‘I mean it. He’s a bright, happy, confident little boy. I had no right the other night...threatening a custody battle with you.’
For a moment, she didn’t answer.
‘I’m sorry, Tia. I really am.’
She still didn’t respond, but began to move slowly around the room, dragging her hand over the few trinkets that he allowed to adorn the place. The things that made the place look, if not homely, at least less sparse.
Belatedly, now, he realised they were all items that had been in the home they had once, briefly, shared.
‘I’d have thought you would have got rid of these.’
He shrugged but her back was still to him. Probably he should have got rid of them. But he hadn’t. What else was there to say?
Because he very much feared that they said too much as it was. That they revealed the sad truth that he hadn’t moved on from her, however much he’d claimed to have done. He had a new mansion, a new multimillion-pound business, and a new way to save lives.
But ever since Tia had walked back into his life, he hadn’t been able to shake the unsettling feeling that all these achievements had been little more than him marking time.
Waiting for her.
It was pathetic. Infuriating. And regrettably undeniable.
But the more she looked around his study, his private sanctuary, the more he feared she could read into his heart. Before he could think about it, he heard himself speaking again.
‘Come out with me tomorrow tonight.’
Less of a request and more of a demand. At least it made Tia turn, and stop analysing his study.
‘To where?’
‘The Mayor’s Charity Ball.’
She narrowed her eyes, assessing him.
‘It doesn’t sound like your kind of thing.’
He grimaced.
‘Z-Black needs a new permit and the mayor isn’t convinced. I could do with a little moral support.’
‘Since when do you need any kind of support?’ Tia asked warily.
There was no reason at all for his heart to be hammering so wildly. Like an adolescent boy asking out his crush for the very first time.
‘It couldn’t do any harm. It’s a nice night out, apparently, and you would be my date.’
In an instant, Tia went from smiling to on edge.
‘I... I can’t.’
‘Why not?’ It was as though he could almost taste victory only for it to be snatched away from right in front of him.
‘Seth, for a start,’ she announced, as though convinced it would satisfy any concerns.
‘Mme Leroy would love to babysit for the evening.’
‘Right. Well. I don’t have a dress. Galas haven’t really been high on my priority list the last few years.’
‘I’ll have someone bring a selection over within the hour,’ he countered.