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Chapter Fifteen

Roman

I take one final taste of her perfectly pink pussy as I watch her smile up at my ceiling. When I pull my fingers out of her, the evidence of her orgasm is all over me.

My dick is hard as fuck.

I’ve never enjoyed watching every millisecond while pleasuring a woman so much. The awareness of that hits me in the chest, making it hard for me to take my next breath.

I can’t let this happen again. It’s too dangerous. She’s too dangerous.

I stand up. My dick is so hard that it’s impossible to hide. She pulls herself up to lean back on her hands, hair wild, body still exposed to me. More beautiful than anything I’ve ever seen.

She looks down at the evidence of my reaction to her and bites down on her lip, clearly interested in what she sees.

But I can’t go there. If I let her touch me, I’ll never want her to stop.

Needing one last kiss before I shut this down, I place my hands on the table and lean down until my lips gently meet hers. She matches my kiss, tender and purposefully.

I pull away and force myself to meet her eyes. “You should go before we do something stupid and take this further.”

She can’t hide the shock on her face, and I feel like a dick. But it needs to be done.

“Oh, yeah. Of course.” She looks down at herself, then scoots quickly off of my table, grabbing her shorts and putting them back on. “I’ll … see you tomorrow at the hotel.”

I nod my head, wondering if I’m handling this all wrong. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She offers a small smile, then disappears out of sight, leaving me confused and turned on, all at the same time.

I wish I could say I regretted what we had done because that would make it so much easier, but there’s no way I could regret finally getting a chance to feel her lips on mine.

To be the first man to ever get her off is a badge I will wear proudly.

But I have to put what happened aside. It was a one-time thing to show her that she can come for a man. That’s the only reason I did it. Something deep in my gut is telling me I’m lying to myself.

Either way, tomorrow, we start demo on the lobby of our hotel. It’s going to get crazy, and I can’t afford to lose my designer because I can’t keep my hands to myself.

To say I didn’t sleep well last night is an understatement. I tossed and turned all night, desperate for a release that I refused to give myself because I knew I wouldn’t be able to not think about Eva.

I need to put what happened behind me and focus on the renovations. Once this one is underway and we feel confident in how it’s going, we will be moving on to our Paris hotel.

When I told Eva Paris was next, she couldn’t contain the smile that lit up her face. The pride I felt, knowing I was able to give this opportunity to her, was like a warning sign that I was already in too deep.

I walk into the main lobby of the hotel to see the temporary partition walls up, so construction is ready to start. Just outside of the door, along the wall, stands Eva, who is currently talking to Drew.

She throws her head back and laughs at something he said, then touches his forearm. It seems she is already over what happened between us last night and moving on to someone else.

My jaw clenches tightly while my hands squeeze into fists at my sides. I have no claim on her, and yet I feel like she’s being disloyal to me. It makes no sense.

I take long strides toward the two of them, powerless to control the heat burning inside of me.

“Morning,” I interrupt in a deep voice.

Drew turns around and smiles. “Morning, boss.”

Eva keeps her eyes focused on the ground as she replies, “Morning.”

“Glad to see everyone’s enjoying themselves bright and early,” I say with a forced smile.

I position myself next to Eva, standing slightly in front of her, as if I can somehow shield her from the effects of Drew.

Drew smiles brightly, oblivious to what’s currently taking place in front of him.

“Can I steal Eva away for a moment?” I ask as I place my hand on her lower back.

“She’s all yours. I’ve gotta go check on the demo crew anyway.”

I lead Eva off to the corner of the room, not sure what I’m going to say next. She spins around and stops before we make it all the way, placing her hand in front of her, which forces me to halt.

“Care to explain what that was all about?”

There is no warmth on her face. No hint of the woman who laughs too loud or rolls her eyes at me with a grin. I always thought it didn’t matter whether someone liked me or not. Eva is the exception to that.

Seeing her look at me like she’s done giving me the benefit of the doubt, like I might not be able to come back from this, it cracks something inside of me.

“I just don’t want to see my project manager distracted by a beautiful woman at work. This is the most important renovation of his career. He needs to focus.”

She folds her arms across her chest. “What makes you think he was distracted?”

My shoulders knot up near my ears. She must know he’s flirting with her. I’ve seen him interact with plenty of people, male and female. He doesn’t look at any of them like he does her.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Eva. I know you’re smarter than that. He flirts with you, and from what I can tell, you flirt back.”

She holds her chin up high. “What if we were flirting? Are you telling me that it bothers you?”

“If you have something to say, just come out and say it. I don’t play games, Eva.”

“Fine. You want to know what I’m thinking? I’m thinking you all but pushed me out of your apartment last night, afraid you might feel something, and now you can’t handle the fact that you might actually like me.”

Her honesty creates a slight crack in my armor. “It’s not about that at all,” I reply, not ready to admit the truth to her or myself. “All I’m concerned about is making sure my employees are acting professional and staying focused on what I’m paying them to do.”

If looks could kill, I’d be dead. Her eyebrows narrow, and her nostrils flare.

She pulls her shoulders back and holds her head up high. “I apologize, Mr. Bertini. I assure you; this project has my full attention.”

With that, she walks away and opens the door to the construction zone after she puts on a hard hat.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Last night was a mistake.

I can’t let it distract me from this project.

I came here to see how it was looking, and then I need to head to the office.

The more distance I put between myself and the construction, the better.

The time away from Eva could give me the clarity I desperately need now.