“I’ll be there tomorrow,” he snapped, and clicked off the phone. Coming toward me, he said, “What are you doing?”
“That should be obvious,” I said.
“Take your clothes back off,” he said huskily, pulling me into his arms. “We’re in the middle of a game. There’s no reason for you to quit. You’re winning.”
Winning. The word made me shudder. Because when he was on the phone, talking to that man—his cousin?— Edward’s voice had sounded different. Harsher. Like someone who cared about winning. At any cost.
I’d come to see another side of Edward over the past few months. Even Jason Black, the man I’d thought I’d loved, now seemed like a pale shadow of memory compared to the devilish, sexy, arrogant man who’d become the center of my life. Edward knew the best of me—and the worst. For weeks now, I’d tried not to think about how soon I’d be leaving this magical place and returning to California, to face the real world. But now...
I pulled away from his embrace, avoiding his gaze. “You’re going back to London.”
“That multibillion deal I told you about is falling apart,” he said grimly. “I’m going first thing in the morning.”
“On New Year’s Day?”
“My cousin,” he spat out the word, “is trying to sabotage it. I’ve been gone too long. Once the deal’s back on track, I’ll get the stockholders together and see about eliminating him....”
“Eliminating?”
He snorted a laugh. “From the board of directors. What did you think I meant?”
I licked my lips. “Well...”
“You really do think the worst of me,” he said, sounding amused rather than offended. “But Rupert has a wife and young children he barely sees. I’d like to free him from all the pesky duties of COO, so he could devote more time to his family.”
“You could do that yourself,” I pointed out.
“Ah, but I don’t have a family,” he said lightly. Leaning forward, he kissed my nose. “I couldn’t be responsible for a houseplant.”
“That’s not true.”
“Sadly, it is.”
“What about Caesar?”
The dog lifted his head at hearing his name. Edward looked down at him affectionately. “This lazybones? You know he’s technically Mrs. MacWhirter’s dog, not mine. And she’ll be back from Scotland tomorrow. There’s no help for it.” Edward stared down at me grimly. “I need to go back.”
In spite of his words, as I looked at his body posture, I’d never seen any man less keen to do anything.
“I understand.” I kept my voice even, squaring my shoulders and trying to look calm, though I wanted to cling to him and whimper. “I’ll go pack my things.”
“Good.” He looked distracted. Geez. It’s not like I expected Edward to say he was wretchedly heartbroken, and that he’d miss me desperately, but...
I suddenly realized that was exactly what I’d expected. We’d had a torrid ten day affair, months of friendship before that, and I’d actually thought I meant something to him. In spite of the fact that he’d warned me that I wouldn’t. In spite of his warnings, in spite of my promise, I’d come to care for him. Really care.
I was so stupid!
Trembling, I tried to smile. “I’ll go see about the next flight to L.A.” I bit my lip. “It’s good timing, really. I should be thanking that cousin of yours. My stepfather invited me to spend a week on his set as an extra. It’ll be fun to be a zombie. And I’ve heard New Mexico is beautiful....”
Edward focused on me. “What are you talking about?”