by Tami Lund
She shook her head and smiled. Leo was certainly good for her, wasn’t he? Until this weekend, she hadn’t even been sure who she was. She was used to pretending to be whatever everyone else expected her to be.
And yet, over the course of a couple days, with Leo’s help, she was almost completely comfortable in her own skin. Being the person she wanted to be.
He stirred, and unable to resist, she stroked her hand over his bare back. He shifted his head onto the pillow and opened his eyes, giving her a lazy smile. “Morning, beautiful.”
She almost scoffed but caught herself. If he thought she was beautiful first thing in the morning, who was she to argue?
“What time is it?” he asked, rolling over before yawning and stretching. She blatantly admired the way his muscles flexed and twitched with the action.
“Little after nine.”
His brow furrowed. “Why’s it so dark?”
“Raining. Pouring, actually.”
“Really?” He glanced at the window. “Huh. That’s perfect.”
“It is?”
“Yep. My plan for today is to stay right here, for as long as possible, and if it were sunny and beautiful, I’d be afraid you’d want to go out and do more exploring instead.”
She giggled.
He rolled onto his side and wrapped his arm around her waist. “Come snuggle with me.”
He shifted until his erection was pressed against her ass. His hand smoothed down to her thigh and then up again, squeezing her waist briefly before cruising higher to cup her breast. He massaged gently as he pressed a kiss to her shoulder, and she relaxed into his touch and sighed.
Soon, sighs turned to panting, then to mewling noises as he pumped into her from behind, his hand splayed on her stomach, hers clutching his thigh, this position forcing them to work harder at achieving that pinnacle that was oh so close.
And then his hand was between her legs, his finger stroking her most sensitive spot, and she came so hard her vision blurred for a few seconds.
Without losing his rhythm, Leo rolled them both until she was on her stomach and he was behind her, his hips pistoning urgently. He gave a shout, and his body stiffened as he found his own release.
With a gusty sigh, he pulled out and disposed of the condom, then he was back again, wrapping his much bigger body around hers. Kissing her shoulder, he said, “I can’t think of a better way to spend a rainy Sunday.”
“Me neither,” she replied, and she smiled.
Because it was true.
Chapter Nine
Leo’s phone chimed, breaking into his post-coital bliss. With his arms wrapped around Shannon and one leg draped over her thigh, he considered ignoring it. Given it was Sunday morning—or maybe afternoon by this point—it was likely one of his parents, probably wanting to talk about the cancelled wedding, possibly thinking they could convince him to return and give it another try.
Nope, nope, and triple nope.
He kissed the back of Shannon’s neck and buried his face in her hair.
“Are you going to get that?” she asked.
“Nope.”
The ringing stopped. And started up again. Leo tensed. If it were one of his parents, they’d likely leave a message—pleading, if it was Mom, terse if Dad—and wait for him to respond.
“Whoever it is really wants to talk to you,” Shannon noted.
Leo sighed and rolled away from her comfort and curves. His phone was in his shorts pocket, and they were all the way across the room, so he grudgingly climbed out of bed and went over to check to see who so desperately needed to speak to him on a Sunday morning.
The name on his screen said: Max.
“Shit.” He hung his head for a moment and then began pulling on his shorts. “It’s my brother. And we had a sort of falling out, so this call could get ugly. I’m going to go to my room to get my toothbrush and talk to him, and then I’ll be back.” He hurried over, dropped a hard kiss on Shannon’s lips. “Don’t go anywhere.”
She smiled. He kissed her again.
His phone stopped ringing. And started up again.
“Damn it. I’ll be back as soon as possible. We have big plans today.”
Her laughter chased him out the door, and he finally connected the call. “What, Max?”
“Good morning to you too, brother. What took you so long to answer your phone?”
“My reluctance to talk to you.” Leo unlocked the door to his room and stepped inside, heading to the bathroom.
“Ouch. Guess that means you’re still upset.”
“Well, you did serve as lookout at my rehearsal so that your asshole best friend could fuck my fiancée while the rest of us sat in church, waiting for her to walk down the aisle.”
“Yeah, sorry about that.” He didn’t sound the least bit sorry. “But we all knew it was an arranged marriage, so I don’t know why you were so surprised.”
“Arranged or not, I happen to believe in the idea of fidelity.”
“Clearly you and Bridgette never talked about this.”
“Bridgette and I rarely talked about anything except the next party she wanted to plan and her shopping expeditions.” If there were a more shallow woman on earth, Leo didn’t want to meet her. Frankly, he should be thanking Max and Davit. If not for them, he’d be married to the woman by now—and he’d never have met Shannon.
Well, he very well would have, except it would have been under entirely different circumstances. Because he did believe in being faithful, he might have admired her beauty and would have been polite to her; however, his attention would have been on his wife.
Because that was what he was supposed to do.
“Yeah, she does like to plan parties, doesn’t she? She said she’d go ahead with your thirtieth, if you’re still interested.”
“If I’m still—wait, are you talking to Bridgette?”
“Funny that…”
Leo waited. What the hell had happened since he stormed out of that church Friday evening?
“Even after your rather dramatic disappearing act, Dad still insisted he wants our families to come together. For the business. And since you refuse to toe the line, guess who gets to?”
Leo closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Are you telling me you’re going to marry Bridgette?”
Max laughed. “Pretty funny, don’t you think? I’m the one Dad was ready to write out of his will, while you’ve always been the golden child, and now look what’s happening.”
Leo tried to decipher how he felt about this. There was definitely no regret. No sadness. No disappointment. Frankly, if this was what it took to get Max to stop acting like a child, and he was clearly okay with it, why the hell not?
“You’re good with marrying the woman your best friend just fucked? At your brother’s almost wedding?”
“I look at it this way: Davit took her for a test drive and assured me she’s good enough to keep around.”
If that weren’t a twisted way to look at it…
“And I’m not worried he’ll do it again. He’s in love with some other woman. I’ve seen her, so I can see why. She’s smokin’. And he says she’s wild in bed too.”
Leo didn’t give a shit about Davit’s sex life, except… “If he’s in love with someone else, why was he fucking Bridgette?”
“Oh, his woman disappeared. About a year ago, I think. Kind of a big drama. I guess some Italian mafia family kidnapped her. As soon as he can find her, he’s gonna take out the whole lot of ’em.”
“Max, you really shouldn’t be messing around with this guy. He’s bad news. You could get into a lot of trouble. The kind that Dad can’t bail you out of.” Or worse. Max could end up dead.
Davit was part of the Armenian mob. Nothing they did was aboveboard. Dad had expressed interest in going into business with that family once, and Leo had shut him down hard.
“Trust me, no one can touch me when I’m with Davit. Anyway, now that we’re back on talking terms, how’s you
r vacation? Is it weird hanging out up there by yourself?”
He wouldn’t know. “I’m having a great time.”
“No shit? Alone?”
“Um…”
“Hot damn, you found yourself a new woman already. You dog. I’m so proud. What’s she like? What’s her name? Is she—?”
“Do not ask if she’s good in bed.”
“Okay, fine. What’s her name?”
“Shannon.”
“Shannon, huh? Is she anyone important?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care.”
Max laughed. “It really is going to work out that I’m the new favorite, isn’t it? Because I do care about that stuff, just like our parents do.”
That was true. Money, power, prestige— it was all exceedingly important to his parents. And to Max. Leo supposed it had always been important to him, too, but not on the same level. He supported the business, did what he was obligated to do because it was the right thing to do. Because it was what his family expected.
Honestly, though? He didn’t care. Not the way he needed to in order to commit to marrying a woman he didn’t love—hell, he didn’t even like Bridgette. When his vacation was over, he’d go back to the fold, but there would be new rules. Starting with his personal life.
That was now off-limits. He would make the decisions about what he did when he wasn’t on the clock. And that included continuing to see Shannon after their little vacation was over.
He’d certainly done a one-eighty, hadn’t he? When he met her, he swore he wanted nothing but a good time, a temporary one at that.
But there was something about Shannon, and it had nothing to do with fabulous sex.
Okay, that definitely played a part, but seriously, it was her. Something about her drew him like a moth to a flame. The more time he spent with her, the more time he wanted with her. The more he learned about her, the more he wanted to know.
Did she feel the same?
“So tell me more about Shannon,” Max asked.
Leo shook his head, shaking off the niggling worry that when it was time to check out of the quaint B&B, Shannon may walk out of his life for good. Hell, he didn’t even know her last name. They hadn’t exchanged numbers. It wasn’t necessary when they were spending every waking—and sleeping—moment together.
“I don’t think so,” Leo said. “The last thing I want is you and your buddies to come sniffing around her like a pack of horny dogs.”
Max laughed, as if Leo had told a joke instead of insulted him.
“Okay, okay, I’ll let you get back to your honeymoon.” He barked out another laugh. “Just call Dad, will you? Let him know you’re cool with me marrying Bridgette. He wants to hold off rescheduling everything until you give your blessing. Thinks there’s still a chance you might change your mind.”
“Trust me, there isn’t. Even if Shannon weren’t in the picture, I’d never go back to Bridgette. I learned my lesson. If I’m going to get married, it will be to someone I love. And someone who loves me back.”
Max made retching noises. “Romance doesn’t make the world go ’round, bro.”
It was making his spin at the moment.
“Bye, Max.”
“Have fun, Leo.” And then the call was disconnected.
He stood there in front of the bathroom mirror, staring at his phone, debating whether to call his father now and get it over with. Except he knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Dad would try to talk him around, and then they’d likely get into an argument.
A knock on the door drew him out of his musings. He found Shannon standing in the hall, her lithe body wrapped in a silky, thigh-length robe. He suspected she wore nothing underneath, and suddenly he craved her all over again.
“Hey,” she said, shyly. “Everything okay?”
He opened the door and beckoned her in. “It is now.”
She smiled wider, and he drew her into his arms, hugging her to him and ravishing her mouth.
When they finally pried their lips apart, she was breathless. “Oh my.”
He stroked a lock of hair out of her face. “Just wanted you to be clear about how I feel about you.”
She arched one brow, twisted out of his embrace, and began wandering around his room. “Wow, this is far bigger than mine. Why didn’t we stay here last night?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t need the space, did you?”
Her lips quirked. “Not at all.” She strode to the French doors that opened onto a private balcony. “Although this is definitely nice. And it’s covered too.” She glanced at him over her shoulder, a vision standing there with the dull, rain-soaked light illuminating her like an angel.
This wasn’t the first time he’d thought of her in terms of a celestial being.
“We should order breakfast and mimosas and sit out here. I love the sound of the rain when it’s a steady downpour like this.”
He didn’t care what they did so long as they were together. He dialed Maureen and asked for exactly what Shannon had requested. The proprietor promised to have something whipped up in about thirty minutes.
He stepped up behind Shannon and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her flush against his body. “We have thirty minutes to kill.”
She turned around and draped her arms around his neck. “I bet we can come up with something to do.” She shimmied her hips. His half-hard cock went instantly rigid.
“I bet you’re right.” He pushed her robe off her shoulder and kissed the skin he exposed.
“You’re definitely right.”
Chapter Ten
They sat on the balcony, a feast spread out between them, the champagne bottle nestled in a container of ice and parked on the floor because there wasn’t enough room for it on the table.
They chatted about the weather and what they planned to do during the rest of their stay. Leo told her about the phone call, about how his brother was apparently now marrying the woman Leo had left at the altar.
Shannon tried not to dawdle too long on that particular subject, not because she wasn’t dying of curiosity, but because it hit a little too close to home.
If Hayk Grigoryan hadn’t bought off her father and stolen her away, that would have been her fate as well. Hell, that essentially would have happened if Hayk hadn’t died so unexpectedly.
To be honest, that would have been better than what she’d gone through, except that if she’d been pushed into an arranged marriage, she likely would still be in that relationship. Unless her chosen husband abused her, she wouldn’t have reached the edge of desperation like she had after Hayk and then Davit.
Even cheating wouldn’t have been enough; she would have simply fucked her husband’s arch enemy or maybe his best friend, and they would have been even.
What a screwed up life. God, she was so glad she was rid of it. And yes, she’d traded a life of having sex with someone she didn’t want to be with for another life with multiple someones she didn’t want to be with, but at least her current lifestyle was on her own terms. Plus, it was temporary. Only a few more years and she’d buy out someone like Maureen, start over—again, only this time it would be for good.
She couldn’t wait.
“Whatcha thinking about?” Leo asked.
She glanced over to see him watching her steadily, a champagne glass dangling from his hand. How long had she been lost in her thoughts?
“Those pesky dreams of mine.”
He chuckled. “Nothing wrong with that. Thinking about them keeps them alive.” He refilled both flutes, draining the champagne bottle and adding a splash of orange juice. He lifted his in toast.
“To us.”
She drank, watching him as she did so.
He lowered his glass and said, “How do you feel about carrying on this affair after we leave here? Do you think we could make a go of it once we’re outside this little bubble we’ve created for ourselves?” He waved at the rain steadily dripping from the eaves.
Whoa, she had not expected t
he conversation to go there. Although, honestly, she shouldn’t be surprised. Leo was not calculated, was not spending time with her for any other reason beyond his own attraction to her. He wasn’t like the men she’d associated with for her entire adult life.
He was one of the good ones.
Which was a problem, because he would definitely not approve of her current career choice. He’d mentioned his ex-fiancée cheating on him too many times for him to be okay with Shannon sleeping with other men while they were together.
And frankly, she didn’t blame him.
She’d never expected to be in this situation, at least not while she was still an escort. Maybe after she settled down and was running her little B&B, maybe she’d meet a sweet, country boy who had no connections whatsoever to the mafia.
But not now. Not while she was still in this in-between phase.
Not to mention, while Leo did not have ties to the mafia, he was definitely connected to big business. Big, family business, the kind that had the power to push their eldest son into an arranged marriage. And if he was from Detroit, it was entirely possible that his family and her own, or Hayk’s, had rubbed elbows at some point.
Shit. It wasn’t going to work. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t. She’d vowed never to step foot in Detroit or its suburbs ever again, so she certainly could not go visit him. Look what happened to Nina Sarvilli when she decided to let nostalgia override common sense.
That meant he’d have to go to Chicago to visit her. It could work; she never took her work home, so there was no fear that a client would show up at the door. But she’d also have to ensure her calendar was cleared, and she’d have to hide all the outfits and makeup and other window dressing that went into glamming herself up for her clients. And, ultimately, she’d be lying to him. At some point he’d ask what she did for a living—he already had, and she couldn’t skirt around the issue forever.
Either she kept up a charade and came up with a cover—and felt like crap for lying to him—or she told him the truth, and then she’d never see him again.
“You’re thinking awfully hard about this. It’s making me nervous,” Leo commented.
