One Wild Wedding Night_ Three-Way - Leslie Kelly [3]
By the time the elevator reached her floor, Mia had unbuckled her high-heeled shoes and slipped them off her aching feet. They dangled by the straps from her hand. To her annoyance, however, as she stepped out, one fell from her grip. The sparkly torture tool landed inside the elevator…and the doors closed before she could retrieve it.
“Wonderful,” she muttered, picturing having to chase an errant shoe in this huge hotel. From her experience with high-rises, she knew that particular elevator wouldn’t be near her floor again for several minutes. Damned if she was going to wait or leap into another one and chase it down. “Screw it.”
She strode barefoot down the empty corridor. Reaching her room, she slid the electronic key card into place, turned the handle and walked inside.
It wasn’t until she tried to push the door closed behind her—and couldn’t, because it was being blocked by a large, strong hand—that she realized she’d been followed.
* * *
He’d been waiting for Mia Natale all evening. Having kept an eye on her sister’s wedding festivities earlier in the day, knowing the reception had ended around seven, he’d expected her to come back to her room much earlier than now. He’d figured she’d come up to change or take a nap or even pack up her stuff for her return to her apartment…which he’d also swung by after his arrival in Chicago yesterday.
Oh, yes, he’d been watching her. Waiting to make his move. Planning on how best to gain his revenge…and make his point. Judging by the instant of fear, followed by shocked recognition on her face, his point wouldn’t be that difficult to make.
She was intimidated by him…by his presence here. For the first time since the night they met, he had the upper hand.
And he intended to use it.
“ Brandon !”
“Hello, Mia,” he murmured, pushing the door back open and following her into her suite. He wasn’t waiting for any invitation. Waiting for Mia to invite him into her bedroom certainly hadn’t done him any good during the weeks they’d dated. Because, though they’d planned to move their relationship to the next level as soon as he returned from an overseas business trip this month, she’d skipped town before ever following through.
Now he was going to make sure she followed through. Not by force, of course. He planned to make her beg for it. He’d played the gentleman before but that wasn’t what she’d wanted. Now he’d see if she really liked the kind of man she thought she did.
“What are you doing here?”
“Nice to see you, too,” he murmured as he took stock of her suite. It was the same as his, which was just across the hall. This first room had a writing desk, love seat and broad windows with a view of the city. And the next—also just like his, as he saw through the open doorway—contained a huge king-size bed.
His gaze fell on the bed. The covers were turned down, the pillow replete with a mint. A silky pink nightgown rested there, obviously laid out by a member of the attentive hotel staff.
The nightgown caught his attention. And kept it. It was silky smooth, about the color of Mia’s full, lush curved lips. It would be striking against her pale skin, and her short, jet-black hair. Mia was more sexy than beautiful and would have to be called dramatic, not pretty. Yet she’d stopped his heart the first time he’d seen her when he’d been testifying against a former embezzling client.
She’d ripped it out when she’d run away like a cowardly little girl rather than let something real and meaningful develop between them, as Brandon knew it could have.
“I see you made it back safely from Japan .”
As if she cared, considering she’d packed up her apartment and left the state in the six weeks he’d been gone. Calling her and receiving a “this number has been disconnected” message had been shocking. Calling his own answering machine from Japan and hearing her cryptic, “I’ve taken a job and am moving back home to Chicago ,” message had made things worse, not better.
She