“Personally. We have to keep it professional.”
He sighed and let his hands move up and down her back, enjoying the shivers that movement caused. “We can keep it professional,” he said, his hands moving to her waist. “For now.”
He stepped back and looked down at her. “I’ll drive you home,” he said.
Zoe started to clean up the boxes of Chinese food but he took her hand. “The office cleaning crew will be in later to clean that up. Just grab the papers so you can look at them tonight or tomorrow. Call me if you have any questions.”
She nodded quietly and tensed when he took her coat, draping it over her shoulders. At this late hour, the trip to her loft took only about ten minutes and Zoe sat in the soft leather, her body tense and humming from his touch.
When he parked, she quickly jumped out, then bent down to thank him.
Before she could close the passenger side door, he held up her hand to stall her. “There’s a party tomorrow night for a fundraising event. Can you have one of your dresses from your new line ready to wear by then?”
Zoe’s breath caught in her throat but she nodded.
“Good. I’ll pick you up at seven. Sleep well, Beautiful.”
He waited again until she was safely inside and her lights were on. Zoe watched as his sleek, powerful car drove away and sighed, leaning her forehead against the darkened window. The fundraiser tomorrow night loomed heavily, and Zoe wondered how she was going to deal with that kind of event. A night standing next to Marco? Without business to distract her? She was just begging for trouble, wasn’t she?
Debbie had been right. She’d gotten herself into a mess but not for the reasons she’d thought.
Chapter 4
Zoe’s fingers shook as she zipped the dress up. Her worried eyes looked at her reflection in the mirror and wondered what Marco might think of the design. It was sapphire blue silk with a very low square neckline that hugged all the way down the rest of her figure. Adding a bit of pizzazz, there was an additional flared overskirt that came out from each side of her waist in iridescent blue sapphire tissue.
It had been one of her favorite designs for the fall line, but seeing it on her now, she felt that it showed a bit too much cleavage and cinched in her waist, making her bust look bigger.
The doorbell rang just as her fingers reached for the zipper to change into something else. She considered ignoring it for a moment while she changed into something safer, but she didn’t have any other dress that would be appropriate for the weather tonight and that was in her current line.
Taking a deep breath, she carefully walked down the stairs, stepping gently in her three inch sapphire blue heels. Answering the door, she tried to smile, but she was too nervous to pull it off.
As soon as she opened the door, Marco’s eyes took it all in, starting from her hair that was piled on top of her head in curls draping down the back, over her cleavage and lingering before moving father down. He whistled as he stepped into her loft, but the masculine appreciation in his eyes made her feel very pretty.
“That’s an awesome dress,” he said heartily. “I completely approve. And you’ll get lots of free advertising tonight since I’ve heard that the paparazzi is out in full tonight.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I asked my sister to stop by first so they’d all be waiting for you when you arrive,” he said, smiling confidently.
She smiled back, but was confused. “I thought your sister had been in hiding lately.”
“Nope. She married some Russian guy and they’re too busy being in love to stop and go out in public. It’s nauseating,” he said with a grimace.
Zoe couldn’t help but laugh as she watched his “Big Brother” expression come over his features. “You don’t like her new husband?”
“He’s a descent enough guy.”
“But it’s your baby sister, huh?” she suggested and pulled the blue wrap out of her closet and grabbed her silver purse, making sure she had her keys, wallet and lipstick before pulling the door closed behind her.
“Exactly,” he replied. “She didn’t have an easy childhood so I want her to be happy now.”
“And is she?”
Marco shrugged. “She says she is. She looks happy.”
“And what if she becomes unhappy?”
“Then I’ll have to fix that, won’t I?” He held her hand as she stepped into the Maserati.
Marco closed the door before she could ask what he meant by that and moments later, they were zipping through the streets of New York. When they arrived at the museum where the benefit was taking place, Zoe noticed that there was a huge crowd outside, all of them flashing pictures at the people as they entered the building. Marco pulled up to the covered entrance and touched her arm. “Hold off on getting out of the car until I come around to get you,” he instructed.
Zoe considered ignoring him, but the truth was, she was going to need help getting through that throng of photographers so she sat there in the seat as Marco jumped out, handed his keys to the valet and came around to her door.
He stepped back, but offered her a firm hand to help her out of the car. If he hadn’t been there, holding her hand and guiding her the first few steps, Zoe knew she would have fallen on her face. People were yelling questions at the two of them but Zoe didn’t hear any of them because Marco pulled her close against his side and bent low to whisper in her ear. “Just stay with me, okay?”
Zoe nodded and smiled up at him, pretending like she did this all the time. He walked slowly, allowing the photographers to capture her dress to the fullest, with him as her backdrop to ensure that the color came out crisp and clear.
She leaned against him, her hand safely tucked into his arm and she concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other carefully and not falling on the sidewalk. That would be extremely painful, she thought, and humiliating.
Once through the door, she pulled away slightly, but Marco wouldn’t let her go too far. He held her closer than she wanted to be held, her heart racing but for a completely different reason now.
The fundraiser was in full swing but the event coordinator spotted Marco and separated herself from the crowd, coming over to greet him. “Marco DiAngelo! I can’t believe you’re really here!” she gushed and air kissed both his cheeks. “When I saw your name come up on the guest list I couldn’t believe my luck.” She looked at him slyly, “Are you here because of your sister?”