Page 48 of 4 Weddings and a Feud

She shook her head. No wonder Evie seemed so much happier working at Forza Elite Motors. Except for when she had to interact with Michael, who also had acertain presence.A grumpy one. “Someday you should try it. Let loose. See if it works.”

He leaned in to kiss the spot below her earlobe that sent tingles straight between her legs. “I let loose with you this week. That’s enough for me.”

She shivered. “It was pretty good for me too.”

“Pretty good?” He licked a line down her neck.

“Okay, pretty fabulous.”

“Better.” He pulled back. “I’ll send Joey to the shop tomorrow morning to help you. He’ll work out whatever issue you’ve got with this other wedding. In fact, you should offload the whole thing to him so you can focus on the Richardson wedding.”

“No, I couldn’t possibly ask?—”

“Don’t worry, I’ll pay him overtime. Consider him a gift.”

The Trojan horse was a gift, too. If she let Joey into the shop, he’d see Evie working for her, and Joey would report back to Alex. Alex would assume Evie was working on the Richardson wedding. Was that the true purpose of the gift? To look into how she ran her business? The back of her neck prickled. He’d all but admitted he was ruthless about his hotel empire.

“No, thank you.” She folded her hands in her lap. “I have all the help I need.”

He shrugged like he didn’t care, but his steely jaw told the truth. “Fine. I can help you in other ways.”

“What other ways?” she asked.

“I understand orgasms reduce cortisol levels. I’ll just have to reduce your stress levels through the power of organic chemistry.”

She shivered. “Stress reduction sounds good.”

“So do lots and lots of orgasms.”

He was right, as usual.

ChapterNineteen

When she asked him to drop her a block away from the shop, Alex refused. He pulled his flashy Ferrari right in front and clasped her hand.

“When will I see you again?” he asked.

Her brothers read all those comics where the superhero’s heat vision melted metal. Alex’s gaze seemed to work only on her panties.

“T-tonight?” The reason they were sitting in front of the business had melted away, too. Why couldn’t she go home with him right now?

He leaned across the console and kissed her, soft and lingering. “Should I pick you up here?” he murmured against her lips.

“Here?” Where was she, anyway? She glanced over her shoulder and saw the scriptForza Elite Motorspainted on the door. Shit. Her brothers were in there. She hoped they hadn’t seen her kiss Alex.

She pushed away from him. “No. I’ll meet you at your office. Give you an excuse to stop working on a Friday night.”

“Perfect. I’ll leave a keycard at the front desk.”

“A…keycard?” The idea of a hotel hookup made her skin prickle.

“I live in the penthouse. You can come straight up.”

A nervous titter escaped her. “Of course you live in the penthouse.” She’d forgotten for a moment this wasn’t her friend from high school who knew all the video game cheat codes. He was a stranger who owned an entire hotel and was about to buy another.

But the beach had been fantastic. She’d get to know the new Alessandro Villa. Who lived in a penthouse.

He stroked the inside of her wrist. “Or I could meet you at your place.”

---