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The woman with the bright blonde hair. She smiled at Addie. Had it only been yesterday that Addie had gone in search of Guy, still so hopeful she could talk him around? That she could make him understand? The intervening twenty four hours crackled in her mind like a thunderstorm.
“Have you seen…”
“Ava.” Guy’s voice came from behind.
She caught her breath, or perhaps it caught on her, snagging in a throat that was suddenly constricted.
She turned quickly, her eyes landing on him with an urgent, soul-twisting fatefulness.
“Guillem,” she said softly, taking a step towards him. Memories of that night flashed before her. His kiss, his desperation for her – as fierce as her own for him. The way they’d moved as one, so perfectly in tune. She was aware of the movement around them, the evidence of a bustling marina. “Where are we?”
“Valencia,” he said, as though it didn’t matter. “Can we talk?”
The question was unusual. Guy didn’t ask to speak to anyone. That same little flicker of hope flared in her heart. His uncharacteristic uncertainty was surely a sign that he was changing. That his feelings were altering?
“Of course,” she nodded, falling into step beside him as he led her to the privacy of a room she hadn’t been in before. A sort of office, she guessed, with a flat-screen computer, several laptops and iPads spread on a conference table in the centre.
“Please, sit,” he gestured towards the table.
But Addie’s nerves were shot. She couldn’t sit. She couldn’t wait.
“You told me, at the party, that you wouldn’t accept my offer. I presume you still feel this way?”
Addie’s frown was a miniscule tugging of her lips. “You know I do.”
“Even after last night?” He asked sharply.
“This morning,” she corrected, her eyes lifting to his, hoping for some of their shared intimacy to soften his expression. But there was no sign of that. This Guillem was all hard-headed executive.
His nod was crisp.
“Guy,” Addie sighed. “I don’t want to be your mistress. I want to be your lover. Your girlfriend. I want to be yours in every way.”
The words scuttled into the room, inhabiting every corner, testing their might against the boat’s. She wondered if Guy, though, had heard them, for he said nothing, and didn’t react.
Addie tried again. “I didn’t plan to deceive you that night. If you give me a chance, I can show you that your first instincts were right. I’m not Maria. I had no devious reasons for lying to you.”
He held a hand up then, and his anger was the whip that answered her words. It cracked towards her, she felt it as though it were a lash on her spine. “Give it a rest, for God’s sake. I’m offering you one thing, and one thing only. If you do not want it,” he shrugged insouciantly, “then take your money and go.”
Take your money and go.
Addie had thought she couldn’t feel any worse, but Guy had succeeded. Oh, yes. He’d driven that knife in the last little bit, cutting her straight in half.
She squared her shoulders, narrowing her eyes, pretending she wasn’t falling apart. “Did you invite me to Spain to punish me?”
“Punish you?” He shook his head. “No.”
“Are you sure? You’re not enjoying this? Knowing that I love you with all of my heart and soul, and you’re offering me just sex? Knowing that I love you enough to almost accept that?”
“I want you to accept my deal,” he said flatly. “But if you don’t, I can assure you, I won’t think of you again.” He leaned forward, his eyes dark and stormy. “Easy come, easy go.”
Her fingertips ached with a yearning to slap him, but Addie had never hit anyone in her life. She wasn’t sure she even knew how.
“You find this easy?” It was a grie
f-stricken question.
He didn’t answer.
