It was time to find out.
Stripping off her clothes, Ari let them fall to the ground, her panties billowing out as they floated on top of her skirt and blouse. Leaving them there, she turned the shower on, making it steaming hot, almost to the point of scalding her, then climbed in and used a generous amount of the shampoo and body wash that Rafe had provided.
By the time she’d climbed from the shower, her skin was red and his bathroom was filled with her scent. She applied lotion generously to herself, and even placed a touch of it behind the faucets to make his bathroom really smell like her, then she put on the clothes he’d left out.
With only a glance at her discarded clothes, she walked from the room and entered his living room. She wished she could sit down and pore over the pages of the journal once more, but she didn’t want to take a chance that he might show up early. With a longing look at the old leather cover, she walked out his front door.
Let the games begin.
* * * * *
Should he call or shouldn’t he? He could email. No. He’d said the ball was in her court. He’d left her a nice message, clothes, her favorite bathroom products, even food. It was only fair that she call and thank him.
Right?
Yes. Anyone would say thank you. He’d been considerate and kind — not demanding anything of her. Holy hell, he should receive a giant gold medallion for not touching her the night before. He’d certainly earned it. She wasn’t easy to resist, but he’d walked from the room.
He wanted a damn award!
Rafe continued gazing at his phone as if his will would make the electronic device ring. This was ridiculous. He paced his office, irritated that he was allowing this woman to affect him so much — to completely throw him from his normal cool, composed self.
“Mr. Palazzo, you have a call on line three.”
Rafe’s heart sped up as he gazed at the phone. He’d given her his cell number, not his business line. Not that his cell had changed in the last two years, but he didn’t trust that she still had it on her. He was sure that was the first thing she’d deleted from her phone when she’d walked away from him.
Maybe she had called him on the office phone.
“For criminy’s sake!” Rafe grumbled as he walked to his desk and picked up the phone. “Rafe Palazzo,” he snapped.
It wasn’t Ari. It was his business manager and Rafe leaned back as he prepared himself for an hour-long call. Work. This was good. This was the distraction he needed.
His cell phone shook against his desk and he glanced at it briefly without thinking much about it. Suddenly, he did a double take, because there was a message and it was from Ari. Heart thundering, not hearing a word his manager was saying to him, Rafe picked up his cell and opened the message.
Love the panties. Teal has always flattered my skin complexion. Wearing them now. Thanks.
Rafe hit mute on his end of the line as his manager droned on. What did this mean? Was she saying thank you? What did it mean?
“Steve, I have to go!” Rafe said as he unmuted the phone, quickly hung up on his manager halfway through a sentence, then called his secretary into the room. Since she’d been with him for more than ten years, she was used to his unorthodox questions. She was like a second mother, or at least an aunt. He could trust her.
“Yes, Mr. Palazzo?”
For the first time he could ever remember in his life, Rafe felt his cheeks heat. He was actually embarrassed. When he stared at her at a total loss for words, Nina looked at him as if he’d grown a second head.
“Is everything OK, Mr. Palazzo?”
Great. Now she looked ready to call an ambulance. Did he look so far gone that she didn’t know whether he was having a heart attack or some other affliction? She was turning to make the call, or so he feared, when he finally gained his voice.
“No. No! I’m fine,” he called, and she turned and raised an eyebrow.
“OK…” she said, drawing out the word as if she didn’t believe him.
“I just need some advice from you,” he muttered, then shook his head. Rafe didn’t mutter. He wasn’t indecisive in the way he spoke. He was a man who made a decision and then went through with it no matter what. Not knowing how Ari felt about him was changing who he was, and he didn’t like that at all.
“What advice?” He could understand her confusion.
“I got this text message from Ari, and I don’t know how to interpret it.” He spoke firmly, hoping to convey confidence, but from the knowing look in Nina’s eyes, he had a feeling she wasn’t being fooled.
“I would be happy to give it a look,” she said as she strolled over to his desk; he handed over the phone.
She was looking at the message for so long that Rafe began to feel a need to yank his phone back, but he’d asked for her advice, so he would see it through. Finally, she looked up; the corners of her eyes were crinkled with laughter.
“She is flirting with you,” Nina told him.
“Flirting?” He said the word as if it were a foreign concept.
“Yes. Flirting. You need to flirt back.”
Nina had been there when his wife cheated on him and walked out the door. And she’d also been there as he’d conducted his relationships like business transactions. She understood him more than most. He knew she’d been disappointed in him, but he hadn’t cared. It was his life, and he was the one who was living it. If she didn’t like it, she knew where the door was.
However, she had liked Ari. Everyone liked Ari, including his parents and sisters. Ari just had a way about her.
“Well, what do I say?”
“Are you kidding me, Rafe? You don’t know how to flirt?” she said with exasperation. In her surprise, she called him by his first name, something she never did. Nina was always professional — to a tee.
“Of course I know how to flirt! Hell, I can have just about any woman I want. One look and they’re mine,” he said almost with a smirk. Ari seemed to be the exception, and though they both knew this, neither of them said it.
“If you can have any woman you want, how do you get them?”
Rafe was at a complete loss for words. He didn’t know the answer to that question. It had never taken him any effort to get a woman. Women were just naturally drawn to him.
“I’m just a likable guy,” he said with a cocky grin.
“Please!” she snapped, then pursed her lips.