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.