Before Luca could interrupt me to apologize again, I continued. “It’s just that I know Jillian would never service you in that way, so is it the fact I’m a guy? And, not gonna lie, you’re hot enough to get any damned man on his knees you want. Hell, that flight attendant would probably blow you. But I guess that’s equally inappropriate since he works for you too…”
“But I thought that’s what you were here for?”
I thought back through my conversation with Jillian. I need you to hold the man’s hand and keep him from doing something stupid.
“I… don’t think so,” I said carefully. “She wanted me to act as your PA and keep you from signing any papers during this business trip. She gave me access to various spreadsheets and research files so that I could have the data you need on hand during the assessment. Pretty sure when she used the term ‘PA,’ it implied the usual definition of personal assistant…” I tapped my chin with a finger. “Although in hindsight, I guess it could have stood for Penis Assistant…” I lifted an eyebrow at him in challenge. “Do you think that’s what she meant?”
The color leached out of his face. “Oh god,” he whispered. “You’re a PA. A real PA. Is that what you’re saying?”
“Was there a doubt? Didn’t we talk about my work for Grey Blackwood…” Wait. If Luca thought I was some kind of rent boy… “No my god. No. Ew. I mean… the man’s sexy as hell. There’s no denying that, but… ew. He’s kind of… intense. A little too intense for me.”
“I’m so, so sorry,” Luca said, clearly horrified. “I… I had this strange conversation with Jillian, but she was under the effects of medication. I should have assumed you were a real PA. Of course you are. It’s just…” His eyes roamed over me in a way that made me feel heated and restless, but then I remembered what he was seeing. My club clothes.
“I was on my way to a bachelorette night,” I said a little too defensively. “I didn’t have time to change. But, dude, a sequined top doesn’t make me a sex worker.”
Luca winced. “No, of course not. And not that there’s anything wrong with sex workers either. I mean, it’d be okay if you were a sex worker. I respect sex workers. It’s just…”
“You don’t need one at the moment,” I finished for him, trying not to smile. “Except… you kind of do?”
I couldn’t help but glance down at the front of his pants. Unfortunately, there was no information there for me at the moment, considering the poor man was scared out of his wits, thinking he’d just tripped into a horrible sexual harassment situation.
“No! No, no, no. No. Of course not. I’m fine. Totally fine. One hundred percent fine. If not more than that.”
I bit my lip and nodded. Luca was rocking a little side to side as if unsure of what to do next. He was so damned sweet. What was it about him that I found so attractive? Because it surely couldn’t have been his way with words.
“Okay, but…” I began, wondering what I could actually get away with right now. “If, say, you weren’t fine. If, say, you really did need a quick beej in the back of this plane—you know, for relaxation reasons—would you want the man on his knees for you or stretched out on the bed?”
Luca’s mouth opened as my words sank in. “Huh?”
I stepped closer to him.
“How do you like it, Luca?” I breathed, reaching out to put a hand on his chest. This was by far the riskiest thing I’d ever done in relation to my career, but for some reason, every instinct in my gut screamed for me to touch this man.
I began to move my hand down his chest to his belt.
5
Luca
“Y-you’re angry,” I said, backing away from his touch. I could hardly blame him for trying to get back at me. His anger was justified. “You’re taunting me because I jumped to such an unreasonable conclusion about you. And I deserve it. I’m so, so sorry. I’m horrified by my behavior. As soon as we land in Vegas, I’ll send you back on the plane.”
What else could I do? I’d basically just propositioned my temporary employee like I was a damned monster.
Marcel’s lip tucked under his top teeth as he studied me. “I’m not going to allow this misunderstanding to cost you two hundred million dollars,” he finally said. “You need me.”
I found myself nodding like a fool. I did. I did need him. For many things.
And now that I’d imagined him on his knees or spread out on the bed, of course those were the first things that jumped to mind.
You’ve gone this long without sex, Luca. Keep it together.
“Are you sure?” I asked a little breathlessly. Because he was right. I also needed him to keep me from doing something stupid like signing away a ton of money simply because my cousin was a smooth talker. “You really don’t have to do this. I feel terrible that I pulled you away from a bachelorette thing.”
Marcel’s grin was cheeky and adorable. It changed his demeanor from high-brow and elegant to mischievous and approachable. “You saved me two hundred dollars at the very least,” he said, pulling a fat wad of cash out of a pocket. “Although… maybe I can find a similar home for these bad boys in Vegas…”
The thought of him at a strip club made me feel strange. I wasn’t sure if it was excitement, disapproval, or jealousy. Maybe an odd combination of all three.
“Certainly,” I said, clearing my throat and moving past him out into the main cabin again. “We have a business dinner tomorrow night, but you’re free to do your own thing after that, of course.”
Marcel followed me and retook his seat. Mischief sparked in his eyes. “Care to explain exactly what kind of PA you thought you were getting on this trip?”
My face was a thousand degrees. I groaned and covered my cheeks with my hands. “Jillian told me about men who would pretend to be a PA on a business trip to places where gay sex is illegal, but in reality are… ah… prostitutes. I guess. And when you…” I waved my hand in the general direction of his sparkly tiara. “Showed up dressed nothing like a corporate personal assistant…”
His smile was captivating. Two deep dimples popped and made my stomach tighten. He really was very attractive. Was it any wonder I looked at him and imagined having sex with him? No, none at all. However, saying it out loud in this particular situation was disrespectful, inappropriate, and disgusting.
“I forgot about the tiara,” he admitted, reaching up to pull it from his hair. “Maybe I can see how that would have caused some confusion.”
Despite his kindness, I remained horrified. “I’m so, so sorry,” I said again.
Marcel waved away my apology. “No harm done. You’re sexy as fuck, so I can’t say it would have been a hardship had the misunderstanding continued.” He raised his eyebrow at me suggestively and then laughed when I blushed deeper and blustered out another apology.
After a few minutes, Brent offered to bring us food and drinks, and the atmosphere settled into something far more comfortable than I ever could have imagined after such a disastrous start. Marcel sipped a sparkling water, drew his bare feet up on his seat, and dove into the giant gourmet salad Brent served him. I put my feet up on the sofa at Marcel’s insistence—really, at that point he could have commanded me to do a lot more than “put your feet up and try to relax” and I would have done it—and we… talked. More than I’d talked to anyone, even Jillian, in a really long time.