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As the final notes died away, she dragged her gaze from Matteo and stood.
Desperate to leave, she acknowledged the rapturous reception of the audience and walked off the stage, thinking absently that yet another key moment in her musical career had occurred when she wasn’t dressed for it.
‘You were amazing—’
‘Congratulations—’
A million times better than Callie—’
The praise flowed over her and Izzy pinned a smile on her face, muttered, ‘Thank you,’ repeatedly as she ploughed her way backstage towards the exit.
She was done. Finished.
‘Wait!’
His deep voice froze her limbs and she contemplated making a run for it but as usual her heels were too high to allow a speedy exit so she stood on shaking legs while he caught up with her.
‘You sang brilliantly. They love you.’
Izzy heard a dull roar somewhere in the background and realised it was the audience. ‘That’s good.’ She desperately wanted to escape but Matteo planted himself in front of her.
Black jeans suited him, she thought numbly. He looked sensational.
And then she looked at him properly and saw that those sexy eyes were shadowed, tension visible in every angle of his bronzed, handsome face.
‘Your goal the night of the engagement was to use me to boost your career so I don’t understand why you’re leaving.’
Shaking from head to foot, Izzy reminded herself that her goal right now was to get out of here without making a total fool of herself. ‘The concert has been the biggest success ever. I hope you raise a ton of money. And now I really have to—’
‘If that’s all it was—if you were really only using me to boost your career—then you should carry on using me. I was your Goal of the Day. I should be your Goal of Tomorrow too. Being with me will give you the exposure you need.’
Izzy was so close to the edge she was afraid she was going to tip over any moment. ‘You’ve done your bit.’ She tried to be flippant but the words emerged as a whisper and she tried desperately to wriggle out of his firm hold.
‘Did I suddenly lose my influence and not know about it? Did my recording studio burn down when I wasn’t looking?’ His tone was savage. ‘Was that really all our relationship was to you?’
She’d never seen him like this before and her heart sprinted. ‘What was our relationship to you, Matt?’
Her question was greeted by a long tense silence and she sighed.
He was never going to change.
The energy left her. ‘I can’t do this any more. The stress is going to give me hardened arteries and very possibly an ulcer, and goodness knows what it will do to you. I’m getting out of your life before you crack under the strain of keeping those barriers up. I wish you everything good.’
‘No!’ His raw tone shocked her and she took a step backwards.
‘Really, you’re better off with a woman who isn’t interested in emotional involvement and actually that’s not me. I’m OK with that up to a point but I’m so afraid of saying the wrong thing now I’m not saying anything at all and I’m not even talking about how hard it is not to say “I love you” at critical moments but when I can’t even thank you for a gift because it makes you back off, it’s time to rethink the whole thing. It’s been great and don’t think I’m not grateful for everything you’ve done for my career—’
‘Will you stop talking for a moment!’ His voice was hoarse. ‘Just how hard is it for you not to say “I love you”?’
Slowly her brain unravelled that less than coherent sentence. ‘Quite hard. Well, very hard actually. Why do you think I’m leaving? One of these days it will slip out and I’ll give you a nervous breakdown.’
His face lost colour. ‘You love me? Not just “like”?’
Oh, what the—? ‘Yes, I love you, but seriously don’t freak because I’m leaving. Right now. Plane is waiting.’ She pointed over his shoulder. ‘Over there.’
‘If you love me, why are you leaving?’
Exasperation bubbled up inside her. ‘Apart from everything I’ve just said? Firstly there’s the small fact that you’re never going to trust a woman again, and while I don’t entirely blame you for that given what happened, I can’t live like that. Secondly there’s the tiny fact that I am a disaster and five minutes with me will probably ruin all the good work you’ve ever done. I’m actually being unselfish here and believe me that’s not something I do lightly. I’m a very selfish person so just accept the gesture and move out of my way.’
