she’d read about Smith’s life over the years to say, “They’re the only girls in your family, aren’t they?”

“Yup.”

“It must have been ugly when Lori and Sophie started dating.”

“They’ve started dating?”

He looked so serious that she almost believed him for a second. Laughing, she said, “How many potential boyfriends have you had to beat up?”

“Enough that they should still be celibate.”

Still laughing, she said, “Tell me about your brothers.”

A few minutes later, her brain was reeling as she tried to put together the fact that there was a firefighter, a pro baseball player, a movie star, a photographer, and a whiz with cars all in one family.

“You Sullivan boys must have kept your mother busy growing up.”

“Still do.”

“It must have been so hard for you to have so much responsibility thrust on you, just a kid who had no choice but to step into his father’s shoes to take care of his brothers and sisters.”

She caught his expression too late to take her words back. He’d looked so open when he’d been talking to her about his family. His eyes weren’t completely shuttered yet, but he couldn’t hide the pain her words had brought to the surface.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly, squeezing his hand with hers. “That was thoughtless of me. I’m just sorry you had to deal with so much, so young.”