Casual Affair

Perhaps perspective was what he needed.

By late the next morning, he had phoned Peter and Denise, made various arrangements, and fought to block everything else from his mind.

If Bea wanted space, that’s what he would give her.

A whole ocean’s worth.

Chapter Twenty-Three

A week after the store launch, Bea was a frazzled, confused mess. All she had done since her fight with Zane was miss him and allow her regrets to start piling up, one on top of the other.

First on the list was the fact that she hadn’t seen his reaction to her display. She’d had to hear about it secondhand from Felicity, which made everything worse. After weeks and weeks of tracking down those pieces and spending the entire night before the launch setting it up, she hadn’t even gotten to witness his appreciation with her own eyes.

The whole situation was turning her into something she’d never thought she would be.

Lovesick.

Why did everything have to get so screwed up?

Between the laid-back nights at his place, their electrified relationship at work, and the unbelievable sex, they’d had an amazing connection. They had actually worked.

Then he had to go and tell her about London.

And all she’d been able to think of in that moment was what had happened with Evan. How she had based one of the most important decisions of her life on a relationship that she had thought was going somewhere but clearly hadn’t been.

Would she be making the same mistake with Zane?

She hadn’t even known him that long. They had never established themselves as an official couple. And his controlling nature worried her. Deep down, she knew she hadn’t changed who she was for him. She was still the same person. But he had arranged the whole London situation without even talking to her about it.

What did that mean?

She wasn’t entirely sure, but she was ready to talk to him. To try to have an actual conversation this time without lashing out.

Yes, she had run away when things started sounding so…permanent.

And she regretted it. Wished she could take it back.

She didn’t think she would be a very good girlfriend. But the alternative was being without Zane altogether, and after a week without him, she didn’t know if she was capable of that. She didn’t have all the answers yet—really, she hadn’t given herself the chance to truly examine how she felt about a future with him. But she was at least ready to discuss it. Maybe work on it together. Figure something out that they could both live with.

He had stopped trying to get a hold of her when she kept rejecting his calls. She couldn’t blame him.

After a morning of pacing back and forth in her office, she finally worked up the nerve to call him.

He didn’t answer his phone.

Hell, she couldn’t blame him for that, either. She deserved his cold shoulder.

It made her panic, though.

Maybe her asking for time had made him decide he wanted out. Maybe he’d given up on her, and that was his way of letting her know.

She wasn’t going to accept any of those things. They couldn’t end things this way. Not when she’d finally come to her senses.

With her fears mounting, she called his office instead of leaving a message on his cell phone. His receptionist answered.

“Hi. This is Bea Paxton. Can I please speak to Zane?”

“I’m sorry, but Mr. Price isn’t here,” the receptionist said. “He’s gone back to London.”

Bea froze in shock.

“What? He’s not scheduled to leave for another two weeks.”

“I’m not sure of the details, but he decided to leave early. He flew out about a week ago.”

Gone.

Bea dropped the phone.

And everything inside of her—her emotions, her heart, her sense of reality—imploded.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Bea’s feet slammed onto the pavement as she pushed her legs harder, faster down the street, her mind fighting to stay clear and her body fighting for oxygen. She had probably added another half mile to her routine every day, forcing her body to accept the punishment. Hoping it would keep her from dwelling on how screwed up her life had become.

A month had passed since Zane left the States.

An entire month. And she hadn’t heard from him once.

Not that she had expected to. Not after she’d bitten his head off about needing space. She just hadn’t expected him to leave before they could fix the situation.