The Man Ban - Nicola Marsh Page 0,42
think she was completely bonkers?
It shouldn’t matter as they’d be leaving, but it did, because what this incredible man thought of her meant something. The way she saw it, she had a choice. Go back to his room for a quickie before retreating to her room or invite him back to hers to spend the night, knowing he’d probably find it strange to find her fully dressed for a second morning in a row.
She could cite packing and an early checkout, but Manny was intelligent. He’d spot a bluff a mile off. Which meant she’d spend the rest of today dithering over her decision rather than enjoying her time with the sexiest man she’d encountered in a long while.
Freaking great.
32
Manny thought being a doctor involved a certain amount of acting. Delivering bad news to a patient involved channeling his best poker face, standing up to a surgeon involved commanding every ounce of confidence, and breaking the news of a death to a family member required steeling his expression into one of concern while he may be crumpling inside.
Those acting skills had come in mighty handy today.
He hadn’t given a flying fuck that Huka Falls was the largest falls along the Waikato River, that huka was the Maori term for foam, or that 220,000 liters of river gushed through a gorge and shot over eight meters to create a beautiful green-blue pool.
He’d faked it all right, showing interest as he held Harper’s hand during the river walk, stopping at platforms to get the best view, expressing the right amount of awe at the beauty of Wairakei Park. But all the while he was trying to figure her out.
He’d done years of psychology as part of his undergrad degree and it meant squat, because Harper was holding out on him and he had no clue why.
Sure, she’d said all the right things at breakfast, citing her behavior as a result of morning-after awkwardness, but he wasn’t buying it. There was something else at play and he hoped she’d open up to him when they made it back to his room soon.
“You sure you don’t want something more substantial for dinner?”
“Takeout pizza is fine,” she said, lifting the flat cardboard box to her nose and inhaling. “Plus it’s vegetarian, so all that goodness counteracts the cheese.”
He parked the car in front of the hotel entrance. “You’re trying to bullshit a doctor?”
She flashed her best innocent smile. “Is it working?”
“Not a hope. Wait there.”
Her eyebrows rose as he sprinted around the car to open the passenger door.
“Such a gentleman,” she said, as he took the box out of her hands and waited until she got out before closing the door.
“That’s not what you’ll be saying when we get to my room shortly.”
He winked but he didn’t miss the slight falter in her step. This again? Would she make a fuss and demand he go to her room like last night?
“As long as I get to eat first, after that I’m all yours, and you can be as ungentlemanly as you like,” she said, pinching his ass.
Relieved they’d got past the hiccup of which room to spend the night in, they speed-walked to the elevator and eyed the numbers as they lit up all the way to his floor. Once inside his room, he laid the pizza on the small dining table tucked into the corner and spun to face her.
“How hungry are you?”
The knowing glint in her eyes gave him hope. “For food?”
“No.” He advanced on her, the tension of the day winding his muscles tight, and he knew the best way to unwind. “Pizza is just as tasty hot or cold, and I’m voting for the latter.”
He heard the hitch of her breathing as he stopped in front of her, reaching out to toy with the strap of her tank top. His thumb grazed her skin, and her eyes widened.
“Cold is okay for me,” she murmured, giving him all the go-ahead he needed.
After the way she’d blown his mind last night, being around her all day and not being able to slake his lust had been one long lesson in torturous foreplay, and he couldn’t wait a moment longer.
Her frantic hands matched his as they plucked at clothes, tore them off, pushed them down. Her hands splayed across his chest as he slid a condom on, her eyes huge pools as she watched him do it. Hungry. Eager. Demanding.
Their mouths fused as he hoisted her into his arms, palming her ass, so she