His sharp eyes remained on her. “This is important. I’m sure your supervisor won’t mind if you step out for a few minutes before the store gets busy.”
His luscious mouth curved upward into a disarming smile, exposing a set of flawless white teeth. She knew from experience his warm smile concealed a cold heart, a point her quivering belly had forgotten. It only remembered how those same lips had kissed a path from her navel and lower, how for hours at a time he could make her forget the outside world and live only for the moments in his arms.
“I have no problem with it at all,” Ms. Elsie confirmed. Her admiring glance remained riveted on Derrick’s profile. Even Ms. Elsie had easily fallen under his spell.
Eva swallowed. “I’ll only be a few minutes,” she said to her boss, though the words were more for him than Ms. Elsie. She wanted him to know she had no intention of wasting a lot of time talking to him. They’d said everything they needed to on the phone.
She rounded the display case and self-consciously smoothed both hands down her dress. Derrick’s eyes followed the movement, but his face remained expressionless. He was a master at the art of concealing his thoughts.
They last saw each other in May, when he came into town for his sister’s wedding. He hadn’t invited her to go, and the lack of invitation made her realize she had to accept the true nature of their relationship, no matter how much she longed for more. They would never have the kind of relationship she wanted, because Derrick didn’t want a serious one. Even now the pain tore through her, the same as it had when she realized his feelings were nowhere near the extent of hers, and she’d made the foolish mistake of falling in love with him.
Eva swept past him, holding her head high and getting a good dose of expensive cologne. The citrus scent hurtled her back to more pleasurable times they’d spent together holed up in a villa on the beach during his visits to town. What a fool she’d been, holding on to the thought that somehow she was special, when she wasn’t even worthy enough to meet his family when they visited the island. He’d kept her hidden, like some kind of terrible secret. It was her own fault for agreeing to a nonexclusive relationship, but it still hurt like hell.
The town hadn’t fully stirred awake yet. Some of the shops were open, but most would remain closed for at least another hour. Eva stepped in front of the closed store next door so her boss couldn’t see them as they talked.
Derrick squinted down at her. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
“Thank you.”
As if she didn’t feel bad enough, he had to insult her. She ran her fingers over her slicked-back hair. Her go-to hairstyle nowadays was a ponytail. It made life easier since she no longer had any disposable income to go to a hairdresser regularly. Had she known he would be coming today, she may have tried to look more presentable by fixing her hair and putting on a more attractive outfit.
“I didn’t mean it as an insult. You . . . Are you taking care of yourself?”
“Of course I am.” She stared out at the street and did her best to harden her heart because the sound of his voice did strange things to her insides, filling her with a raw, basic need that always surfaced whenever he came within ten feet of her. His concern tugged at her heart, and she felt weak, but she didn’t want to feel weak because Derrick was strong, and she needed all her strength to handle him. Whatever had brought him here, it couldn’t be good for her. “It’s been hard, that’s all.”
“Hard how?”
“I haven’t been able to keep down much food for the past couple of months. I actually lost weight.”