After requesting for a new set of linens from housekeeping, he used the blanket and carefully pulled it over Anneke’s body.
The softest sigh escaped her, and his heart clenched.
He loved this woman so damn much, it was getting harder and harder each day to tear himself from her side and ensure she still had the space she needed.
Bending down on one knee, he brushed his lips against with her forehead—-
And realized it was a stupid mistake.
Because now that small kiss was no longer enough.
Before he could think of what he was doing, he had already moved down, covering her mouth with his—-
Accidenti.
Marcus wrenched himself away with a silent curse.
Over half an hour had passed since the sound of Marcus leaving the suite before Anneke cautiously opened her eyes bit by bit, trying to ascertain that she was truly alone. When it was so, she sat up quickly, her breathing shallow, her heartbeat frantic.
She unconsciously reached up to touch her lips, which still tingled from the aftereffects of the kiss.
Hiskiss.
Marcus’kiss.
Anneke sucked in her breath hard. What could it mean? But more importantly, what did shewantit to mean?
Five
The beachside restaurantwas only sparsely occupied by the time Anneke arrived, and she spotted her friends right away. Alyx Marshall, a voluptuous brunette, was sipping a Shirley Temple, while beside her Fredericka Spears, a petite redhead who had made headlines for being the country’s youngest state attorney, was pouring hibiscus tea into a dainty teacup. Albeit opposite in looks and temperament, the two were actually cousins and Anneke had been friends with both for some years now.
“Sorry I’m late,” Anneke apologized as she reached their table. The flight from Amsterdam to Miami had been far longer and more tedious than usual, with Willem’s flight crew suddenly having a bit of a problem with its landing clearance.
“Don’t sweat it,” Fredericka assured her readily. “We just got here ourselves.”
“You look absolutely stunning, Anneke.” But Alyx’s tone was more sly than complimentary, and the voluptuous head-turner waited only for Anneke to take a seat before asking with a naughty grin, “Is it because of your Italian stud?”