A Virgin for a Vow

Well, that had nothing to do with him.

Not any more.

He shouldn’t have stepped into the role as her Mr Perfect. That was his first mistake and the second was taking her to that island. A place like that, well, even he’d been a little set off course by all the fun they’d been having. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d felt more relaxed.

But that didn’t mean he wanted their fling to continue indefinitely. He’d toyed with the idea of extending it a bit. Sure he had. Why wouldn’t he? But even if he had adjusted the time frame, ultimately he couldn’t give her what she wanted. He hadn’t been able to give it to Kimberley or any other woman he had dated in the past.

Why should Abby be any different?

He didn’t want the fairy tale she wanted. She might carry on with that psychobabble she was known for, saying he was overcompensating with work or locking away parts of himself. Well, he was damn fine with locking away parts of himself. Those were the parts that had got him into trouble in the past.

He wanted none of it.

No wife.

No kids.

No commitment.

Abby had no right to insist he drop everything he’d worked so hard for just for the sake of the two days left of their holiday. He had responsibilities he took seriously. He had staff he had to provide income for and clients—important clients—and patients from all over the globe depending on him getting this exciting new project off the ground.

But you could have come back to London later…

Luke shut down the thought. That phone call had been a good excuse to cut short Abby’s silly little fantasy. He’d done the right thing in coming back. Of course he had. Their fling had gone on long enough. He shouldn’t have allowed it to start in the first place. He’d broken his own rule by allowing her to move in with him. And he never should have bought her that wretched pendant. What was it with women and jewellery? Abby had attached significance to his gift when all he’d wanted to do was give her something worth keeping instead of that fake stuff she wore.

Luke came out of his office just as his secretary Kay came in from a coffee break. ‘Bet you wish you hadn’t rushed back here now, eh?’ she said. ‘Sanjeev’s a bright young man. We call him Mensa Man behind his back. You should let him do a bit more around here. He’s more than capable.’

‘I’m seriously thinking about it.’ He turned back to go to his office.

‘Was Abby terribly disappointed about having to come back early?’ Kay asked.

Luke swallowed a tight knot. He wasn’t ready to explain what had happened on the island. More to the point, he wasn’t used to explaining his private life to anyone. That was Abby’s forte. ‘I left her to enjoy the last couple of days by herself.’

Kay looked at him as if he’d told her he had left Abby on the moon without a spacesuit. ‘You left her behind? Alone?’

He shrugged. ‘So? Only I needed to come back.’

‘But why didn’t she come back with you?’

‘I didn’t ask her to.’

‘Why the hell not?’ Kay asked. ‘Did you have a tiff or something?’

Luke’s throat was so tight he could have sworn he was wearing a tie but he still had on the casual shirt he’d dressed in on the island. He had to give it to Abby. She was a whole lot better at this lying gig than he was. ‘It’s…complicated.’

Kay crossed her arms and gave him the sort of look a mother did to a teenager who had failed an important exam. ‘You’ve blown it, haven’t you?’

Luke scowled. ‘Can you quit the third degree? I pay you to work, not to pry into my private life.’

‘You didn’t have a private life before Abby,’ Kay said. ‘She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you. Although I did wonder why she hadn’t posted any photos of you from the island. That seemed a bit odd to me. I hope you weren’t glued to your phone all the time. We tried to keep things ticking over here so you could relax, but then we hit that coding issue and—’

‘What’s odd about wanting my private life to be private?’ Luke said with barely banked-down annoyance. ‘I don’t feel the need to tell everyone where I last had coffee or what I had for breakfast.’

‘It’s a way of connecting with people.’

‘Yeah? Well, I prefer to do it the old-fashioned way.’

‘Like that’s been working a treat for you these last five years,’ Kay’s tone was so dry it almost crackled.

Luke drew in a savage breath and swung back towards his office. ‘I knew I shouldn’t have given you that last pay rise.’