The Italian's Bedroom Deal by Elizabeth Lennox Read Free Book Online Page B

where she went. He’d never told her, but when she kept seeing the same men appear wherever she went, she knew what was going on.
     
    “Then let me ensure you get home. At least give me some peace of mind.”
     
    Clarissa shook her head, unable to concede even on this point. It was minor but gave her some sort of control over her life. And right now, she was clinging to whatever control she could grasp. “No, Max. You don’t have any responsibility to me. I’ll make my own way home when I’m ready.”
     
    “Clarissa!” he snapped back at her, his patience obviously run out, “my driver will be standing by to take you wherever you need to go.” He glared at her but she just glared back, unconcerned about his order.
     
    Instead of arguing, she shrugged slightly and turned. This time, she was able to leave and she was grateful when she made it out the front door of the building. Sure enough, his driver was waiting out front, the limousine door opened.
     
    Clarissa simply ignored the man and hailed a cab, ducking into the back before anyone could do anything to stop her. “Just drive, please,” she requested, handing the cab driver some money which would guarantee that he immediately acted on her request. The cab rolled forward and then sprinted into traffic and Clarissa sat back and watched the buildings roll by with unseeing eyes.
     
    So Max wasn’t interested. What’s next, she wondered. What did she do now?
     
    She wasn’t sure what she could do. All her plans had centered around Max helping her out. But she couldn’t give up. This was too important. And it would work. She had to figure out how to become involved with a man she found attractive enough to have sex with so she could discover what all the fuss was about. She refused to be an oddity among her friends any longer. She simply needed a large, Italian male who would educate her and show her what she was missing, what her life was missing. And if he had broad shoulders and muscular biceps, that would definitely be a plus, she thought to herself.
     
    So where did she meet a large, handsome Italian male?
     
    Biting her fingernail, she considered her options. Then it hit her. Where would she meet a sexy Italian male? Italy, of course!
     
    Why hadn’t she thought of that before? She could spend a couple of weeks in Italy, meet some handsome man and she was sure she could get the experience she was looking for. Weren’t Italian men supposed to be incredible lovers? All swarthy and charming and sexy? Sure they were! Why hadn’t she thought of that to begin with? Why had she embarrassed herself by propositioning Max?
     
    Well, that was easy enough to answer, she berated herself. She wanted Max. There was no way around that little fact. She wanted him with every fiber of her being and the two kisses they’d shared had only proven that her instincts about him were true.
     
    If only he’d agreed with her plan, she would be so much better off. It wasn’t that he was convenient, because he definitely wasn’t. He traveled so often, she rarely knew what city he might be in. He’d been her first choice because she admired him for so many reasons. And he had a certain appeal that was almost magnetic. He was the one man who had made her heart speed up and her feet trip over themselves whenever he was near. Other men didn’t do that, or at least the ones she’d run into so far.
     
    Sighing, she accepted that her initial plan wasn’t going to work. One of the participants was unwilling. So plan B could be just as good, couldn’t it? She ignored the fact that she hadn’t met any man yet who made her shiver with excitement by just being close like Max did. And she’d never kissed anyone who made her feel a fraction of what Max could make her feel.
     
    Giving the cab driver her home address, she leaned back against the cracked upholstery and relaxed somewhat. Now that she had a direction, she felt immensely better. So what if the one man she’d