Out of Hours...Boardroom Seductions: One-Night Mistress...Convenient Wife / Innocent in the Italian's Possession / Hot Boss, Wicked Nights

“Do you have a girlfriend?” Jamii asked him.

“I—”

“’Cause if you don’t, maybe you could have Aunt Nat.”

“Tempting,” Christo said.

He didn’t let himself think just how much.

Natalie had barely come in and kicked off her shoes and sank down on the sofa when her phone rang.

“Hey.”

She smiled, warmed at the sound of his voice. “How’d it go?” she asked. “She’s gone, I see.”

“She’s gone,” he agreed. “We had a good time. I know all your secrets now.”

“Oh, dear,” Natalie laughed. “Even about Billy Hardesty?”

“Who’s Billy Hardesty?”

“Good. I’ve got one secret left.” She tipped her head back on the sofa and shut her eyes, just enjoying the sound of his voice in her ear.

“Not for long,” Christo promised silkily. “Are you hungry?”

“A little. There was plenty of food and no time to eat it. I was run off my feet.”

“We can solve that,” he said. There was a click.

She thought he’d hung up and she felt momentarily bereft. Then she heard footsteps and realized that the click had been the front door opening and he was standing over her, smiling down at her. He flicked the phone off.

“C’mon,” he said. And he scooped her up and carried her out the door and down the stairs.

“What are you—? Where are you—?” But she didn’t finish. She didn’t have to. She knew.

He kicked open the door to his place and carried her straight down the hall to the living room where he set her gently on the sofa. Then he sank down beside her and drew her into his arms.

She went willingly, happily.

Was she supposed to resist? It wasn’t possible. It was a dream come true.

Believe. Trust. Hope.

All the words her mother had given her—words she held close to her heart—even as she held Christo there.

Believe. Trust. Hope. And love.

She would give him everything she had and hope that it was enough. There was no choice.

She had to.

It felt as though he’d been waiting forever.

She’d only been out of his bed two nights. Two! Mere hours. And yet it felt like a lifetime. He’d heard her car, seen her come into the garden, and he’d gone after her almost as soon as she’d gone upstairs.

Now he massaged her aching feet and made her whimper with pleasure.

“Who’s Billy Hardesty?” He grinned, running his fingers along the sole of her foot, making her squirm.

“Oooh, you’re evil.” She gasped and giggled, writhed and twisted. “I’ll never tell.”

He ran his hands up her legs. “Never?” His fingers found her, teased her. “Never say never.”

Her eyes were bright and laughing as she tugged him down on top of her. “He’s the first boy who ever kissed me. We were five.”

“Ah. I guess I can let him live, then. As long as he doesn’t make a habit of it.”

“No one makes a habit of it,” she told him.

And Christo found himself thinking, I will.

But he didn’t let himself think of the ramifications of the thought. He only kissed her thoroughly and set about loving her. She returned the favor.

Christo wasn’t used to giving up control, but how could he refuse her? Besides, she didn’t ask. She simply touched. She, too, kissed, nibbled, caressed, laved.

She wrung him out. Left him spent and gasping. Left him sated and, at the same time, wanting more.

Wanting her. Because this—whatever it was—wasn’t enough. Somewhere deep inside Christo felt an odd persistent sort of ache he’d never felt before.

Knew the temptation to say three words he’d never said. Words he swore he didn’t believe in.

And realizing what those words were, Christo knew a fear as paralyzing as the one he’d helped Jamii vanquish.

He didn’t love Natalie!

He couldn’t.

CHAPTER SIX (#ulink_0a1a519b-568b-5908-aaf6-c879e3c821b3)

WHEN Natalie looked back she couldn’t put her finger on the moment she realized that something was wrong. There was no clear defining instant.

The truth was, there had probably always been something wrong. She’d just been too preoccupied with wishful thinking to admit it.

Or maybe with the misplaced confidence of the young and in love, she had believed she could change Christo’s mind.

She’d been honest with him, after all. She had said yes, that three years ago if they had made love, she would have wanted the whole thing—love, marriage, happily ever after.

But not admitting in her heart that she still felt the same way, she hadn’t been as honest with herself.