‘Kristus, Zara, stop this.’ He grabbed at her chin as she would have looked away. ‘Please,’ he urged into her eyes.
‘Stop what? Telling you the truth?’ She held her chin high in his hold. ‘Didn’t you tell me yourself that you would extend your requirements to keep employing me, to keep paying me so that we could continue to fuck?’
He felt the blood drain from his face, his hand falling away. Her vulgar dismissal of the time they’d shared crushing him.
‘Oh, come on, Daniel,’ she scoffed. ‘Don’t look so horrified. It was always just about the sex—you were always so quick to remind me of that.’
Around them people stirred, their argument drawing attention despite their lowered tones. He needed them out of there so that they could talk properly, so he could tell her how he felt.
And how do you feel, exactly?
It was one thing to second-guess, but another to know, and what experience did he have to base that knowledge on?
Hell, just be honest with her. It’s a start. It’s better than this.
‘I wanted to talk—’
‘Oh, save it,’ she said, polishing off her drink and placing the glass back on the side. ‘There’s no need, I’m not backing you into a corner. We’ve both had our fun and I’m grateful to you for helping me see past Charles’ negativity in the bedroom department. I mean, Christ, if I can keep the infamous Swedish bachelor hooked for as long as I have, there has to be something about me—right?’
She gave a harsh laugh, the hardness reflected in her eyes as they came back to him with force. ‘But now I’m all about the future, something you’re not, so if you’d be so kind as to deal with my assistant from now on, I’ll bid you goodbye.’
He reached out, his hand on her arm to stop her when she would’ve moved away. ‘You’re leaving?’
‘Yes.’
She tried to peel away his hand but he wouldn’t—couldn’t—let her go. ‘Don’t do this, Zara.’
‘What?’ She flared then, her composure cracking. ‘What do you want from me?’
His hand fell away at the anguish in her face. She was angry, but it was pain that rode above it. And he’d done that to her.
‘I want you,’ he said softly, pleading with her to understand.
‘Want isn’t enough, Daniel.’ She raised her head, her eyes locked with his. ‘And I don’t want you any more.’
He was struck dumb. The truth in her words hitting home and taking the very life out of him.
You’re too late.
And then she came alive, her lashes fluttering as she gave a gentle shake of her head and turned away. ‘Goodbye, Daniel.’
He watched her go, the room closing in behind her and his future with it.
* * *
Zara pinned her sights on the exit.
Don’t look back. Don’t look back. Don’t look back.
The tears were building hard and fast, the wedge in her throat threatening to come unstuck. She needed to escape before anyone caught her, before she truly made a fool of herself.
She made it out into the foyer, halfway to the exit, she was almost—
‘Leaving so soon?’
‘Fuck,’ she swore under her breath, stilling mid-stride.
‘You know, I took you for many things, Zara, darling, but never a whore.’