But, of course, he should have known Lily would be different.
She shook her head. “Actually, I’d love a shower. And maybe some food. I think room service takes a while, though, so I’ll order now. Do you want something?”
You, he wanted to say. His massage must have worked, because she looked softer now, even more beautiful, if that was possible. Now that they weren’t fighting, and he wasn’t worried about where he was going to sleep tonight, he was feeling like his normal self. Pretty easygoing, a guy who liked to laugh and hang out with friends and family. And beautiful strangers.
“Any kind of red meat works for me.” He shrugged. “I’m easy to please.”
She smiled and moved to get the room service menu. It happened so fast that he almost missed it. In the space of a second—just before she turned away from him—she swept her eyes up his body, starting with his crotch and ending somewhere around his neck.
He shuddered as though she’d actually caressed him.
She wanted him.
Which was certainly going to make not touching her much more difficult.
Bruno could feel his groin swelling and pulsing, and he had to step behind the couch to hide his swiftly growing erection. “Maybe I’ll have a quick shower while you’re ordering?” he spoke to her profile, as she was bent over the desk, thumbing through the room service menu.
She waved in his direction. “Go for it. I think the bathroom in here”—Lily gestured to the door behind him—“is just a lavatory. There’s probably another one off the bedroom with a shower.”
Nodding tightly, he made a beeline for the other room, relieved that she hadn’t bothered to look up and notice his now-tented pants.
This was going to be one of the coldest showers in history.
Chapter Three
Lily hung up the phone and tried not to squeal with a girlish thrill. Komarov had been rocking a hard-on when he fled the room. She’d seen him out of the corner of her eye, but pretended not to be looking as soon as she saw the front of his pants.
Which had been the first thing she’d seen, since…wow. Just wow.
And she thought the view from their suite’s window had been impressive. But his erection was even more inspiring scenery.
But had that been for her? Or, in the minute or so that they had moved apart, had he thought of someone else? Maybe a lover waiting for him at home, whom he wouldn’t be seeing tonight because his flight got canceled. She felt strangely dejected at the possibility.
Goodness, she didn’t even know where “home” was for him. She knew he had three pregnant sisters, which amused her even now, just thinking of a man as large and intense as him being tasked with rubbing his sisters’ sore feet. But that was about all she knew.
No, scratch that. She also knew he had a big dick.
She rolled her eyes at herself. May as well write his biography.
She heard the water running in the bathroom beyond, and she made quick work of the half bathroom off the living room, then rolled her suitcase into the bedroom so that she could get a change of clothes.
For a moment, she hesitated, thinking she should just leave it there and come back when he had finished showering. Somehow, it felt too intimate to be in the bedroom next to him when he was naked, soaping himself and rubbing his body in the shower, hard muscles flexing as he washed his back.
Lily groaned and slapped her forehead. This was going to be the longest night of her life.
What’s worse, she’d barely given Julie’s graduation a second thought ever since she’d met him. It wasn’t like her to forget her responsibilities so easily.
You say “responsibilities,” I say “guilt,” her mother had once told her. You have to stop feeling so apologetic for every little thing that goes wrong. Especially when you have no control over it.
That had been one year after Lily had started dating Jason. Before, she’d been more easygoing, but after a while she had started worrying over little things, obsessing about them turning out right. It became harder and harder to deal with mistakes, especially her own.
She had told herself it was because her business had been ramping up so wildly, but her mother had seen the truth. Mom had suggested that Lily take a break from Jason for a bit, to focus on getting her consulting business under control.
But Lily had scoffed. “I’ll never abandon Jason! I’m not like that,” she had insisted. Mom had cautioned her that Jason was more of a project than an equal partner, and Lily had said something back that she regretted every day since. Just because you’re still sad and lonely all these years after Dad’s death doesn’t mean that everyone else around you has to be, too.