He looks at me without expression. “You have done what you said you were going to do.” I nod as my eyes drop to the floor.
“Now let’s leave before you do something you know you’ll regret.”
“I’ve got two more paintings to get.”
He rolls his eyes in disgust. “Fuck the paintings. It isn’t worth it, Star. What if you get caught?”
I glare at him. “It isn’t worth it to you. It is important to me.”
He shakes his head. “You didn’t get the ring. We need to get out of here and you damn well know it. You are going to fuck up this whole plan.”
My elbows rest on the table and I rub my face in my hands. I retrieve the brochure and flick through it again. Maybe he’s right.
“Who is paying for this trip?” I sigh.
“You, of course.”
I roll my eyes.
“Where am I going to get that type of money?” He smirks. “This is why I have a rich brother.”
I scratch my head as I run through my schedule in my mind. “I have two covers to shoot over the next three weeks, then we can go.”
He smiles and winks cheekily as he throws a chip into his mouth. “We are going to have fun, man.”
I retrieve my wallet and slide one of my credit cards across the table to him. “You book it.” I sigh. “Surprise me.”
He takes the card and smiles like the cat that got the cream. “How long do you want to go for?”
“Just buy one way tickets. I need to get out of here and stay out.”
“Yes.” He laughs and drains his beer. “Now we’re talking.”
“I’m going to head off.” I stand and throw some money onto the table for our dinner.
“What are your plans for the weekend?” he asks.
I shrug as I yawn. “Nothing much. Working.”
“You want to go out tomorrow night?”
“Maybe. I will call you tomorrow.” I walk through the noisy pub toward the door. The music has just started playing and the crowd noise has just increased another notch.
“Star!” I hear a man yell.
I turn and see Mark White. Oh, God, shit. I can’t be rude, so I walk over to the table. He’s sitting with a large group of people I have seen in his office and my eyes immediately scan everyone to find her.
She’s not here.
Fuck.
“Hello.” I smile.
“How are you?” he yells. “Come join us.”
I glance up just as Emmaline is returning from the bar with her drink. She sees me and stops dead in her tracks.
It’s there again—that chemistry that I cannot deny.
My eyes stay fixed on her. She’s wearing tight blue jeans and a crisp white shirt. Her thick honey hair is down and loose over her shoulders. She smiles, and when she does everyone else in the room disappears while she holds my gaze and returns to her seat.
“Will you?” asks Mark.
Huh? My fall back to the annoying imbecile in front of me: her boyfriend. How the fuck did he get her? I didn’t hear what he said. “I’m just on my way out.” My eyes find her again and she smiles in acknowledgement. I nod in return.
Fuck, she’s hot.
Stop it.
“Goodbye. Nice to see you all.” I give them a wave and push past the table in a rush. Fucking hell, why did I have to run into them here? I push the heavy doors open to find it’s raining.
Shit.
I go back and stand next to the door in the darkness against the wall, deciding to wait until the worst of the storm passes.
The front doors open in a rush and I see her running out onto the curb, looking up the street one way and then down the other. Her eyes search the darkness and I know she’s looking for me.
She blows out a frustrated breath and puts her hands on top of her head. “Shit,” she groans.
She turns to go back inside and spots me up against the wall and stops.
I smirk. “Looking for something?”
She smiles. “You, actually.”
The electricity crackles between us. I’ve never felt an attraction like this before. It’s unsettling.
I raise a brow. “Oh, yeah? Why?”
She swallows and frowns as she gathers her thoughts and steps towards me. “I just...” She hesitates.
I hold my breath as I wait for her.
“You didn’t…?” she whispers nervously.
“I didn’t what?” I breathe.
She rings her hands in front of her nervously. “You didn’t call me.”
“You noticed?”
She nods as her eyes search mine.
Please don’t look at me like that.
“I didn’t have a customer relation emergency,” I reply.
Her face falls. “Oh.” She bites her bottom lip as she thinks. “I thought that was code for you wanting my phone number.”
“It was,” I breathe before I can stop myself.
Shut up and go home, I remind myself.
End this now.
“I have to apologize.”
She frowns. “What for?”
I narrow my eyes as I force the words from my lips. “I shouldn’t have kissed you last week.”
She frowns as her eyes search mine again. “Oh.”
We stand in silence; the tinge of regret hangs heavily between us.