Sophy put down her bag and walked over to one of the windows, which took in the lush green gardens of Kensington Palace nearby. Truly this was a billionaire’s address.
He said from behind her in a slightly gruff voice, ‘You remind me of the night we met.’
Sophy fought to keep the blush down. She turned around. ‘That’s because I was wearing these same clothes. Pretty much.’ The same clothes she’d put on with shaking hands and with tears blurring her vision after Apollo had summarily dismissed her. For being a virgin.
‘How are you doing?’
Sophy’s hand gripped the glass. ‘I’m okay. I’m starting a new job as a receptionist in a central dentist’s office in a couple of weeks.’
Apollo’s blood thrummed with heat. A heat that hadn’t cooled in Sophy’s absence, much to his sense of frustration and a kind of futility.
‘Apollo...what is it you want?’
He might have smiled at that loaded question, but it would be a bleak smile. He put the coffee cup down. ‘I need to be sure...there are no consequences? After that night?’
His gaze dropped to her waist and he couldn’t help but imagine it thickening and growing with his child. Before he could control it, that awfully familiar sense of yearning caught at his guts. No. Not what he was here for. Never that. Not even now.
Sophy blinked. He was so terrified of the thought of a baby that he’d come all the way here to check...again? She read his body language and something inside her curled up. Yes. He was that terrified.
She got out, ‘No. I’ve had my period since I returned to London. I told you it would be okay.’
There was no discernible expression on Apollo’s face and Sophy was almost sorry now that she hadn’t had another answer. To crack that facade.
‘Okay...that’s good, then.’
Except he sounded almost...disappointed. Sophy shook herself mentally. She was dreaming. She put down the glass in her hand and straightened up again. ‘Was that it, Apollo? Because I really should be going now.’
She walked towards him and Apollo caught her hand as she was about to pass him. ‘Wait.’
She stopped. She was so close she could smell his distinctive scent and she had to battle the memories threatening to overwhelm her. For a bleak moment she almost wished she could lose her memory again.
‘Look at me, Sophy.’
Sophy really didn’t want to look at Apollo. She was too full of volatile emotions. He’d only come to make sure she wasn’t pregnant. But he wasn’t letting her hand go. Reluctantly, Sophy looked up. Her pulse quickened in helpless answer to what she saw in his eyes. Desire.
He said, ‘I still want you.’
A sense of desperation and anger that he still had an effect on her made her say, ‘Well, I don’t want you.’
She tried to pull her hand away but he held on tighter. He tugged her towards him, shaking his head. ‘Don’t lie, Sophy. Sasha was the liar, not you.’
‘How do you know? You barely know me.’
‘Don’t I? I got to know you when you were your most genuine self. With no memory to inform you, you couldn’t be anyone but yourself.’
She had never thought of it like that. She was so close their bodies were almost touching. Apollo finally let her hand go. She could have stepped back now but his scent was winding around her, keeping her there like invisible silken bindings.
He brought a hand to her jaw, cupping it. She wanted to turn her face into it, purr like a kitten. She could feel her will to resist Apollo draining away. She’d missed him.
So when he tipped her face up and lowered his head, she let him prove her words wrong. The kiss started out chaste, a touch to the lips, before coming back, firmer, more insistent. Encouraging her to open up to him. After a moment of hesitation she did, unable not to. Apollo swept inside and then she was lost, drowning in a whirlpool of memories and desires she’d tried to ignore and bury in the past month.
She could feel his hands roving over her back, cupping her buttocks. Just before she lost herself entirely, she pulled back, mouth throbbing. ‘Apollo...what are we doing... It’s over... You never wanted to see me again.’
‘This isn’t over.’
She pushed herself out of his arms, immediately feeling bereft. She shook her head. ‘What are you saying?’
‘Why does this have to end when we both still want each other?’