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“What about the other thing you were looking for?”
“I got a lead.”
He’d said the wrong thing.
“A lead.” Her chest rose with the deep breath she sucked in. “When are you leaving again?”
“In a week or so.” He stepped into the shower. She preferred a berry-scented body wash and shampoo. If he used it he would probab
ly spend the rest of the day half aroused at the memory of her.
“What you’re doing is dangerous, isn’t it?” She’d stepped into the bathroom to pursue their conversation.
“There’s an element of danger, but I take every precaution.”
“This isn’t what I signed up for.” Her voice was closer. The door to the shower slid open. “Everything in my life was exactly the way I wanted it before you came along.”
He snagged her wrist and drew her into the shower with him. She didn’t protest. Not even when the water drenched her clothes.
“And it will get back to being that way again,” he assured her, stripping the sodden fabric off her body.
“After you’re gone?” She reached up on tiptoe and cupped his face in her hands. Her eyes were bottomless pools of angst as he gathered her in his arms.
“As soon as you take me up on my offer to start you in your own business and use the money I paid you to get pregnant.”
“Thank you for reminding me what’s most important in my life.” And then she was kissing him, her tongue plunging into his mouth as passion ignited between them once again.
Eleven
Elizabeth shredded lettuce and watched Roark talk on the phone. It was 7:00 p.m. The lasagna she’d made earlier that day was due to come out of the oven in ten minutes. From the tone of Roark’s voice and the annoyance pinching his mouth, she doubted he’d get a chance to sample her culinary skills.
“Can’t this wait until Monday?” he demanded. From his duffel bag he’d pulled fresh clothes and a small bag containing toiletries. “I don’t really give a damn what Ann wants.” The rest of his side of the conversation was distorted when he headed into her bathroom.
Getting into that shower with him had been a mistake. The water might not have ruined her brand-new camisole, but she’d ruined any chance at a clean break with Roark. Despite spending the past two hours romping with him, hunger tugged at her loins. The lure of the man was her Achilles’ heel.
“I’ve been summoned to Waverly’s for a meeting with Ann Richardson. Supposedly there’s some huge crisis that can’t wait until Monday morning.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek. “I can be back in an hour.”
“I don’t think you should come back.” The words took all her courage to say.
“What’s wrong? I thought we straightened everything out.”
“I know. I’m sorry if my behavior was misleading.” She kept her cheek pressed tight to his chest. If she looked into his eyes, she would never get the words out. “I can’t keep seeing you. Every time you walk away I wonder if it’s the last time we’ll be together. Living on the edge of the unknown is what makes you happy. It’s tearing me apart.”
“Elizabeth.”
The throb in his voice put a lump in her throat the size of a golf ball. Talking was impossible so she whispered. “Please understand how hard this is for me.”
“It doesn’t have to be hard. You’ve become important to me.”
This was a powerful admission coming from Roark. Elizabeth listened to his steady heartbeat and fought to stay strong. “You’ve become important to me, too. That’s why I need to stop seeing you. Before it hurts too much.”
That was a lie. It already hurt too much. She’d been blindsided when she’d heard that her sister and her family were dead. The pain had been instant and devastating. Losing Roark was like slowly being smothered beneath a pile of stones. The ache was crushing the life from her with each second that ticked by.
“I don’t want to lose you.” Roark took her face in his hands and searched her eyes.
She scrutinized him in return, but he’d closed off all emotion. “Please don’t ask me to be your friend.” She tried to smile, but couldn’t compel her facial muscles to produce an emotion she wasn’t feeling. “There’d always be this sexual energy between us that I’d give in to. We’d hook up. In a day or a week, you’d disappear and I’d be left resenting you because you’ll never be happy settling down in New York.”
“You’ve got it all figured out, don’t you?”
