Fully dressed now, she at last felt strong enough to meet his glittering, bemused, demanding gaze but she still had to keep her distance.
‘The problem is that we don’t think alike, Gabriel. You take because you can and then, when you’re bored, you move on to someone else. That’s not me. I don’t want to waste my time having an affair with someone unless I think it’s going somewhere. Which is not the case here,’ she added quickly, just in case he got it into his head that she was asking him to define what he felt for her.
‘I’m just saying that we need to keep things black and white. This was a bubble. It’s too late to say that it wasn’t a good idea, but what’s done is done, and now we can move forward and continue our working relationship and put this behind us as something enjoyable that won’t be repeated.’
‘I can’t believe I’m hearing this,’ he rasped, still incredulous. ‘I’ve had my fair share of difficult women in my time, but you’re not one of them! Or are you...?’
That cut to the quick. She was anything but, if only he knew. And thank goodness he didn’t.
‘I’m not,’ she said shortly. ‘But I’m realistic. Just like you. Except we have different realities. I want a man for life and I’m prepared to do my utmost to find him. You want a woman for two minutes and you’ll never look further for anything longer.’
CHAPTER SEVEN
THEY HAD LEFT London with spring promising to be a fine one. They had returned to dank drizzle and the grey, cold weather had continued for the two weeks since they had been back.
Paris seemed like a dream. A wonderful dream to be locked away and only taken out at night, when she remembered everything—where they had gone, what they had talked about and, most of all, the heady excitement when they had made love.
She had been right to do what she had done. He had railed against her decision for five minutes, had tried to convince her that carrying on their affair was a good idea, but she hadn’t failed to notice that in the end, when she had refused, he had ultimately let it go, already moving on.
And now...
She sighed and frowned at her computer, trying to focus. There wasn’t a minute of the day when she wasn’t aware of him. When he stood next to her to explain something, she could feel her weak, treacherous body begin to go into meltdown. Her head might try and box him up neatly but her body remembered the way it had felt under those roving hands and that exploring mouth.
He, on the other hand, seemed to have no problem with the way their working relationship had continued.
In her darker moments, she thought that he might be quietly relieved that she had made the decision that she had. It had certainly spared him the effort of having to engineer a break-up while maintaining the status quo.
The connecting door between their offices was pushed open and she tensed and looked up with a brittle, polite smile.
‘I need you to book two tickets to the opera. Source me one that isn’t too challenging. Best seats.’
Alice nodded. The rictus smile never left her face but something inside twisted painfully.
This was bound to happen. She had braced herself for it, for the moment when he found himself a replacement. A fortnight! What they had shared had barely been given a decent burial.
‘When would you like me to book these tickets for?’
‘Tonight.’
‘That might be impossible, if it’s one of the more popular operas.’
‘Mention my name. I give generously to the Opera House. They’ll find seats.’ He strolled towards her and dropped a stack of files on her desk. ‘And you’ll have to get through these before you leave tonight.’
‘But it’s already five-thirty!’
‘Tough.’ He flicked back the cuff of his white shirt and strolled back into his office, shutting the door behind him.
Gabriel had never put himself out for any woman and he wasn’t about to start now, but her cool detachment got on his nerves. It was as if Paris had never happened. She had even returned to her dreary grey garb, having tried to return the designer clothes he had ordered her to buy in Paris.
Naturally he had refused but he suspected that the whole lot had probably been given to charity. No reminders.
The worst of it was that he still wanted her. He couldn’t look at her without the memory of that slender, willowy body writhing underneath him. Another woman was what he needed, he had decided. He had had his change and it was time to return to what he knew.
He settled down to work and didn’t look up until there was a knock on his door and he saw, with surprise, that it was nearly seven.