AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She lowered her gaze, feeling a lot like gauche teen who’d first loved him.
Her voice though, when she spoke, rang with steel-like confidence. “I’m sorry, Gael. I didn’t see any point in staying.”
“You didn’t?” His smile was harsh. “I thought we were just beginning to get to know one another.”
The blonde hair glimmered in the light when she shook her head. Her eyes were confusing him; they were clouded with a complex web of emotions. But her face was ice-cold, unmoved by anything like remorse or guilt.
“No.”
“What the hell is it with you?”
She opened her mouth to speak, but had no words. No words that could adequately explain how she felt. Or why she’d done what she had.
“Carrie? Wait up.”
Max. Carrie’s face contorted with anguish as she saw the realisation the moment it hit Gael. What he’d just done. And who she was. His eyes narrowed as he looked at her with undisguised contempt. “What the hell?” He demanded in an arctic undertone.
She squared her shoulders. The die was well and truly cast, bleeding into the waters of both their lives.
“It would seem you want me after all,” she pointed out caustically. Her heart was racing, her stomach churning.
“Carrie?” He closed his eyes in pained memory, then blinked them open, so that he could stare at her again. “It can’t be …”
She tilted her chin in angry defiance. “Why? Because I’m not a shy little hippopotamus anymore?”
He groaned at her words, for they spoke volumes in terms of her pain.
“Carrie? Are you okay? Juanita said you’re not well.”
“Juanita lied,” Gael said menacingly, summing up the young blonde man with one curt look. “Carrie’s just had a better offer, that’s all.”
“What? Who’s this?”
“My step-brother,” Carrie remarked coldly, then she began to laugh maniacally. In a way that sent arrows of worry shooting through Gael.
“I’m going to take her home. Go back inside,” Gael dismissed Max without looking at him again.
“Like hell you are,” Carrie responded tensely, stepping away from him. “This was a stupid mistake.” She stiffened her spine. “I’m sorry Max. I have to go.”
She walked quickly away from both of them, an odd sense of heartache in her breast. The evening was cool, despite the fact it was still the middle of summer. She nodded at the bell-hop, and waited for him to raise his hand to call a cab. But he was looking past Carrie, and she just knew Gael had followed her.
She turned, her features rich with exasperation. “Leave me alone,” she whispered, turning back to the road and looking for a taxi.
“I would have, happily, if you hadn’t just pulled me into some kind of revenge seduction,” he responded tautly.
“You weren’t complaining at the time.”
“No,” he agreed. “Though we both know I didn’t quite have all the facts, did I?”
The sound of a powerful engine came from behind them, as a black Daimler pulled up in the hotel drive.
“Get in the car,” he spoke harshly, his tone demanding obedience. She was shivering, she realised distractedly. Years of loathing and longing had combined in one powerful night, and left her feeling queasy.
“I …”
“Get in the car. Now.”
Any objection she might have voiced died in her throat when she saw the strength of emotion in his face. She slid into the seat, feeling as though she were watching on from the sidelines.
