I assessed her. Her eyes burned with determination, and the notch between her brows told me she was digging in for a drawn-out fight.
But the environment was working against her. Her forehead glistened, and drops of sweat were already rolling down her temples.
I eyed the thermometer on the wall. It was over one hundred and eighty degrees. “Let’s talk later. You’re going to overheat.” I’d be on a jet to Italy in less than twenty-four hours. With luck, the next time we spoke would be after I got back.
“Later? I don’t think so. I’m guessing you’re going to try and leave without saying goodbye, and the next time I’ll see you will be after you’ve returned.”
I frowned. When had I become so transparent to her? “This conversation is over.”
“It’s absolutely not.”
Annoyance pulsed inside my chest. Why wouldn’t she just leave it alone?
I reached for the ladle in the water bucket and tossed a scoop onto the stones. It hit with a sharp hiss, and steam surged up to fill the room. The heat bit sharply at my skin.
It was a cheap trick. I was trying to flush her out of here. I heard Fabiana make an annoyed huff, but I couldn’t see her throughthe thick cloud of steam for a few seconds. When it receded, my gaze narrowed.
“What are you doing?”
She tossed her sweater at me. Then her T-shirt. My gaze dragged over her yellow bra while she glowered at me, all fierce and beautiful, and unbuttoned her jeans. “Regulating my temperature.”
This fucking woman.
My gaze dropped to her hips as she shimmied out of the jeans and kicked them toward the door. She wore matching yellow panties underneath, and the sight of them made me want to pin her beneath me and show her that our mouths could be put to far better use than arguing with each other.
I ignored the rush of blood to my cock and forced myself to focus. “Fabiana, enough.”
She moved toward me, seeming completely undeterred by the sharp edge in my tone. “I’m getting really tired of you making decisions for me.”
“When have I ever made decisions for you?”
“Last night. I didn’t want you to stop. I didn’t ask you to.”
The indignation in her voice caught me off guard. I’d told myself she’d wake up relieved. That by morning, she’d see I’d done her a favor.
Apparently not.
“You really wanted me to fuck you on the floor in the foyer?” I ground out.
“Yes,” she said without hesitation. “That’s exactly what I wanted.”
My teeth clenched.
She had no idea what hearing that did to me.
Or maybe she did. The things I’d so stupidly confessed to her last night must’ve painted her a clear picture. At this point, no amount of sharp words and clipped responses would be enough to disguise the fact that I wanted her too much and too often and in ways that were becoming harder to manage.
“You deserve better than that,” I said, hoping to make her see reason. Hoping that she’d once again be the sensible one.
But all she did was cock a mocking brow. “Has it ever occurred to you that maybe I don’t want losing my virginity to be something draped in ceremony and put on a pedestal?” She stepped onto the lower bench, putting herself right between my legs. “That maybe I just want to get it over with?”
I tipped my head back, meeting her gaze. “If that’s what you wanted, you could’ve done it long ago.”
She lifted her hand and raked her fingers slowly through my hair. “I wasn’t married then. I am now.” Her fingers traced over the shell of my ear. “Sure, it’s only for six months, but as far as I’m concerned, it counts.”
I watched her with hooded eyes, my body abuzz from her touch. I swear, all she needed to do was breathe in my direction, and I got hard.
She leaned down, giving me a glimpse of her cleavage before she pressed her lips to my ear. “You told me you wanted to make meyour wife the way a real husband would. I didn’t take you for a tease.”
