He spread his hands and gave her the sexiest grin she’d ever seen. ‘Just making a suggestion. Which you can choose to accept … or not.’
‘So this thing between us—it’s equal.’
‘It’s equal.’ He narrowed his eyes at her. ‘So will you just stop talking and kiss me?’
‘A request. Polite. Ish,’ she said. ‘There’s a word missing.’
He looked pained. ‘Ella. Please.’
‘Much better.’ She kissed him.
Between them, they managed to get rid of the rest of their clothes, and he took the pins out of her hair. And then he lifted her up and laid her on the huge, wide bed. The mattress was firm, but the pillows were soft and deep. She drew her hand down his side, moulding her palm to the shape of his body; in return, he traced the curve of her hip and her buttocks.
‘Your move,’ he said, his voice deepening.
She drew one finger down his sternum and smiled.
He copied her.
She slid her hand across his midriff. Rico did the same to her, then slid his hand up to brush the under curve of her breasts. Ella closed her eyes. ‘Oh, yes. More,’ she whispered.
He slid his hand between her thighs to cup her sex; she wriggled, needing him closer.
At last, he drew one fingertip along her sex, teasing her until she was near to clenching her fists with frustration; her breath escaped as he pushed one finger inside her. She tipped her head back against the pillows as his thumb found her clitoris and teased it.
‘You like that?’ he whispered.
‘Yes.’ She dragged in a breath. ‘But I want more.’
‘Me, too.’
Ella felt the mattress dip and realised he was no longer beside her. She opened her eyes. ‘Rico?’
‘Condom,’ he said, rummaging for his wallet and retrieving a foil packet. He ripped the packet open and rolled the latex over his shaft; the bed dipped again as he knelt between her thighs. And then at last he gently eased into her. He held still, letting her body adjust to the feel of his, then stole a kiss. ‘Perfect. Just how I wanted to see you, Ella bellezza,’ he said huskily. ‘Your hair spread over my pillow, and me inside you.’
Then he began to move; he took it slowly at first, stoking her desire to fever point. Then it was as if something snapped his control and he moved faster, harder, building the pressure until finally her climax splintered through her. As her body tightened round his she could feel him tense as he reached his own release.
Finally, he eased out of her, and kissed her tenderly. ‘Don’t go anywhere,’ he whispered as he headed for the en suite.
Alone in his bedroom, Ella felt awkward. They were supposed to be talking, sorting things out between them, and yet they’d ended up in bed. And she felt like a tart.
‘What’s the matter?’ he asked when he came back.
She told him.
He sighed, sat on the end of the bed and took her hand. ‘First of all, you’re not a tart. I didn’t exactly have a lot of control, either. I was with you all the way. So don’t beat yourself up about it.’
‘I guess.’
He drew her hand to his mouth, pressed a kiss into her palm and curled her fingers round it. ‘If anything, I’m the one at fault. I was supposed to be taking you to dinner, not carrying you to my bed.’ He was still holding her hand as he asked, ‘So where do we go from here?’
‘WHERE do we go from here?’ Ella blew out a breath. ‘I have absolutely no idea.’
‘Let’s start with what we know. Neither of us wants a relationship. Neither of us has time for one.’ He paused.
‘But.’
‘But?’
‘It’s good between us. Physically.’
She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘What are you suggesting?’
‘I’m going to be in London for a while. Maybe we can see something of each other while I’m here.’ He paused. ‘Kind of friends with benefits.’
‘We’re not friends. We barely know each other,’ she pointed out.
‘Acquaintances with benefits, then.’
‘You’re really compartmentalised, aren’t you?’
He shrugged. ‘It tends to make life easier.’
‘So what you’re offering me is sex. Just while you’re in London.’
‘That sounds tacky.’
‘But that’s what it boils down to.’
‘I guess. We’re both busy and neither of us wants to get involved.’ Honesty compelled him to add, ‘But there’s something between us.’ Ever since she’d left Rome, he’d told himself that she was nothing special. Seeing her again was supposed to prove that.
Except it hadn’t.
Not that he was prepared to admit quite that much to her.
And maybe seeing more of her would make this thing burn itself out. He’d get bored, the way he always did. And it would end before it stopped being fun. Before it started being serious.
‘What do you want, Rico?’ she asked.
He wasn’t sure he could answer that. He knew what he’d always thought he wanted—to be in sole charge of the business. Which he was. And the fact that it wasn’t enough for him any more, that expanding into London excited him less than the thought of seeing her, made him antsy. He threw the question back at her. ‘What do you want?’
‘You’re not supposed to answer a question with a question.’
‘What do you want?’ he repeated.
She sighed. ‘I don’t know. I thought I’d got you out of my system. Tonight was supposed to be closure. And look what happened. I’m naked and in your bed.’
He already knew she felt bad about that. Which made it easier for him to admit, ‘It was completely mutual.’
‘So do we walk away from each other now?’
His head was telling him to run like hell. His heart was telling him to stick around. ‘Do you want to walk away?’
‘It would be the sensible thing to do.’
The ‘but’ was loud and clear. She felt the same way he did. Mixed up and torn between the options. Safe and not safe.
‘I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with you right from the start,’ he said.
‘I guess you had your reasons for what you did. I think they’re ridiculous reasons, but I suppose you weren’t doing it out of a sense of meanness.’
‘No, I wasn’t. It’s the way people are with me—they see me in terms of what I can do for them. With you, it felt different. I didn’t want that to change.’ She looked so cute, and he was so, so tempted just to lean forward and steal a kiss. But he held himself back. Just. ‘I really ought to go and find your clothes, let you get dressed, and take you down to dinner. But I have a feeling that they’re going to be pretty crumpled—just as mine are.’
‘I didn’t think of that.’ She bit her lip. ‘Everyone’s going to look at us in the restaurant when