Thrust: Bad Boy Racing Romance (Fastlane Series Book 2) (8 page)

DANI

Marco reached down, wrapping his hands around my upper arms and helping me to my feet. I smiled at him and leaned in his direction… to kiss him. But when I did, he turned and started to walk away.

“The bathroom is down the hall,” he began, reaching into the cabinet and pulling out a glass. “Help yourself to whatever you need.”

The entire time he spoke, Marco never turned around and looked at me. Instead, he opened his refrigerator, pulled out a pitcher of water and began to pour it into his glass. He seemed distant all of a sudden.

Cold.

“Uh… um,” I stammered, uncertainty creeping into my voice. “Okay, thanks.”

Dumbfounded, I stood there wondering what had happened. Still half-naked, a chill, sparked by his indifference, ran across my body. I gathered my clutch and turned to leave the kitchen. Seconds later, I made my way into the bathroom and closed the door behind me. After spending a few minutes cleaning myself up and fixing my dress, I paused and looked into the mirror.

What the hell just happened?

I wasn’t sure why his strange behavior affected me in the way that it had. Maybe he didn’t mean anything by it at all. But on the other hand, I couldn’t get past a feeling that he’d gotten what he wanted from me, and now, well, that was it. I reached down, placing my hand on top of my clutch and looking at it. It was all about the agreement. That’s all that mattered.

I’d never had a problem keeping business and pleasure separate, but where he was concerned some unfamiliar emotions stirred inside of me. The way he’d handled the entire situation, it was almost like Marco knew I'd be willing to sleep with him.

But…
how?

I’d always taken pride in my self-control.
Always.
Glancing towards my reflection in the mirror, I bit my lip. The dull ache between my thighs served as a warning that where he was concerned, I didn't seem to have
any
ability to control my needs. I shook my head and ran my fingers through my hair.

Now is not the time to lose focus, Dani.

If I was going to get him to sign the agreement, there was no better time than right now. I had to find a way to put the irrational emotions out of my mind, and do it quickly. Besides, it wasn’t like I’d never hooked up with a guy before. I had to get a grip. I was there for one reason and
one reason only
, to get the God damn signature. I glanced towards my reflection in the mirror again, whispering motivation to myself.

“Come on Dani, you can do this.”

I inhaled, sucking in a deep breath. In the midst of the exhale, I snatched my clutch from the bathroom counter top and turned to leave with a renewed determination. Exiting, I walked down the hallway, back in the direction of the kitchen. I noticed Marco standing there, wearing nothing but his tuxedo pants. Accented by his caramel-colored skin, the deep ridges and grooves of his midsection flexed while he leaned against the doorway to the kitchen. I squeezed my clutch in my fingers and readied myself to speak, moistening my lips with a quick flash of my tongue.

I looked at him. He smiled.

“Do you have everything you need?” he asked, easing himself off the door with a gentle push of his shoulder.

His question confused me.

“What do you mean? Everything I need?”

Marco walked in my direction while I spoke. Sliding his hands in the pockets of his tuxedo pants, he nodded towards the front door of his penthouse.

“Yes,” he began, speaking in a matter-of-fact tone. “Can I get you anything before you go?”

Go?

Uncertain, I frowned at him before responding.

“But I,” I started, struggling to keep my tone free of frustration. “I was under the impression we were going to discuss… the agreement. Is there a problem?”

Marco shook his head, shrugging casually.

“No, no problem at all.”

But rather than clarify anything, I found his response made the situation even more puzzling.

“So what are you saying? Are we discussing the agreement? Or, aren’t we?”

Marco looked at me in silence. His upper body rumbled with a slight chuckle, jostling his shoulders up and down. Before I could say a word, he leaned in and kissed me once on the cheek. Afterward, he turned and walked away from me towards the front door. I followed him with my eyes, swiveling my head while he moved towards the penthouse’s exit.

What the hell was going on?

He reached the door, placed his hand on the knob and turned to look at me.

“Something has come up, Dani. It’s something I need to handle right away. We’ll have to leave discussions about the agreement for another time.”

I looked away from him. After a slow blink, I bit the inside of my lip hard in frustration.
Who the hell does this guy think he is?
I turned and walked towards him, tightening my grip on my clutch. Feeling the need to say something, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“What’s going on here, Marco? You told me you wanted to discuss the agreement. Then, we have sex. Now all of a sudden, I have to leave?”

Marco didn’t respond immediately, not with words anyway. Instead, he opened the door without a syllable, grimacing at me while he did.

“I promised you we would discuss the agreement, Dani. We will. But, it won’t be tonight.”

I shook my head and let loose with a prolonged exhale. I couldn’t believe it.

“Okay, you know what…” I began, moving towards the hallway and making sure my first step was wide enough to avoid him. “Fine.”

Before I could make it through the doorway, he grabbed my arm. I snapped my head back towards Marco, glaring at him. I tugged my arm against the restraint of his grip.

“What?” I snarled.

The tension in his grip relaxed, as did his expression.

“You’re a beautiful woman, Dani,” he said. In the softest tone he’d used with me yet, he continued, “Thank you for coming with me tonight.”

Afterward, he leaned in, kissed me again and then backed away. His double talk and mood swings kept me off balance. I chewed the inside of my lip, feeling like I should
demand
he keep his promise. Yet, I found his flattery… I don't know,
charming?
While those thoughts rolled around in my head, Marco spoke again.

“I’ll be in touch, Dani. My driver will take you back to your hotel.”

I nodded and turned to leave, deciding that instead of fighting with him, I’d be better off leaving the door open to continue discussions about his estate for another time. I didn’t like having to do it but I really felt like I didn't have much choice.

“All right, Marco. Well, thank you for tonight.”

We said our goodbyes and moments later, I entered the elevator to head back down to the waiting limousine.
What the hell was happening to me?
My thoughts swung back and forth, like an ominous pendulum in my mind. One second, he made me feel glamorous, beautiful and desired. In the very next, I felt like… a prostitute.

Which was it?

DANI

After a long night filled with little sleep and even more questions about Marco, I dragged myself downstairs to the hotel restaurant the next morning. Bernard and Leopold were scheduled to go back to New York later that day, and before leaving they wanted to get an update from me about the progress of my dealings with Marco.

Feeling scatterbrained, I’d somehow lost track of time and showed up to meet them more than twenty minutes late. They sat at the far end of the restaurant, hunched over the table talking to one another in a booth in the corner. A few moments later I walked up to the table. They stopped talking, looking up at me.

“Long night?” Bernard began, snapping his arm at the wrist and flashing his watch.

Leopold eased out of the booth and gestured for me to sit between them.

Sliding in, I nodded and looked at Bernard. “Sorry about that. I’m still not sleeping well. It must be the jet lag or something.”

Bernard narrowed his eyes at me.

“Mmm, hmm.”

At this point, I had enough experience working for both of them to know they would have little interest,
as in zero
, in the romantic elements of my involvement with Marco. Bernard and Leopold were ‘bottom line' types of guys. This was one of those occasions when I was grateful for it. On the other hand, it meant I had a lot of questions to answer about the agreement, or lack of one, and they wasted no time getting started. Leopold eased back into the booth, causing the glossy leather of the seat to groan beneath him.

“Well, Dani,” he began, arching an eyebrow at me. “I think we all know why we’re here. Bernard and I are in a bit of a time crunch, so please feel free to begin.”

I straightened my posture, pressing my shoulders into the booth behind me and interlocking my fingers on top of the table before starting. I spent the next fifteen minutes or so recapping all of the previous evening. Obviously, I left out the most compromising aspects of it. I did my best to spin the results in the benefit of myself and the firm but I was under no illusion Bernard and Leopold would be happy with the lack of a signed deal.

Once I finished, the two of them looked at one another briefly. Bernard spoke first.

“Dani, I have to say, and I think I speak for Leopold as well… we’re both more than a little surprised you’ve not made any more progress than where we left things yesterday.”

Even though I disagreed with his statement, confessing the rest of what transpired between Marco and me  would only make things one hundred times worse. Instead of interrupting, I kept quiet and listened.

“Yes,” Leopold said, nodding and looking at Bernard. “Initially, neither of us had any misgivings about your ability to close this transaction.”

I turned my head in his direction with a quick swivel. His innuendo wasn’t lost on me.

“What are you saying, Leopold?”

Leopold shook his head.

“Perhaps Bernard and I underestimated the value of offering you a partnership. It’s clear the incentive wasn’t enough.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Leaving aside all of Marco’s physical attributes, closing any multi-billion-dollar client takes
time
. If anyone knew that, it was the both of them. Frankly, between Marco’s behavior and my sleepless night, the last thing I wanted to do was let this meeting derail with murky accusations about my ability to close. Nothing had changed. There wasn’t a single thing about this deal that was simple, or easy, and they knew it.

“Hold on,” I began, raising my arm and showing both of them my palm. “The two of you
trusted me
to get this deal done. You need to give me time to work on it.”

Bernard cut me off.

“Dani, you know full well the one thing in this case,
the only thing
, we don’t have is the luxury of time. Every day that goes by is a day that gives our competition a chance to sweep in and steal this deal right out from underneath us.”

Frustrating though it was, there was really nothing I could do to counter their arguments. Whatever advantage I might have gained by what happened between Marco and me the night before, I had to keep to myself. Coming right out and telling them about it would probably only make the situation worse.

Bernard continued to ramble. I wanted to pay attention,
hell I needed to
, but the more the conversation centered around Marco, the more I found myself thinking back to our time together. I drew my legs closed, squeezing my thighs tight, and fought to keep the memory of how he felt
inside
of me
outside
of my consciousness. I was sore but far from satisfied. I wanted more, felt as if I had to have it and…

Never mind.

I’d already created a difficult and complicated situation for myself. The last thing I needed right now was to begin fantasizing about another sinful tryst with my prospective client. Now fighting my urges and my libido, I still had to find a way to convince Bernard and Leopold to keep their faith in me. I'd more or less tuned out what amounted to a lecture from both of them over the past minute or two.