Feel the Heat: A Contemporary Romance Anthology (19 page)

M
eg tried
to persuade herself she wasn’t making a huge mistake, trusting a virtual stranger as they rode the elevator to his penthouse suite. If she weren’t so exhausted and completely out of options, nothing on earth would have convinced her to go to a hotel room with a strange man, regardless of how nice he seemed. She simply wasn’t the type of woman to do something so rash and potentially dangerous. She was practical, never-take-a-risk Meg. Her friends, Kelly and Carly constantly referred to her as the
reliable
one. Taking this vacation alone was the most daring thing she’d ever done in her life.

Her cheeks flushed when she realized Rob was still holding her hand and had been doing so since they left the bar. His palm was large and warm and surprisingly comforting. He was a stranger and yet she’d felt an immediate connection to him.

“Once you get to the room, you can take a nice, hot shower and get out of those damp clothes.”

Rather than soothing her, his words had the opposite effect. A strange tingling sensation swept through her body. What would it be like to let Rob peel the wet clothes off her and take a nice, hot shower with him? His muscular body and god-like face were certainly awakening parts of her libido she didn’t know existed.

Shit. She put the idea out of her head. He was a complete stranger and completely out of her league. Besides she had never had a one-night stand in her life. She was practical, rational, and levelheaded.

Okay. I’m boring.

As he unlocked the room, Meg took a steadying breath. Someone who looked like Rob Mason would never be attracted to someone like her. While not unattractive, she certainly couldn’t hold a candle to the goddess she’d seen emerging from the limo with Rob earlier.

“What about Lana?”

“What about her?”

“Won’t she mind me sleeping in the next room?”

“I don’t really think it’s any of her business one way or the other.”

“Isn’t she your girlfriend?” Meg silently berated herself for her too straightforward question.

Rob laughed. “Good God, no. She’s my personal assistant. She has a room down on the first floor.”

Cursing herself for the sudden relief flooding her body, Meg followed him into the suite. Who was she kidding? She wouldn’t know the first thing about trying to seduce someone as hot as Rob. Of course, the weekend was all about romance and it wasn’t like she’d ever see him after they left here. Maybe she could break free from her own self-constraints a bit. Live a little. She suspected Rob would be a terrific teacher in the bedroom.

“Holy mother.” Meg’s eyes flew open upon entering the room.

“Pardon me?”

“This hotel suite is bigger than my whole townhouse. This place is amazing. Is that a real grand piano?”

* * *

R
ob nodded
as he glanced around, surprised by her comments. He’d clearly become immune to his lavish lifestyle. The hotel suite, by his standards, was quite simple. He wondered what Meg would think of his castle in England. Grinning at the thought of showing it to her, he shook his head.

What was he thinking? He was helping out a young woman down on her luck for one night. Or perhaps more than one night. What would it take to convince her to spend the entire weekend with him? He was enjoying his anonymity and her company very much. He suspected what you saw was what you got with Meg Williams. She was friendly and sincere, with a terrific sense of humor. In his cutthroat world, those traits were uncommon and—given his body’s reaction to her—incredibly sexy.

“So the company you work for really owns this suite?” Her question jerked him from his thoughts.

“Yes, they do. Part of the benefits package is that we can take advantage of this place for vacations.” The continued lie began to taste bad on his lips, but for some reason, just for tonight, he liked the idea of being plain old Rob Mason, hard-working businessman. It felt good to shed Rob Madison, billionaire bachelor for a while. The idea of befriending a woman with his personality rather than his checkbook was very appealing.

Of course, right now, his body was making a different sort of demand in regards to Meg and he had to make a quick adjustment of his trousers lest he scare her away.

“It must cost a fortune. I was going to offer to split the room fee for the night, but even half of this,” Meg gestured at the room, “is way out of my price range.”

“You aren’t paying a cent. As I said earlier, the company pays, not me. Makes no difference who stays here. Your bedroom is right there.” He pointed to a door four steps up on its own landing. “Mine is over there. Each room has a private bath. Please feel free to take advantage of the kitchen in the morning. I’ll call down and make sure room service stocks it with something nice for breakfast.”

“Oh no,” she said. “You don’t have to do that. I won’t imposition you for more than tonight, I promise. I’ll pick up breakfast on my way back to the airport.”

“I owe you at least a breakfast after my driver—”

“Rob,” she interjected, “the car accident didn’t change the fact that this stupid hotel overbooked.”

Rob winced, swallowing down the insult to his property. The hotel
had
screwed up her vacation, but he didn’t know how he could convince her it was a five-star hotel with an impeccable record of service and one of the top ranking on the island without giving away his own interest in it. Damn that idiot Timothy.

“Nonetheless, you needed a place to stay and I’m able to offer it. That fact is going a long way toward soothing my guilty conscience over the car incident, so let’s leave it at that. Besides, look at what I’ve gained. The extra room would have been empty and I wouldn’t have had such lovely company tonight.”

“Yeah right, I’m a raving beauty right now.” She ran her fingers through her tangled hair.

Rob grinned. “I’m going to order room service. Have you eaten dinner?”

Meg looked longingly at her bedroom.

“It will take a little while for them to prepare it. Why don’t you grab a hot shower and I’ll knock when it arrives.”

“That sounds good. I’m starving. Nothing to eat all day, except those damn little packages of peanuts they give you on the plane. But I insist on picking up the tab for dinner since you won’t let me pay for the room.”

Rob shook his head at her stubbornness. “Meals are included with the use of the room. Company policy again.”

Meg threw up her hands in defeat. “Fine. Order me whatever you’re having. I’m clearly not winning any battles with you tonight. Maybe over dinner you can tell me how I can get a job with this unbelievably generous company you work for.”

“Ah, surrender. Finally. Go on and get that shower. There should be a bathrobe hanging on the door. I’ll dig through my luggage to see if I can find something comfortable for you to sleep in since your clothes are still damp. I’m sure I have a pair of sweats and a T-shirt that would work nicely.”

Meg glanced at her watch. “Are you sure the kitchen is still open? It’s after two in the morning.”

“It’s open all night,” Rob replied easily. At least it was for him, but she didn’t need to know that.

“Okay.” She dragged her carry-on bag with her toward the landing to her room. “I won’t be long.”

“Take your time.” Rob picked up the phone to order dinner. He glanced at his own bedroom and considered taking a shower himself. The only difference was his would definitely be cold.

* * *

A
s Meg entered the bedroom
, she wondered what sort of company kept a penthouse like this available for their employees. Apparently she’d made a wrong turn in college choosing education over a business degree. She had no idea people lived like this. She was overwhelmed by the decadence of it all.

The bedroom was elegance personified. The king-sized bed was on a raised platform on one side of the room, complete with an honest-to-God canopy. She’d always wanted a canopy bed as a child, but there had never been money for such frivolous things.

While her small family hadn’t lived in poverty, it may have been stretching things to say they were lower middle class. Her mother, Joanne, had gotten pregnant with Meg while still in high school. Needless to say, her father, a teenager himself, had refused to accept responsibility for her. Although Meg knew his name, she’d never made any attempt to contact him. He’d gone off to college, married, and now lived happily ever after with his legitimate family.

So Meg had grown up in a house full of women, as her mother and grandmother scrimped and saved every penny they made so that when Meg graduated she would be able to attend college. She silently wished they were here to see this room. Cancer had claimed them both—Grandma during Meg’s first year of college and her mother two weeks after her college graduation. Not a day went by when she didn’t miss them dearly.

A soft knock on the door jarred Meg from her recollections.

“I found some clothes that may fit.” Rob said through the closed door.

The longer she spent in Rob’s presence the more she wanted him. She’d never felt such an immediate or overwhelming attraction to a man.

Meg opened the door to find him standing in the doorway with his easy-going, friendly grin. “You’re still dressed.”

Reaching for the clothing he offered, she cursed her trembling hand.

“Meg, I know it doesn’t help to simply hear the words, but you can trust me. I won’t hurt you.”

He’d mistaken her nerves for fear. Meg stared at his totally kissable lips, licking her own, before catching herself and forcing herself to look at his eyes instead.

“I trust you. Really I do. I—I’m just tired. That’s all.” God, what would he do if she leaned forward and kissed him? Shaking the thought from her head, Meg felt her sensible, boring side taking control again.

His sexy grin and the way he was now studying her mouth seemed to indicate Rob suddenly understood what her trembling was about.

“Meg.” He whispered her name as he leaned closer.

She should take a step back, but it felt as if her feet were sunk in concrete.

“Yes?”

“I’m going to kiss you.” His mouth inches from hers, and she could only assume he paused to give her a chance to refuse him if she wanted.

“Thank God.” She rose up the last two inches until her lips brushed his. She was stunned by the softness of his touch. She’d anticipated a rushed, frantic kiss, but Rob clearly had other plans. His lips studied hers as if they had the rest of their lives to figure out how to do it right.

His breath tickled as he murmured against her cheek, placing soft kisses everywhere he touched. “Part of the festivities tomorrow includes a kissing contest.”

“No need to bother. You win,” she teased.

Chuckling lightly, Rob tugged at her earlobe with his teeth before his lips followed the curve of her neck to place soft kisses there.

She ran her hands through his soft, brown hair, pulling his lips back to hers, and he kissed her again, much more deeply this time. His tongue enticed and teased her and his arms held her so closely she wasn’t sure where she ended and he began. His hands drifted down her back, cupping her ass firmly, but the dampness of her clothing roused him from their impetuous actions.

Pulling away, he looked down. “You’re going to catch a cold if you don’t get out of those wet clothes.”

Despite her desires, she felt her “good girl” upbringing bubbling back to the forefront. “I’m not sure what’s come over me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not usually this easy.” Her cursed honesty flew out of her mouth before she could hold it back.

Rob stared at her for a moment and she blushed. Then she watched as his shoulders began to shake with the effort to restrain his laughter.

“I don’t see what’s so funny. Your behavior wasn’t much better. In fact, you started it.”

“You are absolutely right, but there is no way on earth I’m going to apologize for kissing you. In fact, I have every intention of kissing you again, all night, if you’ll let me.”

“But—”

“Meg, I don’t think badly of you at all. You will simply have to trust me when I say that in my line of work, I’ve met plenty of
easy
women and you could not be more different from them. That’s one of the reasons I’m attracted to you beyond all reason.”