Author: Bella Andre

She wanted to experience it as Nicola. Not Nico. Which meant she needed to get them out of there as soon as possible, before anyone came up and asked for an autograph or a picture with her.

“I’m not in the mood to dance tonight,” she began, before realizing, “I don’t know your name."

She liked the way he reached out and brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes, liked it even more when he said, “My name is Marcus. And I’m not in the mood to dance, either.”

She supposed there were lots of things they could both say to each other. Things like, Should we get out of here? or Why don’t we go back to my hotel? But, amazingly, Nicola realized those words, those questions and answers, weren’t necessary.

Everything they’d needed to say to each other had already been said.

In one look.

In one touch.

Her skin burned where he’d touched her, his fingertips rougher than she’d thought they would be, given his clothes. She’d felt calluses and strength in that one brush across her skin. The thought of being touched like that—with those hands—on even more sensitive parts of her body had heat blooming inside of her in places that never usually got that hot.

Following the instinct that had brought her this far, Nicola turned without another word and began to move back to the door through which she’d just entered. A moment later, Marcus’s large, warm hand was on the small of her back as he followed her. She often traveled to events with her bodyguard, a man who was even bigger than Marcus. But she’d never felt so safe, so protected.

And never this tingly, head to toe.

The sizzling warmth from the spot on her lower back where he was holding his hand against her quickly spread down her hips and across to her stomach and breasts.

The music was still playing, louder than before, perhaps, but all she could hear was the beating of her own heart. All she knew was that she wanted this night with Marcus more than she’d wanted anything in a very long time.

In the back of her mind she knew that what she was doing was stupid, not just because of the pictures that would surface of her with a “mystery man,” but because she shouldn’t be leaving a club with a man she knew nothing whatsoever about. For all she knew, he was a sadistic murderer out trolling for his next decapitation victim. But the way he was touching her, so carefully and yet with such assurance—along with the way he’d gently stroked her face—made her want to trust her initial instincts about him.

Fortunately, just as a group of people started pointing at her and talking excitedly, a taxi pulled up. Marcus opened the door for her and she let her hair fall in front of her face to hide her profile from the driver, just in case he took one look at her and blew her cover as a regular person.

Her gut churned as she slid inside, then tightened down hard as her soon-to-be-lover joined her on the ripped leather seat and she realized just how big he really was. Compared to most of the anorexic singers and actresses she knew, Nicola had never felt tiny before. But sitting next to Marcus made her feel shockingly small and feminine.

He was so big, had so much presence, she swore there wasn’t enough oxygen left in the car for her and the driver to pull from.

“Where to?” the driver asked, giving them a blank look in the rearview mirror.

The stranger’s voice broke the spell that had pulled her toward Marcus from that first glance.

Oh God, what she was doing?

Yes, she wanted him. Desperately.

Yes, she was lonely. Terribly.

But neither of those things were enough reason to act like an idiot or to put herself in a dangerous position. After all, look what had happened when she’d trusted her instincts with Kenny. What he’d done hadn’t only hurt her, it had ended up hurting her family, too. She could still hardly believe her mother had lost her position on the school board, that the community had dared to accuse her of not being a good role model for the other parents because she’d obviously made huge mistakes in teaching her own daughter right from wrong.

Nicola put her hand on the door handle, readying herself to escape out the other side. “I’m sorry. I can’t do this. I don’t know you."

He didn’t try to stop her, didn’t put a hand on her to keep her from opening the door. Instead, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and handed it to her.

“Call anyone in here."

Unable to believe what he was offering, she left the door ajar an inch. “Seriously?”

“Call them all if you have to. Ask them about me. Ask them anything.”

Surely he was kidding around. Who did something like this? Just handed over their cell phone and said to call any number on it to do a background check on him?

“You really want me to surprise dial someone in your address book and say, ‘Hey there, I’m some girl your friend Marcus is leaving a club with. Could you tell me all about him, please?’”

“I want you to feel safe with me tonight, Nicola."

God, every time he said her name, she got the shivers. What would it be like to be lying beneath him, naked and filled with him while he said it?

Oh, how she wanted to find out.

The taxi driver cleared his throat and looked pointedly at them in his rearview mirror, but Marcus clearly had no intention of being rushed.

Before she could reconsider, she took the phone and dialed the most recently called person, someone named Mary. It was probably his wife, Nicola thought cynically as the number rang a handful of times.

After several rings, a woman picked up. “Marcus, I wish you hadn’t left the party without saying goodbye.”

Surprised at a voice that clearly belonged to an older woman rather than a lover waiting for Marcus to come over and do her later tonight, Nicola finally said, “Um...hi. This isn’t Marcus. He—”

She felt like an idiot sitting in the back of a cab trying to find the right words to say to a complete stranger. All while Marcus watched her with those dark eyes.

“He just gave me his phone and said I could call you.”

There was a brief moment of silence before the woman she’d just dialed said, “Is my son all right?”

His mother? That was the last person he’d called before coming to the club?

Nicola was stunned silent for a moment, before realizing she needed to reassure his mother. “Yes, he’s fine. Perfectly fine.”

Marcus was leaning back against the seat, his arms folded across his chest as he watched her fumble through this unexpected conversation.

All these years, she’d never met anyone else who spoke with their parents as much as she did. Especially not a man, probably because they thought it made them seem less masculine.

Nicola found herself reacting in exactly the opposite way. A man who loved his mother won a lot of points in her book, and instead of seeing Marcus as less sexy, or as some kind of mama’s boy, a glimmer of respect began to form for the beautiful stranger sitting beside her.

“Good,” his mother said with obvious relief. “I’m glad he’s fine.”

Nicola knew she should simply apologize for bothering the woman and disconnect. Instead, she found herself saying, “Mary, can I ask you a question about your son?”

She could have sworn she heard a smile across the line from this ridiculously patient woman who, for all Nicola knew, got calls like this every Friday night from the girls Marcus picked up to fool around with.

“Yes, you may, although I’d very much like to know who I’m speaking with.”

“Oh. Sorry. My name is Nicola.” For the second time in one night, she was getting to be the girl she used to be, rather than the pop star she’d been playing for the past several years.

“Nicola is a lovely name.”

“Thank you.” Nicola tried to regain her bearings, but it was really difficult to do with Marcus looking down at her with his eyes never once leaving her face.

“What would you like to know about Marcus, Nicola?”

Oh God, she shouldn’t be asking his mother a question like this, but if she hung up now she’d only be left with doubts. Doubts she didn’t want to have if she and Marcus were going to be alone together and naked in a hotel room in a little while.

She looked up into his eyes and held his dark gaze as she said, “Will I be safe with him?”

“Oh,” his mother said, “well, that’s certainly an unexpected question.”

Nicola could feel her hand trembling slightly as she held the phone up against her ear. “Why is that a strange question?”

“Marcus is my oldest son,” his mother gently explained. “He helped me take care of his brothers and sisters when my husband passed away many years ago. I love all of my children, but without a doubt, he is one of the most trustworthy men I’ve ever known.”

Nicola’s heart shouldn’t have swelled at his mother’s words. She shouldn’t have cared that the man sitting next to her was a good son, a good older brother. All that should have mattered was that she was physically safe with him and that he wouldn’t dare hurt her now that she’d spoken with his mother and alerted her to what was about to go down.

And yet, she couldn’t manage to pull her gaze away from his—or stop herself from feeling any of those things—as she said, “Thank you for telling me that.”

“It was my pleasure, Nicola.”

“I’m sorry I bothered you so late,” she said suddenly, hating that she’d worried his mother with her out-of-the-blue call.

“It’s no problem at all, although I would love to speak with Marcus for a moment.”

“I’ll give him the phone right now, Mary. And thank you.” Nicola held the phone out, hardly able to believe she was saying, “Your mother wants to speak with you.”

This night wasn’t going at all the way she’d thought it would. Well, the meeting a ridiculously gorgeous guy in a club part was right on track, but calling his mom to be reassured that she wasn’t going to end the night in a body bag...that just didn’t happen in her world. In anyone’s world, actually.

The conversation with his mother made her feel almost as if she’d met him at some family gathering, rather than at a seedy club downtown.

She watched him listen to whatever his mother was saying. A slight frown moved across his face before he said, “Yes, tonight. Before the party,” and then, “Don’t worry, I will. Good night.”

He slipped the phone back into his pocket. “Do you feel better now?”

“Your mom seems really nice,” she said, rather than answer the question that suddenly seemed a thousand times more loaded than it had ten minutes ago, especially after the awkward phone call she’d just made to his mother. She shifted on the seat. Too late, she realized her short leather dress had ridden up nearly high enough to flash Marcus a big huge chunk of bare thigh.

“She’s great,” he told her, even as his eyes moved to the skin he couldn’t possibly miss, then back up to her face.

His jaw was tight, his expression full of desire...and something else she couldn’t quite decipher. It was, she finally decided, almost as if he was warring with himself over wanting her.

Just as she was warring with herself over wanting him.

The taxi driver interrupted them. “Are you going or not?”

Marcus looked at her. “Nicola?”

If he’d said her name differently, if there’d been any pressure, any demands behind it, she might still have said no and gotten the heck out of there.

But his question was gentle enough to have her suddenly making up her mind. “I do feel better. Much better. I’m ready to go with you now.”

He reached across her lap to close her door, then told the driver, “The Fairmont.”

Her muscles instantly tensed again. Here she’d just convinced herself he wasn’t some creepy star-stalker. Had she been wrong? Did he know she was staying at the Fairmont?