This was not good. What in the world would she say to them? How could she possibly explain what she’d chosen to do instead of representing Timeless Heirlooms at last night’s showing? She needed to get home immediately and call them. But first, she needed to return the jewelry she’d worn last night before Tina went into total meltdown. Assuming she hadn’t already.
Francesca thrust a tangle of curls from her face and looked desperately around for a clock, hyperventilating when she read the glowing digits that warned she had precisely half an hour to get to Timeless Heirlooms and explain herself to the Fontaines.
“Where are you going?” Sev asked in a sleep-roughened voice. He snagged her aroundthe waist and tipped her back into his embrace. “I have the perfect way to start our morning.” A slow smile built across his face. “Funny thing. It involves staying right here.”
She wriggled against him. “No. Please let go. You don’t understand.”
“Mmm.” He reacted to her movements in a way she’d have delighted in only hours before. “That feels good.”
“I have to get to work.”
His hold tightened, locking them together from abdomen to thigh. Heat exploded, and even knowing she may have destroyed her career thanks to one night of stupidity, desire awoke with a renewed ferocity that left her stunned. How was this possible? She squeezed her eyes shut. Why, oh why, did this temptation have to hit last night of all nights? And why hadn’t their time together satisfied the unrelenting hunger that accompaniedit?
Well, she knew one thing for certain. If she hesitated even one more second, she wouldn’t get out of this bed anytime soon. Taking a deep breath, she planted both hands against his chest—Lord help her, what a chest—and shoved. To her surprise, she succeeded in freeing herself. One minute she lay cocooned in warmth and the next she stood beside the bed, naked, cold, and vaguely self-conscious. Sev lifted onto an elbow and studied her through narrowed,watchful eyes. Tension rippled through him, and a hint of something dangerous and predatory lurked in his expression.
“I have to get to work,” she explained. “Assuming, after last night, Istill have a job. Imade a huge mistake leaving with you.”
His tension increased ever so slightly, and he continued to remind her of a watchful panther debating whether or not to take down his prey. “Which was your mistake? Leaving with me?” He tilted his head to one side. “Or leaving with a couple mil worth of the Fontaines’ jewelry? Isuspect both the Fontaines, as well as your agency, won’t be too pleased. If you’d like, Ican place a couple of calls and get you off the hook.”
Francesca frowned in confusion. “What agency?” she asked, before waving that aside. “Oh, never mind. More to the point, where’s the jewelry?”
Sev gestured toward the diamond-and-amethyst pieces glittering on the bedside table. “Relax. Everything’s safe and sound, and more importantly, undamaged.”
“Thank God.”
She scooped up the set with exquisite care. Since she didn’t have the jewelry cases on her, she could only think of one safe place to put them, and swiftly fastened the pieces to herneck, wrist, and ears. It wasn’t until she finished that she sensed Sev’s gaze on her. His hungry look deepened and made her acutely aware that she stood before him wearing nothing but the designs she’d created. Tension filled the room, heating the air betweenthem.
Her job! How could she have forgottenagain?The thought propelled her to action. She caught a glimpse of lilac panties peeking from beneath the pleated edge of the dust ruffle and snatched them up before exiting the bedroom. To her dismay Sev followed right behind, wearing even less thanshe.
The instant they hit the living room, Sev’s cell phone emitted a faint buzz from the direction of the coffee table. This time he picked it up and answered it. “What?” His gaze flickered in her direction. “Say that name again? You’re certain?”
She spared him a swift glance, concerned by the sudden grimness lining his face. “What? What’s wrong?”
He closed his phone with a snap and came after her. “Who are you?” he demanded.
She stepped into her panties and looked around for her dress. “I already told you. Francesca Sommers.” She spotted her dress heaped in a silken pool a few feet shy of the couch. Avague memory of Sev’s tossing ittoward the cushioned back came to her. Clearly, he’d missed.
Before she could snatch it up, Sev caught her arm and spun her to face him. “You’re not a model. You’re Timeless Heirlooms’ new designer.”
His statement sounded more like an accusation. She carefully disengaged her arm from his grasp and bent to pick up her dress. It was ridiculous to feel self-conscious after the night they’d spent together. But something about the way Sev stared at her caused her to hold the gown tight against her breasts. “I never claimed to be a model. You must have jumped to that conclusion.” She frowned. “What difference does it make, anyway?”
“Did the Fontaines put you up to this? Is that why you followed me onto the balcony last night?” The questions came at her, fast and sharp.
She stared at him in utter bewilderment, combined with a bubble of irritation. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. All I know is that if I don’t report in to work within the next twenty minutes, Iwon’t have a job. Now, do you mind? I’d like to—”
He cut her off with a sweep of his hand. “I’m talking about a TH employee falling into bed with one of the owners of Dantes five minutes after meeting. I’m talking about you using theoldest trick in the book to gain inside information for the Fontaines.”
She jerked backward as though slapped. “Dantes? You work for Dantes?”
“Sweetheart, IownDantes.”
The connection hit and hit hard. Her dress slipped from between fingers that had gone abruptly boneless. “You’re a Dante?”
“Severo Dante. CEO and chairman of the board of Dantes.”
“Oh, God.” She was so fired. “I thought you were a buyer.” She managed to add two and two, despite working with only half a brain. “You were at the showing last night to scope out the competition, weren’t you?”
He looked around. Finding his trousers between the living room and the bedroom, he snatched them up and yanked them on. The man who stood before her now bore little resemblance to the one who’d made such passionate love to her only hours before. With the exception of the unbuttoned trousers riding low on his hips, he wore nothing but an endless expanse of bare flesh.
