Book 2: Beginning Again -Carlos Sainz

Chapter 18

Marie was perched on her bed, furiously typing on her computer as some random hotel channel played softly in the background. She was fully ready for bed, except for the fact that she was engrossed in her work. She glanced up at the clock on her computer and groaned at the numbers staring back at her. It was well past 11 and bordering on a dangerous lack of sleep for her if she didn't go to bed immediately. She made a quick to-do list before slamming her laptop shut and setting it on the bedside table, next to her charging phone. When there was a knock on the door, she half thought that it was in her mind. Without thinking, she got up and opened up the heavy hotel door with a huff.

"What do you-"

"Hi," Carlos said as he pushed his way past her into her room.

"You interrupted me. What do you want?" Marie said as she crossed her arms partially to convey strength, but also so that he couldn't see her boobs through the near-sheer top she wore to bed.

"You know, crossing your arms like that doesn't make me notice that you're braless any less," he said as he plopped down onto the bed and grabbed the remote. Marie couldn't help the blush that came onto her face.

"Seriously, Carlos, I need to sleep. And quite frankly, so do you. I make my living off of you and Charles being good looking and having beauty sleep is vital."

"Ah, so you think I am good looking," Carlos said as he shot her a look that could best be described as panty-melting. Marie was suddenly aware of the fact that she was not, in fact, wearing any.

"I... nevermind. Just please leave," Marie said with a strong tone of annoyance.

"I had to come over," Carlos said as if he was stating the obvious, still staring at her from where he was seated on the bed. "You never replied to my text and I had to make sure you were still alive."

"I've been busy," Marie said with a curt smile, still keeping her arms crossed. She felt a pang of sadness for not replying to his text, but she knew it was the right thing to do. All signs pointed towards 'no', 'hell no,' and 'more red flags than a bull fight.' But she couldn't help it when her eyes roamed over his long, lean body as he laid back onto the bed. He wore a crisp white shirt that was half unbuttoned, with his chest hair peeking out of it. His hair was styled in that effortless way that made Marie honest to god jealous, because no amount of hair product or styling could get her hair as fluffy and soft as his. He looked nice, like he had just come from somewhere, even though it was 11pm.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what's going on and why you've been so weird lately. I'm prepared to stay here all night," he said as he stared at the ceiling and pretended to sleep.

"I told you, I've been busy. I have a lot of responsibilities and I've been slacking on them lately. My, uh, dad told me today that I haven't been measuring up in the past few weeks and that I need to focus," Marie said as she looked down to the ugly carpet. "That's all."

"He said that?" Carlos replied.

Suddenly Marie saw his feet entering her field of vision, and looked up to meet his eyes. His damn, disarming, giant brown eyes that had a way of making everything in her peripheral vision slip away. She knew it was a mistake, looking him in the eye. He knew it would force her walls down.

"Yeah, it's fine. He's my boss. Normal thing for a boss to tell their employee," Marie said with a thin lipped smile, breaking eye contact as she tried to slip out from underneath him. She was quickly stopped by his arms on her shoulders.

"Why are you avoiding me?" He asked, placing her directly in front of him again, staring at her with so much intensity she thought she was going to melt into the ugly carpet. She blinked back at him.