At the sight of Ines, Mason nearly froze in his steps. He managed to walk into the lift after only a slight pause in his stride.

He was surprised to see her, but he didn't show it. Years of masking his feelings made it easy. She, however, did not. She stared at him, her mouth agape; she looked even more shocked than he was.

It took him a good deal of self-control to not stare back.

She was in a dark violet dress that made her smooth, tanned skin glow. It showed off her luscious shoulders and a good deal of her back. Her straight blonde hair hung loose over her shoulders, soft and enticing. But it was her eyeglasses that made him almost trip when he saw her. It made her eyes look large and luminous. And sexy.

Dear Lord, he'd always had a weakness for women in glasses.

She finally stopped staring, but she didn't say a word. He spent the rest of the ride watching her from the corner of his eye. She had a habit of clutching her purse tightly, tapping her thumbs against the leather. And pushing her glasses up her nose with her index finger.

Was she here on a date? He didn't know that escorts wore eyeglasses when meeting clients. Of course it may be that the client was partial to the librarian types.

The image of Ines in a tight skirt and half-buttoned blouse half-lying on a library desk flashed in his head. She held a book against her chest, crooking a finger at him.

The sudden tightening in his trousers brought him back to reality. Lord, was there any way he could be within one meter of this woman without getting an erection?

And why wasn't she saying anything? It was only yesterday that she was throwing herself at him, and now she was acting as though he wasn't there.

"I see you're working tonight," he said. It was rather petty, he knew, but he wanted to get her attention.

She looked like she was about to jump out of her skin.

"Uh, yes," she said, still not looking at him.

The lift doors opened. Ines didn't make a move to leave.

Neither did he.

"After you," he said.

She turned slightly toward him and nodded before darting out of the lift. He followed her out into the foyer of Il Chiaro, keeping a respectful distance. But his eyes were on her pert backside. The unconscious sway of her hips hypnotized him, but he couldn't make himself look away. Not even with his erection alarmingly at half-mast.

He was close enough to hear her speak to the receptionist. "The reservation is under John Bellamy," she said to the stern-looking Italian woman in a dark suit. "Is he here?"

"Yes. Tony will take you to your table," said the receptionist. She gestured to a lanky waiter in a white shirt and vest.

"Thank you." She smiled at Tony and followed him.

The receptionist smiled upon seeing Mason. "Signor Kilborne," she said. "Welcome to Il Chiaro. The young lady has been waiting for you."

"Good," he said. "Grazie."

She beamed. "Prego. Non c'è problema. Here," she said, leading the way. "Let me take you to your table."

Soft classical music was playing in the open air restaurant. As they made their way to his table, he turned and saw Ines. A distinguished elderly gentleman was holding one of her hands in his. They were standing by a table, smiling as they talked.

Typical, Mason thought, trying to ignore the feeling of disappointment at his suspicions being confirmed. An actual John. The man was too old and decrepit to be a real boyfriend.

He looked away. Not that he cared if she slept with ten old men tonight. He had his own date. "Has Ms. Amsler been waiting very long?" he said.

"No, no. Fifteen minutes at the most."

So Rachel was prompt. He liked that. Perhaps this would turn out to be a promising evening after all.

"Mason!" Rachel said, getting on her feet as he approached. She threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. Her mouth lingered a little too long in the kiss, but he didn't mind. His hands rose up in instinct to grasp her waist. The material of her red cocktail dress was thin and fine, and he could feel the warmth of her skin underneath.

Yes, this evening was turning out to be very promising.

She broke off the kiss but kept her arms around his neck. "Mmmm..." she whispered, looking playfully up at him. "I see you're very glad to see me, Mason."

What was she— Shit. He looked down, remembering he had gotten excited only a minute ago. But her torso was pressed against him and all he could see was the expanse of her skin exposed by the generous neckline of her dress. He looked back up at her. "My apologies, Rachel. But you look very beautiful tonight."

"Apology accepted." She smiled.

***

John Bellamy sat alone at his table. He looked troubled. But when he saw Ines, his eyes lit up and he gave her a warm smile. "Ines, how good to see you," he said, standing up.

"John," she said, offering her hand. "It's been a while."

He shook her hand, but clasped his other hand over hers. "Will you be joining us for dinner?"

"No, I'm sorry. But I'm here to tell you Piper will be a little late. I hope you don't mind my company until she gets here."

"Not at all, my dear. Please sit. What wine would you like?" He waited for her to sit down before he resumed his seat.

"Just a Diet Pepsi for me, thanks." She would have liked a real drink, but John was a recovering alcoholic. She knew it would be less uncomfortable for him to not have any alcohol at dinner.

"A Diet Pepsi for the lady; a club soda with lemon for me," he said to Tony. When the waiter left, he said to Ines, "This place has an excellent truffle pasta. Although they do also make a great ribeye if you're a meat eater like me."

"Oh no, really. I won't be staying long."

He frowned. "Is Piper all right?"

"Yes." She smiled to reassure him. "Just a little case of food poisoning at lunch." She winced inwardly at the lie that rolled off her tongue. "But she's okay now. She should be on her way here."

"Is it serious? She and I could have dinner some other time."

"It's fine. She's all right, I promise."

"Fine. But I insist you have dinner before you go." He held up a hand to quell her protest. "It's past seven. I'm sure you're hungry."

Ines gave him a wry smile. She was actually starving. What's more, she had no idea when Piper was going to show up. "Thank you, John. I'll take your advice and have that pasta."

The man was an utter gentleman. Most of her boss's boyfriends treated assistants like her as if they were the help. Even Piper seemed nicer when he was around. By all appearances, it looked like the wealthy Texas oil man had a trophy wife in the young actress when they married five years ago. But Ines knew Piper was the lucky one. John may have been much older, but he was sweet and kind. And not just to Piper, he was a peach to everyone. They were still friends, even two years after the divorce, and occasionally met for lunch or dinner when he was in town.

Tony was back with their drinks. As John gave the waiter their orders he opened the purse on her lap and discretely checked for messages on her phone. Nothing from her boss.

Where on earth was Piper?

***

Mason took a sip of his martini as he glanced sideways at Ines and the older gentleman who was seated a few tables away. Lord, but she was good. The way she was practically mooning over the old man — the girl was an absolute pro.

"So tell me about your job," Rachel said. She was absently tracing the rim of her sangria with her forefinger. "Do you get to hang out in movie sets a lot? Is it fun?"

"It's work," he said, shrugging. "Neither fun nor dreary. And no, I'm not really needed on the set. I'm just the money."

"Yeah, but they wouldn't be able to make movies without you."

"I suppose not. Not the really big ones, anyway." He could see Ines and her companion talking animatedly. At least they weren't holding hands anymore.

"But those are the only ones that matter, right?" Rachel pressed on.

In Mason's opinion, any film that needed that many millions to make couldn't be worth shit. He could barely remember the plots of the last five blockbusters he'd bankrolled. Michael Sorensen may be a drugged almost has-been, but the film he was working in had a solid script and a fine director at the helm. Jane Holtzman had only ever made shorts, but Mason had seen them and saw the genius behind the camera. Michael and Jane's indie feature was the only project Mason was involved in where he actually felt he was helping create something that mattered.

"Financially speaking, yes."

"Well, I like my job. I think it's fun. They hooked me up with a nice big suite at this hotel. You ever stayed here?"

"No, I can't say I have." He glanced over at Ines while taking another sip of his drink. He almost choked.

She had moved to sit right beside the old man. They had their heads together, and their shoulders touching. All Mason could see was Ines's back, but he saw her occasionally whispering in her companion's ear and laughing.

Had the girl no sense of propriety at all? They were in an upscale restaurant in a five-star hotel. Yet there she was practically letting the old lecher paw her in front of everyone.

"Mason?"

"What?" He frowned. "Sorry, I was thinking of something ... important at work. You were saying?"

Rachel giggled. "It's fine. I asked you if you wanted to see my suite. It's got a hot tub and everything."

"Oh. Right." Apparently there was no question of how the evening was going to end. Really, he should be more pleased. Or even a little pleased.

But all he wanted to do was stomp over to where Ines and her ... date were not having dinner, and instead were practically having an orgy in full view of God and man. Maybe get security to haul them out for public indecency or something.

"That's, uh ... Sounds lovely," he said, and swallowed the rest of his drink.

***

"So these," Ines said, scrolling down her phone browser, "were from the movie In the Pink. Piper had to gain twenty pounds for the role."

"Did she?" John squinted at the screen. "I don't see a difference."

Ines rolled her eyes mockingly. "That's because you're looking at her through love goggles, John."

"I suppose I am." He gazed softly at the images on her phone. "She's always perfect to me."

"Even like this?" Ines pulled up a photo of Piper from a movie from the previous year. The actress was wearing prosthetics on her face, and fake teeth. "They had to make her ugly for this role."

"Did they? Hmmmm. She just looks the way she does in the morning before make-up."

Ines laughed.

When staff arrived to clear the remains of their appetizers, she excused herself to go to the ladies room.

The bathrooms were near the elevators. As she walked through the restaurant, she saw Kilborne seated at a table. He was throwing back his drink. His date was gorgous, Ines had to admit with a pang of jealousy. She was right about him having a girlfriend after all.

***

Mason stood up when he saw Ines walk toward the exit, purse in hand. Was she leaving?

"Where are you going?" Rachel said.

"I need the facilities. Excuse me."

He followed Ines toward the lifts. She didn't get into one, and instead went through a different door. When he got close enough, he saw it was the ladies room.

He leaned against the wall, feeling an urge to hit himself on the head with something very hard and blunt.

What in the bloody hell was he doing?

If Rachel had been even mildly observant since the beginning of their date, she would probably think him insane. Or at the very least, odd. Definitely not someone to invite over to share a hot tub. But then, it really didn't matter did it? He had money. A lot of it. If he dropped his pants and took a piss in the soup tureen, she still wouldn't have a problem fucking him afterwards. She may be from New York, but like everyone in this town, she saw him as nothing more than his money.

Ines wasn't any different. That's what she came for yesterday, after all.

So why was he standing here like an idiot waiting for her?

She looked understandably surprised to see him when she stepped out of the ladies' room. "Mr. Kilborne," she said. Before she could walk past him, Mason stepped in front of her.

"Ms. Andrada," he said. "You and I have unfinished business. If you'll be so kind as to get rid of your date—"

"What?" She stepped backwards until her back was to the wall.

He couldn't resist moving a little closer. It was only when she raised an eyebrow that he realized he was practically pinning her against the wall.

"Your dinner companion." His jaw clenched. "Get rid of him. Be at my suite at nine o'clock sharp. The front desk will let you know where it is."

"I don't understand."

"You said you had something to give me. Let's have it then. Tonight."

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