People were dancing all around them as Valentina came toward him, a wrapped box in her hands. “I have a gift for you.”
Even though all he wanted was her, he made himself take the present. Gifts had never made him surly before, but he relished the harsh sound of the paper shredding beneath his hands.
Only, when he saw the puzzle, he thought—no, he knew—what she was trying to tell him.
Because everything had changed for them at Alcatraz.
“I love it, Valentina.”
One word. All he’d need to change was one word. It to you.
He wasn’t surprised when she let the dancing crowd pull her in and swallow her up, disappearing before he could say it. But he knew without a doubt that she’d heard what he hadn’t said...and that he wouldn’t wait much longer to whisper the three little words against her lips.
Chapter Nineteen
“Valentina!”
She was just sitting down on set to wait for filming to begin when Smith’s sister Lori called her name and came to sit next to her.
“It’s so nice to see you again,” Valentina said, meaning it. She’d had such a great day at the spa with Smith’s sisters a week ago.
“You too,” Lori said, her eyes twinkling with mischief. “I’ve been dying to get an update on the guy you’re having the super hot I-don’t-want-this-to-encourage-you sex with. Is he still putting in his best effort for your heart? Or has he given up yet?”
Before Valentina could answer—or slap a hand over Lori’s mouth—Smith was standing in front of them...looking like he’d just heard every word his sister had said.
“Hey Naughty, glad you could drop by,” he said as he gave Lori a hug. But his dark eyes were on Valentina the entire time, refusing to let her look away.
“Me too,” Lori said beaming up at the brother she clearly adored.
Valentina was almost blinded by the beauty shared by the two siblings. Were it not for the kindness in their eyes, and the smiles that so naturally played around their mouths, the Sullivans would have been a very intimidating clan, indeed.
Tatiana came by just then to say hello to Lori, which left Smith’s focus too much on Valentina for comfort. She tried to shoot him a look that said, I’ll explain what Lori just said later, okay? Just don’t do or say anything we’re going to regret. Please, can we save this for when it’s just the two of us?
But she could see the frustration in his eyes, the same darkness that had been there after their first night together when he’d pinned her to the bed in the morning and refused to let her leave, the same end to his patience that she’d felt at the holiday party when she’d given him the puzzle of Alcatraz.
God, just the memory of the lovemaking they’d shared had her insides clenching with heat. She could have sworn a hundred times over that she wasn’t running so that he could chase her...but her body disproved that lie each and every time.
“Valentina.” His low voice thrummed over nerves stretched taut. “Those files you asked for are in my office.”
“Great,” she managed in what she hoped was a calm, even voice. “I’ll get them from you—”
“Now.”
There were no files. And even if there had been, she certainly could have waited to get them until after he and Tatiana finished shooting their next scene. But something told her it was either follow Smith into his office now...or risk him doing something in front of everyone on set later that would have eyebrows rising and tongues wagging.
She could see he wasn’t in the mood to wait too long for her to make her decision, so she quickly said, “We’ll be right back,” to their sisters and led the way to his office. She could feel his eyes on her, the subtle sway of her hips feeling more pronounced beneath the heat of his gaze, every sensitive area of her body already responding to him without so much as a touch.
She’d barely stepped into his office when she heard the door close—and lock—behind them.
“Smith.” She slowly turned around to face him. “Lori never would have said that if she knew you were the guy I’ve been—”
He waited, one eyebrow raised...and her stomach twisted at the sure knowledge that no matter what she said, she was only going to hurt him again.
She couldn’t say they were just sleeping together, because she couldn’t deny that what they had shared had been more than that. So much more. Even though she’d been trying as hard as she could to convince herself that it wasn’t.
“I don’t know what to call what we’re doing,” she said softly. “Actually, I tried to find you this morning in your office so that we could talk.” God, she hated admitting it, but he had to know. “I don’t know how to handle how fast everything has been moving between us. And even though every day I tell myself it’s the last time, things between us just keep getting—”
“Strip.”
The word worse—or was it better?—was halted on the tip of her tongue by his rough-edged command.
Day in and day out she watched him dominate his cast and crew on set. However smoothly he did it, Smith was always completely in charge of everything around him. With her, however, he’d invariably been gentle. Even that morning in his bed, he’d been careful not to push her too hard or too far.
Until now.
“Strip.”
Valentina knew she should be irritated with him for making such a command. Not to mention frustrated by the way he always steered her away from taking measures to shut down their affair.
She should be feeling anything but immediately warm and loose—and desperately wanting—just from the possession in his voice. And from his sure knowledge that she was not only going to obey his sensual command...but was going to absolutely love every single second of it.
So sure, in fact, that he didn’t wait for her to start taking off her clothes before he began to remove his own. Unfortunately he was right about her, because desire grew more and more inescapable as she watched him shrug off his jacket and then undo one button after another on his shirt.
She could barely swallow by the time he reached for his belt buckle, but somehow managed to croak, “They’re going to be looking for you on set soon.”
“Then we’ll have to make this quick, won’t we?”
His shoes and socks were off a moment later and then his pants until he was clad only in boxer briefs that did nothing whatsoever to hide the state of his arousal.