Page 14 of Off Limits Billionaire

I understood. “Whenever I want something, it gets sold regardless. People want the chance to say they bested me, that they beat me to something I wanted. I’ve even had people outbid me on items just to try and resell it to me for an even higher amount.”

“That’s not very nice,” Ana mumbled.

“That’s business. However, none of that matters. I’m not leaving London without this clock.”

7

ANABELLA

After snapping a few pictures of the clock and sending them to Paul, he called me on video chat with our grandparents behind him. There was a tear in Grandpa Augie’s eye making my heart swell.

He spoke softly, a whisper of awe and remembrance in his tone. “It reminds me of the clock that started our family business. My grandfather, Milton, slaved over a piece just like that, and even though it took him three years to fully restore it, it set us on this path. My Bella, is it authentic?”

“Yes, Grandpa,” I told him with a smile. Marcus was off to the side speaking to Desiree when he turned to me with a grin. I focused on the call instead of how devilishly handsome the eldest Adler son was. I wanted to let myself go, to be free around him, but my family’s warnings rang louder than my lust.

With my phone’s camera pointed at certain areas, I told them about my findings. “Jacob Godschalk signed the dial and based on a preliminary glance, its carved finials and Rococo design along with the age of the wood tells me this is from the late 1700s. 1765 to 1775 to be specific.”

“And that Adler is paying you for this, right?” Grandpa asked. “You’re not just being shuffled around like a trophy on their shelf of pillaged goods?”

“No, I’m not being shuffled around, Grandpa Augie. It’s all business for me,” I assured them, and ended the call. I walked over to Marcus and the auctioneer, who waited for me to tell them anything else. My mind went all over the place. I couldn't wait to take a deeper look at it. “It’s authentic, Marcus, but the metalwork ... and I haven’t even looked at the gears inside.”

There was something about Marcus’s expressions that assured me everything was going to work out. After we left the auction house, we grabbed a quick dinner and headed back to the hotel room, where we ended up falling asleep after the long day we'd had.

The next morning, sounds of Marcus showering kept my imagination active with fantasies of our dripping wet bodies entwined with passion. I had to stop this. Since I'd had my shower already, I needed to stay focused on the job at hand. I needed to save our building from heading into foreclosure. I took a few deep breaths to settle my anticipation.

While we didn’t have to share beds, we did share a bathroom. Steam wafted out as he opened the door with a towel wrapped around his waist. His body looked like it had been carved by deities. I hated that my memories of it were wrapped around a drunken night of bad decisions.

“Good morning, Ana.” His voice pulled me back to the reality in front of me. He was naked under that towel, and I wanted it to drop. I couldn’t stop myself from wanting him.

Shaking away the image of him taking me, I decided to be on my best behavior. “Good morning, Marcus. Since the auction isn’t until tomorrow, what’s on the agenda for today?”

“You get to meet with the auction house’s authentication expert to compare notes and possibly plug yourself in as an alternate in case they need you and they aren't available.”

My heart leaped, “This is exactly what I was telling Paul. I knew you weren’t trying to screw me.”

The crinkle around his eyes and subtle grin on his face told me where his mind was at. “I’d never screw you, Ana. At least, not without your permission.”

I flung a pillow at him, forcing him to lift his leg and shield himself from the cushion. His towel dropped. I immediately turned away from him, my pulse quickening with the anticipation of what I wanted to happen.

“No need to be bashful, Ana. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before.” His words sounded far closer than where he'd been when his towel fell. I could feel him, the strength of his touch as he grabbed me by the shoulders and spun me around, towel back around his waist.

Marcus let me place my hand on his chest, steadying myself and then sliding it down his torso. Every nerve ending in my body fired for what I wanted in that moment, but I stopped and pulled my hand away.

The look in his eyes told me he wanted it just as badly, along with the rising hardness hidden behind a thick piece of cloth embroidered with the hotel’s monogram.

“We can’t,” I told him and moved away before he kissed me and pulled me onto the bed. “I want to, but we can’t. Our families—”

Marcus huffed as he reached out to me, tugging me by the elbow to face him. He kissed me anyway. Once our lips touched, all my hesitation and logic flew out of the abnormally large hotel suite windows. I wanted him and I didn’t care that he was an Adler. In that moment, he was a man who wanted me and didn’t avoid showing me that every chance he got.

Sensations ricocheted across my body with the force of his kiss, making my knees buckle. Marcus pulled away, his arm wrapped around my waist to steady me. “Tell me you want this, Ana.”

“Our fami—” My breathless words were silenced with another passionate kiss. The strength of his grasp, pulling me close, the hardness of his shaft pushing into my belly made my pulse race. He tenderly helped me remove my dress before hoisting me into the air, sweeping me off my feet and placing me onto the bed.

“Tell me you want this, Anabella,” he said standing at the edge of the bed, picking up my foot to kiss the inside of my ankle.

I groaned at the softness of his lips mixed with the firm movement of his fingers up my calves. “We have plans today.”

“So, you want me to do this with youall day?”

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