She threw her hands up. “Oh, now hang on a minute. I appreciate the drink, but there’s no way—”
He didn’t let her finish her protests. “Hear me out. My company owns the penthouse of this hotel. It’s a two-bedroom suite. You can have the other room for tonight. It even has its own bathroom. You can lock the door and pretend like it’s your own hotel room. There is simply no way I’m going to let you sleep on the side of a busy road in the middle of a storm.”
“There isn’t much traffic out there now with all the rain.”
“I’m serious. You’ve had a hell of a day and an unbelievably long string of bad luck. Why not give yourself a break?”
She looked like she was seriously debating turning him down. He’d never had to beg a woman to share a room with him. Hell, most nights he was the one having hotel keys thrust at him. After all, he was Rob Madison, owner of this and a string of other luxury hotels all over the world. He had topped Fortune’s list of most eligible billionaires the last three years running.
He watched as she chewed on her lower lip, clearly nervous about his proposition. He supposed from her perspective he was a stranger and she would be consenting to share a hotel suite with him.
“The bedroom door locks?”
“It locks.” He offered her what he hoped looked like a friendly grin. “If it makes you feel any better, you can ask Pierre to call every hour to make sure I haven’t ravished you.”
Rising slowly, she nodded her agreement. “Well, okay, but just for tonight.”
Incredibly pleased with her response, he reached for her hand and she let him pull her forward. “I don’t even know your name.”
“Meg Williams”
“Short for Megan?”
She crinkled her nose. “No, actually it’s short for Margaret, but don’t you dare call me that.”
“Family name, Margaret?”
“My mother’s favorite book was Gone with the Wind and for some unknown reason she selected my name in honor of the author.”
“And I’m assuming from your tone that wouldn’t have been your choice?”
“For Pete’s sake! Of all the names associated with that book, she lands on Margaret? What’s wrong with Melanie or Katie Scarlett, even?” Meg asked with a laugh. “Of course, it could have been worse, I suppose.”
“Oh, how so?”
“If I had been a boy, she was going to name me Mitchell.”
Laughing, Rob took her hand again, leading her to the elevator until she pulled him up short.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
Looking around, Rob shrugged, wondering what he could have forgotten.
“Your name?”
“Ah. It’s Rob.” He paused for only a moment before adding a little white lie. “Mason. Rob Mason.”
From the corner of his eye, he caught Pierre’s startled glance, but he ignored him and the guilt associated with his look.
Meg offered her hand in introduction. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Rob Mason.”
Three
Meg tried to persuade herself she wasn’t making a huge mistake, trusting a virtual stranger as they rode the elevator to his penthouse suite. If she weren’t so exhausted and completely out of options, nothing on earth would have convinced her to go to a hotel room with a strange man, regardless of how nice he seemed. She simply wasn’t the type of woman to do something so rash and potentially dangerous. She was practical, never-take-a-risk Meg. Her friends, Kelly and Carly constantly referred to her as the reliable one. Taking this vacation alone was the most daring thing she’d ever done in her life.
Her cheeks flushed when she realized Rob was still holding her hand and had been doing so since they left the bar. His palm was large and warm and surprisingly comforting. He was a stranger and yet she’d felt an immediate connection to him.
“Once you get to the room, you can take a nice, hot shower and get out of those damp clothes.”
Rather than soothing her, his words had the opposite effect. A strange tingling sensation swept through her body. What would it be like to let Rob peel the wet clothes off her and take a nice, hot shower with him? His muscular body and god-like face were certainly awakening parts of her libido she didn’t know existed.
Shit. She put the idea out of her head. He was a complete stranger and completely out of her league. Besides she had never had a one-night stand in her life. She was practical, rational, and levelheaded.
Okay. I’m boring.
As he unlocked the room, Meg took a steadying breath. Someone who looked like Rob Mason would never be attracted to someone like her. While not unattractive, she certainly couldn’t hold a candle to the goddess she’d seen emerging from the limo with Rob earlier.
“What about Lana?”
“What about her?”
“Won’t she mind me sleeping in the next room?”
“I don’t really think it’s any of her business one way or the other.”
“Isn’t she your girlfriend?” Meg silently berated herself for her too straightforward question.