The Billionaire's Gentle Rescue (The Sisterhood) (9 page)

His leg pressed against hers as they swayed to the music. Zoe gasped when she felt his leg move in between hers. Her hand slid up his chest so it could hold onto his shoulder a bit more securely as his other hand slid down to her bottom, covered by the curtain of fabric. When she felt his hand pull her hips closer, she looked back up at him, wondering if he knew what he was doing to her.

The heated look in his eye told her he knew exactly what he was doing and Zoe couldn’t stop him. Didn’t want to stop him. She wanted to be closer. She wanted to press herself against him and feel more of him.

Her mouth dropped open as she watched and felt, his leg moving in and out of hers while his hand pressed her closer. That one movement was so intimate that she gasped and closed her eyes, biting her lower lip as the feeling created shivers that spread outward.

She had no idea how they’d gotten there, but Marco had danced them into a corner of the room. A moment later, he stepped back, took her hand in a firm grip and pulled her out of the ballroom, down the hallway until he reached a place where there were no other guests or wait staff. The hallway was darker than the others, quiet until Marco pulled her into his arms then pressed her up against the wall, lifting her up with both his hands and his leg that slid between her legs, pressing his hips against hers.

Zoe inhaled sharply and moaned when she felt his erection, excited when he moved so it was exactly where she wanted it. But not quite right. She needed more and she pressed her hips against him all the while his mouth covered hers, ravaging her with his touch and teeth, nipping and soothing, pulling her tongue into his mouth and sucking, then diving into hers.

Zoe was on a wave of feeling, pressing herself against him, tasting him, unbuttoning two of his shirt buttons so her fingers could slide inside and feel his skin. His mouth moved from hers to her neck and she cried out when he found a sensitive spot behind her ear.

“We have to get out of here,” he growled. Stepping back, he buttoned his shirt back up and looked down at Zoe. She looked like she’d just been thoroughly kissed but at least her hair was still intact. Her lips were swollen and she had a dazed, hungry look in her eyes but other than that, he thought they’d be able to make it through the ballroom and out the front door without too many questions.

“Can you walk?” he demanded.

“Yes,” she confirmed and stood back, her hands shaking but feeling the raw need to have him back in her arms.

“Let’s go,” he said and took her hand back in his large, warm one.

She went willingly, desperate to feel his strength against her more thoroughly, to feel those sensations once again and lose herself in his kiss, his touch.

Unfortunately, escaping the ballroom wasn’t as easy as they’d anticipated. As soon as they were back, Marco was surrounded by people who wanted “just one more question” or ask his advice about one deal or get his opinion about a company they were considering investing in.

Initially, Zoe was furious that these people thought they could impose on Marco like that, as well as frustrated that each question was slowing down their exit. But as her body came back to normal, she was horrified about what might have happened if they’d continued kissing.

Who was she kidding? They weren’t just kissing. She and Marco had practically been having sex in the hallway. A few more minutes of that, she might have ripped off his clothes. Or hers, she wasn’t really sure. She was shaking with reaction, about what she’d done and what most likely would have happened if they’d remained in that hallway.

Marco felt her shivers and looked down, concerned but she smiled up at him, reassuring him that she was okay. He turned back to the person he was talking with and Zoe slipped her hand out of his. He looked back but she just whispered that she was running to the ladies room.

She walked with as much dignity as possible out of the ballroom, then asked the doorman to get her a cab. She was grateful for the cool night air but realized that she’d forgotten her cloak. Uncaring, afraid Marco would have extricated himself from conversations by now and desperate to have some additional time to cool down, she just stepped into the cab and gave her address. She’d come back tomorrow to get her cloak.

Taking her cell phone out, she typed in a message to Marco letting her know that she was fine and heading home. At the end, she said, “It’s safer this way.”

She held the cell phone in her hand, waiting for his angry response, but relieved when she arrived back at her loft without any word from him. She paid the cab driver, then let herself into her loft, leaning against the door with relief.

She slipped the shoes off her feet, then unzipped the back of her dress. Up in her bedroom, she hung up the dress and pulled on her fluffy pink robe, instantly feeling much better now that she wasn’t so constricted.

She’d just finished brushing her teeth when the pounding on her door happened. “Zoe, open this damn door now!” she heard Marco say.

Zoe pulled her robe tighter and walked quickly down the stairs to pull open the door. “What are you doing here?”

Marco didn’t answer her. Instead, he pushed his way into her loft, his eyes furious. “You walked out on me.”

“I sent you a text and told you I was okay.”

“You said leaving would be safer!”

“Yes.”

“When we go to a function together, we leave together,” he said in a low, furious growl. He pulled her into his arms, his mouth covering hers before she could protest. Within seconds, he had her melting in his arms once again, pulling her up against him. All those feelings roared right back at her and Zoe could barely breath in her need to touch him, kiss him and feel him against her body.

But he pulled away. “That’s the way we end the evening, Zoe. Don’t ever leave me again.” With that, he spun around on his heel and walked out of the loft, leaving Zoe breathless, her mouth swollen and her whole body aching for fulfillment.

Chapter 5

Zoe dressed in a pair of black, wide leg slacks and a black turtleneck sweater the following morning. She didn’t feel excited as she should after the success of the previous evening. Instead, her eyes were gritting from lack of sleep and she was angry and frustrated.

Going down to the cutting room, she stared at the work being done, not really seeing anything. When she realized that she was completely useless, she stomped into her office and plunked down at her work table. Taking a sketching pencil, she started drawing. In the back of her mind, she heard people coming and going, asking her questions but she didn’t look up to respond. At some point, Debbie took control and started fielding the questions usually Zoe would work through, but today, she simply couldn’t handle anything but drawing and creating.

By lunch, her hand ached and her back was sore from bending over her work table for so many hours.

“What the hell happened last night?” Debbie asked, placing a sandwich in front of Zoe and sitting down opposite her with her own sandwich.

Zoe looked at the food and suddenly, she was starving. “I told you, Marco took me to a fundraiser at the museum last night.”

Debbie raised an eyebrow. “And that’s all that happened?” she asked skeptically.

Zoe was just about to take a bite but she lowered the sandwich and looked across at Debbie. “Why do you ask?” She lifted the sandwich again and forced herself to take a bite, not tasting anything.

“Because WWD called about thirty minutes ago. They asked if we could send over something for their next issue.”

The bite of food she’d just taken stayed in Zoe’s mouth. She tried to chew it, and almost choked on the bite as it went painfully down her throat. “Women’s Wear Daily?” she asked, her voice showing her awe and excitement. “Are you kidding me?”

Debbie’s grin widened. “Would I kid about something like that?”

Zoe wasn’t sure she believed it. WWD was THE authority in the fashion industry. It was like the gateway for any fashion designer. Until a designer was in WWD, they hadn’t “made it”.

“When did they call?” she asked, still whispering as if saying anything out loud might rip the dream out of their grasp.

Debbie had to laugh. “I mentioned it a moment after they called but you were completely focused on sketching,” she said. “I thought perhaps food might snap you out of it and Voila! Here we are, you are snapped back to reality, and I’m the bearer of awesome news. So ‘fess up and tell me what happened to garner this kind of attention.”

Darcy explained about the paparazzi being at the fundraiser because of Darcy DiAngelo’s presence, the way Marco had ushered her into the museum amid the snapping photographs and all the questions about her dress she was asked.

“Sounds like quite a night,” she replied, noting the blush that crept up Zoe’s cheeks. “And did anything happen with your new partner?’ she asked astutely.

Zoe took a bite of her sandwich. “It’s a professional relationship. What are we going to send them” she asked, her mind whirling about crazily.

They spent the rest of the afternoon going through the options, discarding various dresses, picking up new ones, trying to figure out what they should send over. In the end, they had four dresses, two daytime options and two evening gowns. Both were “inspired” Debbie proclaimed and showed off Zoe’s personality in the designs.

Debbie did the honors of dropping the outfits off at the magazine while Zoe excitedly caught a cab and sped over to Marco’s office, eagerly wanting to tell him the amazing news. Once through security, she asked his executive assistant, Nancy, if he was available.

“I don’t have an appointment and I know he’s extremely busy. But I was hoping to just grab a moment of his time, if possible,” she begged.

Nancy was a very nice older woman, probably in her mid-fifties, who smiled broadly at Zoe’s excitement. “Mr. DiAngelo mentioned to me last week that you were to be put through to him no matter what was going on.”

Zoe was both charmed and terrified of that information. But she didn’t have much time to think about the meaning since Marco came out of a conference room right at that moment. Zoe had a few moments to watch him and was impressed all over again. He was surrounded by a large group of men and women, most of whom were older but all deferred to his judgments as they asked him questions walking down the hallway. He was also much taller than the men while several of the women looked at him with secret longing, but most were too professional to let their feelings show through, at least to him. Apparently emotions weren’t exclusive to the women. Several of the men had signs of jealousy on their faces as well.

Marco had the patience of a saint, answering their questions with authority and confidence. She had no idea what they were discussing, the business terms and amounts they were tossing about were way out of her league, but Marco knew exactly what they were discussing and didn’t show any sign of being irritated despite the fact that the meeting had already ended.

Until he saw her standing in the hallway watching him and in that instant, Marco’s face changed in a not so subtle way. The people surrounding him also noticed and looked her way, all of them curious to see what had created that kind of reaction. When several pairs of eyes were looking at her, she felt her face heat up and couldn’t do anything to stop it.

With a firm nod, Marco dismissed the group of people, none of whom dared to ask even a short, quick question as their boss walked away from them, heading down the hallway with purpose.

Without saying a word, Marco pulled her into his office and closed the door. Crossing his arms over his chest, he looked down at her flushed features. “To what do I owe this honor?” he asked, one eyebrow raised in question and a bit of cynicism.

Zoe had to think hard to remember why she’d come by. But when she did, all the excitement and sheer bliss of that one phone call this morning shone through to her brown eyes. “Oh, Marco! I’m sorry to disturb you. But I really was just too excited and wanted you to be the second person to hear the news.”

“The second?” he asked, interrupting her. “Why not the first?”

She stopped and thought about it for a moment. “Well, actually, I guess you’re the third, since I was really the second. Debbie was the first.”

Marco chuckled but shook his head. “Regardless, what’s the wonderful news?”

“My designs are going to be featured in WWD!”

The other eyebrow went up as well. “I’m guessing this is important?”

She grabbed the lapels of his jacket and shook him slightly. “Don’t you know what WWD is? How could you invest in a fashion company and not know this? It’s one of the preeminent journals that comes out each week, describing the news of fashion. Everyone in this business has a subscription in order to keep up with the latest news.”

“So this is important.”

“Yes! It’s wonderful. And amazing! And it’s all because of your invitation last night and I can’t believe how incredible this is! I just wanted to thank you for the introductions last night. They’re the only way this could have happened.”

“Are you sure it was the introductions and not simply the incredible design you wore last night? I’d love to take credit for this event, but maybe it was just your sparkling personality and great fashion sense.”