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She gave a bitter laugh. ‘Why do you care?’
‘Answer me.’
She shrugged. ‘I have no idea.’
His grip tightened just a touch. ‘Try again.’
‘It’s true. I’m not a crier. Probably not since I was ten years old. But I guess there’s a second time for everything.’
‘I doubt that I have the power to reduce you to tears, so this has something to do with your father and your ongoing partnership, sí?’
She glared at him. ‘Will you let it be if I say it’s none of your business?’
An unfathomable emotion hardened in his eyes. ‘Not if you’ve been lying here feeling sorry for yourself because of it.’
She wrenched herself from his grasp, partly annoyed with herself because that was exactly how she’d been feeling. She’d also realised that for the first time in her life she didn’t have a punishing schedule to take her mind off the bleakness of her life. Hiding the abject hollowness the thought brought, she pushed a swathe of hair off her face. ‘Did you want something in particular, or did you interrupt my me time just for the hell of it?’
His sumptuous mouth tightened before he strolled to the dressing room. Returning with a silk robe-like gown in rich, vibrant colours, he held it out to her. ‘Dinner will be served in twenty minutes. You don’t need to get dressed if you intend to return here straight afterwards for more of your me time.’
Shock gaped her mouth as she took the robe from him.
‘You look surprised. You forget that I want you healthy as quickly as possible. There’s only so long I can put launches on hold before schedules become impossible to handle.’
She gave a false smile. ‘And here I thought you were doing this out of the goodness of your heart.’
He returned her smile with an equally false one. ‘You’ll soon learn that goodness and heart aren’t terms most people apply to me, querida. But I do draw the line at decimating the sick and weak.’ He jerked his chin at the robe. ‘Do you need help putting that on?’
She noticed she was crushing the soft material in her fist and quickly smoothed it out. ‘No. Thanks.’
He left as abruptly as he’d entered, leaving the space he’d occupied significantly less vibrant than it’d been before. Realising she was staring into thin air, she shook out the robe. The kimono-style arms offered no restriction for her bound wrist and she wondered if that was why Javier had chosen it. Then she caught sight of the discreet hotel label and realised she was affording him more courtesy than he was worth.
The scent of rich pasta and aromatic sauces hit her nostrils the moment she entered the hallway. Her stomach growled, whether to remind her that she hadn’t eaten a proper meal for days or that the meal she was heading for would fall outside her regime, she didn’t know. But she followed her nose to the dining room to find Javier approaching from the terrace.
He cradled a glass of red wine from which he sipped slowly without taking his eyes off her. She watched him savour the drink for several moments before he swallowed. ‘You’ve lost weight.’
She dragged her gaze from the thick masculine column of his throat. ‘Being in hospital for a few days will do that to you.’
He walked to where she’d stopped at the place setting on the dining table. ‘You were already too thin when I saw you in New York a month ago,’ he countered. ‘Now you look even worse.’
Stung by his words, she focused on the silverware. ‘What a delightful start to our dinner, you hurling insults at me.’
‘I’m not hurling insults, merely stating a fact.’
‘In case you need me to spell it out to you, I need to maintain a certain weight for my career.’
She was unprepared for the slide of his hand at her temple, the soft caress of her jaw before he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Her breath locked in her throat as he murmured, ‘You forget, cara, that I’m intimately familiar with your body. I’ve availed myself of every inch of it. It may have been three years, but I remember each curve and hollow vividly. Now you have fewer curves and more hollows. I don’t like it.’
Carla shivered at the low, sizzling delivery. ‘Javier—’
‘Whatever it is you’re pining for, it’s time to put it out of your mind,’ he sliced at her as if she hadn’t tried to respond. ‘Nothing and no one is worth what you’re putting yourself through,’ he finished, his eyes narrowed and laser-focused.
She bristled. ‘You think I can get over whatever it is I’m feeling just by snapping my fingers?’ she demanded, incredulous.
‘I believe the only person standing in your way of achieving your goals is you. Your destiny is yours to mould or throw away by the choices you make. Or by dwelling on what you can’t have.’ He pulled out her chair and motioned her into it.
Carla sat down, fascinated against her will and more than a little bewildered by the words falling from his mouth. ‘And how has that wisdom served you?’
He spread his arms and displayed himself with shameless arrogance. ‘According to the world’s most successful magazine, I’m the perfect embodiment of personal and professional success. I encapsulate the very essence of work/life balance. I’m therefore the envy of every red-blooded male on the planet. Who am I to argue with that pronouncement?’ he asked drolly.
