Making quick work of the champagne cork, he poured himself a glass and moved over to the window’s edge. The moonlight glinted off the deep blue waves, and out here, with the gentle sway of the ship, life almost seemed serene.
There was nothing ahead of him, nothing to see beyond the darkness staring back at him. It was soothing. Something he wished he could hold onto beyond this moment, something he wished he could carry into his reality when he stepped off this boat.
As the oldest son of Ernesto Moretti, he was born to be his father’s successor at The Triple M Corporation. He’d resigned himself to that fact a long time ago. He’d just believed he had more time to live the life he’d wanted, even if it was temporary.
His cellphone came alive in his pocket and Tomasso tensed. He didn’t pull it out to see who was calling. He didn’t need to. The same person had been calling him for days now.
The upside of being rich was that you could afford cellular service that could work in the most remote places in the world. The bad thing was that meant his father could reach him and pull him back to his side with just a phone call.
A knock at the door pulled him out of his musings, making him focus on the here and now. For now, he was away from his father, away from all the responsibilities that would befall him, away from the life that had already been planned from his first breath.
Now, Najah was here. His present was here, and if only for this moment, that had to be good enough.
Tomasso took another sip of his drink, setting the glass down on the table, and then opened the door.
His chest tightened at the sight of her. She’d changed out of the red romper she’d had on earlier and was now wearing a black maxi dress that left her dark brown shoulders bare, and every curve she possessed on display.
“You’ve dragged me up here,” she muttered, leaning against the door, making her hip jut out. “I hope you have a reason for it.”
A reason? He could name a thousand. All of them ending with his hands all over every inch of her glorious skin.
He looked down and the tempting round flesh of her hip called to him. His palm itched to touch it, grip it, use it to pull her against him. He took a calming breath. Later, if everything worked out the way he planned, he’d have all the time in the world to live out his fantasies where this gorgeous woman was concerned. But first, he had to get past the caution he could see filling her eyes.
“Come inside and see, Sweetness.”
He stepped aside, standing at the door as he watched her walk inside.
Najah was a beautiful woman. Long, bountiful dark curls framed her face, dark brown skin that looked as smooth as silk, and a set of full lips that he knew could make a man weep if he were so lucky to have them grace his skin.
And then there was her body.
She had full breasts and endless curves. She had a body made for loving, and he’d wanted to, once again, be the lucky man doing that loving. That was especially true of her ass. He was a pig, he knew it. But Najah had an ass that wouldn’t quit, and if she ever gave him the opportunity again, he sure as hell wouldn’t quit once he got his hands on it.
“Stop watching my ass, Tomasso and tell me why you insisted I have dinner with you.”
Her candor made him laugh. She had him dead to rights. There was no use pretending she didn’t.
“Woman, you came here in that dress looking that good, there’s no way you expected me not to look at your ass.”
She turned around with a sly smile that told him his assumption was absolutely correct.
He took a few long strides, and he was beside her, placing his hand on the small of her back to lead her toward the table. He held out a chair for her. Once she was seated comfortably, he poured her a glass of champagne and took the seat beside her.
“This is a really nice spread, Tomasso. You didn’t have to go through all this trouble for me. My palate isn’t as refined as yours.”
“Everything about you is refined. Always has been, Najah.”
Her eyes narrowed and he could see the distrust in them. He’d put that distrust there. Now it was time for him to remove it.
“Listen, Tomasso,” she held up her hand as he sat down looking as if she was ready to sprint. “If this,” she swirled her finger in the direction of the table. “is some stunt to prank the scholarship kid for old time’s sake, how ‘bout we don’t and just say we did?”
***
Fire. Pure fire. That’s what she saw when she looked into his eyes. He was…angry. She could see it in the way his body tensed, the way the muscle in his jaw ticked.
She was in a room with a man she hadn’t seen in fifteen years and his body was tensing up like she’d struck him. And yet, fear didn’t well up in her.
He was angry, but controlled, and it gave her a sense of calm she certainly shouldn’t have around Tomasso.
