“But for how long?”
“That’s a great question … for him. I think you should ask him.”
This conversation has gone on long enough.
“All right, Mr. Miyagi, thanks for you advice. On that note, I’m heading out now. Enough life lessons for one day.”
He laughs as Signora Lucca walks in, and I slip into the backroom before she sees me and quizzes me about her doctor again.
Right after work and that intense conversation, I know exactly where I want to go: to clear my head in the gym!
No group exercise classes are starting anytime soon, so I hit the Stairmaster. I pump up my Eminem playlist and let the sweat pour. I’m halfway through my playlist when I feel his eyes on me. What is he doing here? Doesn’t he have a high-powered job he should be at? Why the heck is he at the gym in the middle of the day? And why isn’t he at a super-posh gym, not your regular ol’ gym?
I step off the machine, towel off, and head over to grab the disinfecting spray. My songs still play as I turn back to walk towards the machine, and I literally bump into a wall. A wall of man.
“Hey. What are you doing here?” I question him as I take out my earbuds. Great, even those are sweaty. If he didn’t think I was below his standards before, he definitely will now.
“I should ask you the same thing. Shouldn’t you be working?” he says.
“Marco asked me to trade my afternoon shift with his morning shift, something to do with figuring out his new business partners. Shouldn’t you be working?”
“I go to the gym every day, cara.”
“This gym? It doesn’t seem like your style, not fancy enough.”
“No, this is not my regular gym, but I heard it was nice so I wanted to check it out.”
“Who told you it was nice?” I quiz him. Is he following me?
“Your friend Alessandra told me when I was at the club with you the other night.”
Busted! I forgot the gym girls were at the club the other night. Okay, maybe he’s not here for me then. Wait … is he here for Alessandra? She is an aspiring model, and models are his thing.
“So then did you come to see Alessandra? I don’t think any group classes are starting until tonight.”
“No, I’m not here to see Alessandra. What is this—an interrogation? You should have been a cop.”
“If I was interrogating you, you’d know it. Just trying to figure out why you just so happen to be here at the same time I just so happen to be here.”
“Cara, I had no idea that you wouldn’t be working. I honestly came to see if this gym was worth owning. Do you think I would stalk you?” He looks a little offended—his eyebrows frown and his mouth pouts.
“Well … if the tennis shoe fits.” I wink and head towards the locker room before he grabs my arm and spins me around to face him. Damn he smells nice, sweat and all.
“I do not have to stalk a woman to get to know her … the tennis shoe does not fit, you smarty pants. This gym is actually owned by two guys in their early 20s who are working hard to get it off the ground. I was thinking of investing in them. We had a meeting this morning and they told me I could use the gym to get a first-hand experience.”
It makes me happy to hear he is interested in helping out people who are less fortunate but trying hard to make it in the world.
“Well, I admire that about you. And I’m sorry I jumped the gun and made you feel like a creepy stalker.”
“It’s okay, cara. So what are you doing when you leave here?”
“I haven’t really thought that far ahead. Work, gym, home, repeat. That’s pretty much my days since I’ve been here.”
“Have you seen anything outside of Rome?”
“This isn’t my first time in Rome—I came on a tour years ago as a teenager. But on this trip so far—no, I haven’t ventured outside of the city.”
“Would you like to go out with me tonight?”
Do I? I just ran out on him the other day and now I’ve just accused him of stalking me. And he still wants to go out? My spinning mind is about to explode.
“Honestly, I think it would be better if we could just remain friends,” I say.
How long could Mr. Beautiful be interested in me? I don’t want to wait around until he’s done with me to find out.
“Friends? I have enough friends, Elena. I sure as hell don’t want to be your friend.” His eyes narrow and he looks a little angry.
“We can’t be friends?” I say, taken back by his brutal honesty.
“No, not friends. I want to be your lover.”
Lover? No guy has ever referred to himself as being my lover before. Is this an Italian thing? I don’t think I’m cut out to be anyone’s ‘lover’—sounds too sexy or grown up. And ‘lover’ doesn’t translate into ‘girlfriend’ or anything more serious. It means we sleep together and that’s it. I’ve never been anyone’s friends-with-benefits, and I don’t think I want to start now.
“I don’t think lovers works for me.”
I glance down, a little embarrassed, not wanting to make eye contact with him.
“Elena,” he says as he tilts my chin up with his fingers to look him in the eye.
“I’ll help you see that you want this as much as me.”
“Whatever you say, Mr. Beautiful,” I say.
I try to laugh off the serious conversation before breaking away from him and heading into the ladies locker room.
7
It’s another day at Stella’s, and when I walk in I see Marco slaving away in the kitchen. I see so many baked goods—it’s like an explosion of pastries!
“What is going on in here, Pastry King?”
“You aren’t going to believe it! We got a huge catering order to deliver pastries and coffees to Forte Enterprises today.”
“What? Do we do catering? And did you say Forte Enterprises?”
Marco looks away from his pastry dough and at me to explain his big order.
“We do catering when someone as high profile as Leonardo Forte wants our baked goods in his office. Could you help me box these up? And I hope you don’t mind but I need you to be the one to deliver these. I have another huge meeting to get the business partners contract agreement drawn up that we’ve been talking about.”
“Oh yeah, that. If you need anything more from me about the contracts, let me know. You know I’m here to help you.”
“The best thing you can help me with right now is to take my car and deliver these. Please Elena, I know you don’t want to do this, but it would mean so much.”
I look into Marco’s puppy dog eyes and I know that I have to. Marco would do anything for me and I need to step it up for Stella’s and deliver these damn baked goodies to Mr. Beautiful.
Once we have all the goodies boxed up, I’m out the door. I haven’t had to drive around Rome by myself—always walking or taking taxis—but there’s a first time for everything!
By the time I get to Forte Enterprises I’m a little bit on edge after that scary ride over. I have never seen such crazy drivers, and I actually feared for my life.
Carrying the boxes of pastries, I walk in the huge double glass doors and head towards the front desk. A pretty little brunette with a short pixie cut wearing black designer glasses sits behind the desk and glances up at me from her computer screen.
“Can I help you?”
“Hi! I’m here from Stella’s to deliver the pastries you ordered.”
“I wasn’t aware of any pastries. Hold on just one minute.” Miss Pixie Cut is all business; she promptly picks up the phone and talks in Italian a million miles per minute to someone on the other line.
“Okay you can take the elevator up to the twenty-third floor and set them up in conference room B.”
Set them up? What? I thought this would be a simple ‘here’s your pastries and run’ type of delivery. I don’t want to question her because she’s already back on the phone bossing someone else around, so I stroll over to the elevator and go up.
I step out of the elevator to find a giant open floor space with floor-to-ceiling windows. I walk through a waiting room area past white couches and chairs. On a glass coffee table, a few Entrepreneur magazines with Leo on the covers lay scattered about.
I notice a woman sitting at another desk and ask her where conference room B is located. She questions me just like Pixie did—why isn’t anyone aware of these damn pastries? She gets on the phone and then gives me a once over. Did this secretary just size me up? She’s speaking to someone about the pastries when the double doors behind her open and Leo walks out.
My breath hitches at the sight of him. He looks all business, all power, and super sexy. He’s wearing a black and white three-piece business suit and a ridiculous adorable pair of black reading glasses—sexy specs! I didn’t think this man could draw me in anymore, but he always seems to surprise me.
“Elena, come in,” he says, motioning his hand inside the room. I hear him mutter something to his secretary—which I think means ‘hold my calls’—as I walk into the room. It takes me all of two seconds to realize this is definitely not conference room B; instead, this must be Leo’s personal office. It’s huge! Just like in the lobby, floor-to-ceiling windows show off the city of Rome, a dark red wood desk, bookshelves, a leather couch and two chairs on the opposite side of his desk.
“I’m supposed to set this up in conference room B,” I say, lifting the pastry boxes a little higher to put some space between us.
“I know, but the conference cannot start without me, so we have a few minutes.”
He takes the boxes from my hands and sits them down on a small table near the couch, and he motions for me to take a seat.
I remain standing, trying to keep a professional air about this meeting. I remind myself that I am here to represent Stella’s.
“I want to talk to you about the other day, at the gym. I’m sorry if it felt like I ambushed you. I was just as surprised to see you there as you were to see me,” he says.
I’m shocked a man like Leo is confident enough to say ‘I’m sorry.’ The guys in my past never admitted any fault.
“It’s okay. My emotions have been all over the place since I got to Rome. I think I overreacted,” I say, trying to avoid this conversation all together. Why can’t he drop this and let me go?
“I want to start fresh with you. You didn’t seem to respond well to the idea of being lovers, and I think it’s because we don’t know each other very well.”
Where did that come from? I realize he’s right, that I don’t know him very well, but that’s not what was holding me back. I don’t want to tell him that it has to do with my past and insecurities.
“Yeah that’s it—we don’t know each other very well.”
“I’d like to take you on a date. Just two people getting to know each other.”
“You mean, like friends?” I say the word he freaked out over during our last conversation. His eyes light up, knowing that I caught him.
“I have never done friends before, but for you, I will try something new. I can’t promise to give you anything more than lovers though. I hope you realize this.”
“You mean like an official boyfriend/girlfriend relationship?”
“Yes, I do not do relationships,” he says, glancing out the window for a second. “I am not suitable to be anyone’s long term anything and I, honestly, do not want to be.”
I wonder what makes him ‘not suitable’ to be anyone’s boyfriend or husband? But I don’t want to ask—I don’t think I’m ready to push him or to hear the answer.
He doesn’t come out and say it, but I come to the conclusion he’s suggesting we’ll end up as friends with benefits. I know I’m not a ‘friends with benefits’ kind of girl, that I want a real relationship, but in this moment I don’t care. I am so intrigued by this man; I want to get to know him better however he’s going to offer up the chance.
While my thoughts are in the clouds, Leo has moved closer to me and we are now standing inches apart, with my back towards his desk.
“I don’t think friends stand this close to each other,” I joke. The heat radiating off his masculine body draws me closer to him.
“We can make up our own rules for what friends do. And I say that our friendship will involve me lifting you up on this desk and fucking you with my fingers.”
I love his raw honesty and I can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing. I gasp as he lifts me onto the desk. I wrap my legs around his waist and Leo claims my mouth with deep, sensual kisses. My body is all-too-willing to let him have me. Forget his fingers, I want to give him something he’ll remember whenever he’s in this office.
I push him back with a little force, cutting off our kiss. I think my bold move surprises him, but his eyes look just as ravenous as mine. Grabbing his tie I pull him with me and push him down into his desk chair. I place my hand over his massive bulge, and he lets out a little growl as I reach for his zipper. He grabs my hand and looks me in the eyes.
“Let me,” I say in a whisper as I get down on my knees.
He lets my hand go as I undo his zipper and pull his pants down to the floor, along with his black boxer briefs. His erection springs free. He is definitely hung, and I’m hungry for him. I lean down and skip the foreplay with my hands and immediately take him into my mouth. I move my tongue up his thick shaft and circle it around the tip of his cock. I lick the pre-cum that’s leaked out from his earlier excitement.
I hear him moan, and his hands find their way to my ponytail. He pulls the hair tie out and lets my hair fall free around my shoulders, and then he grabs a handful and pulls as I slowly lick up and down like a popsicle. I take him deep into my mouth and moan.
I go crazy with my tongue and then gently grab his balls and rub them in my hands. I take him as deep as a I can, which is saying a lot because his dick is massive and thick, and I start to suck while I drag my tongue to this tip.
“Stop, I’m going to come,” he growls and tries to reach for my hands and face.
I stare up at him and, with a devilish smile, I put his cock back in my mouth as far as I can take him, and then I go absolutely wild with my tongue.
“Elena—”
He growls my name and then pumps his semen into my mouth. I continue to stroke him with my hands as I let his cum fill my mouth. He finishes, and I swallow and then lick my lips. I crawl up to him and plant a kiss on his cheek.
“It was my pleasure,” I whisper in his ear.
He looks at me like he wants to say something but just then a woman’s voice fills the room through his intercom.
“Signor Forte, the conference is starting in five minutes.”
“Grazie Natalia, I’ll be right out.”
“I never set up those pastries. We need to get to that conference room,” I say moving away from Leo. I can’t believe I let him interfere with my job—I have never let a man come before work. This is new for me, same with giving a blowjob in an office.
Leo laughs and says “Don’t worry, I don’t think you’ll get a bad report back to your boss. In fact, I think you’ll get five stars for your service today.”
After pulling up his pants, he moves behind me and swats my ass before we walk out of his office together. We stroll into the conference room and it’s empty. I’m so thankful Italians are always late.
I quickly unload Marco’s stunning works of art—cannolis, tiramisu, chocolate biscotti, and pizzelle cookies. After I finish displaying the goodies, thankful that Marco sent me with plates and napkins, I head towards Leo to say goodbye. Just then a rush of high-powered-looking Italians glued to their cellphones stampedes into the room like elephants.
Several people walk up to Leo and start to chat his ear off and I think it’s my cue to secretly disappear. I can talk to my new ‘friend’ later. As I’m about to leave I feel someone tap me on my shoulder.
“Excuse me. Don’t I know you from somewhere?”
Oh no! I turn back around to see a b
rown haired, clean cut looking businessman who I guess is about 35. He’s average height and has striking blue eyes. I would remember someone with eyes this blue.
“I’m sorry. I don’t think so, maybe I have a twin out there somewhere.” I try to laugh off this stranger. Leo has returned to my side and now both he and the stranger are staring at me, searching my face.
“Elena, this is Giorgio Piccolo. He’s in charge of Research Marketing here at Forte Enterprises. And Giorgio, this is Elena Scott, she works at Stella’s Caffé and delivered the amazing pastries over there.”
Leonardo makes the introductions but Giorgio keeps his eyes glued to mine. I think he does know who I am and I’m suddenly freaking out.
“I feel like I’ve seen your face in a business magazine. No?”
“I can’t say I know what you’re talking about,” I scoot closer to the door, trying not to get caught up in any more lies. The only person who knows about my business past is Marco, and that’s the way I want to keep it. Here, in Italy, I want to be your regular girl-next-door. And right now I want to run out of here as fast as I can.
“Maybe I am mistaken. I’m sorry! It was nice to meet you Elena.”
Giorgio and I shake hands and I turn back to Leo. He hasn’t said anything since giving out the introductions. I wonder if he is trying to place me from somewhere as well?
“Well I should leave you to your meeting.” I reach for the door handle and I can feel Leo put his large hand on my lower back.
“It was nice seeing you bella. I think I’m going to like this new friendship.”
8
Leo calls me the next morning and invites me to the gym with him and then for a day to sightsee Italy—as ‘friends.’ I really want to see Italy and it doesn’t hurt that an absolutely gorgeous guy wants to show me around—you don’t have to twist my arm.
I meet him at his fancy upscale gym—not unexpected for a man like him. We both take a spin class together and then hit the punching bags. I love that he’s willing to workout with me. In the past, the boyfriends I’ve dated would hit the weight section and ignore me until their session was over. What’s the point of being at the gym with someone if you aren’t actually with them?
My Mr. Beautiful: Eternal City Love, Book 1 Page 4
