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She still had a decade of fun and exploration before she needed to even think about settling down.
He froze, his face contorted in shock.
He didn’t want to settle down. And definitely not with Carrie. She was stunning, and sexually out-of-this-world, but she had also become the kind of woman he despised. She had morphed into the kind of woman his father Diego had left his mother for.
Gabriella Vivas – she’d never remarried, and had kept her husband’s name long after his desertion – would never welcome Carrie. And Gael had no interest in doing anything as ridiculous as introducing his mother to his latest lover.
That was all Carrie was. His lover. Someone incredibly sexy, whom he happened to be engaged in business with.
That was why their relationship, such as it was, would last longer than his usual affairs. Business. Business and pleasure.
But he could walk away whenever he wanted. He could leave without a backwards glance.
He just wasn’t ready to … yet.
CHAPTER SEVEN
For the tenth time in as many minutes, Carrie fought the urge to look towards the door. It was well past two o’clock, and still there was no sign of Gael. She stared with concentration at the empty chair across from her, and fought a growing tide of hurt. The very presence of such a weak emotion infuriated her. She took a deep breath and tried to let the emotions go, but they seemed to whirl inside of her, like a hose that had been dropped, spreading water in circles.
She leaned back in the chair, affecting a posture of relaxation and caught the attention of a passing waiter. He was young and handsome, dressed all in black, with a smile that seemed to make his whole face shine. For the briefest of moments, she felt a childish impulse to say something flirtatious to him, in the hope that Gael might arrive at that precise moment and observe their exchange. That it might wound him, as his current lateness was wounding her. He greeted her in Spanish, but at her lost expression, switched easily to her native language. “Hello,” he said, his smile broadening. “I always like a chance to practice my English. Can I get you something to drink? Eat?”
She frowned, deep in thought. If Gael wasn’t going to show up, then she wasn’t going to be caught waiting for him, like some sad, love-starved kitten. She looked at her watch, her lips pursed. She’d give him fifteen minutes and then leave. She ordered a drink, and asked for a menu, then turned her attention back to the table. Not the door. No way would she look at the door again.
Fortunately, as she’d been anticipating a business meeting, she’d brought her computer with her, and she slipped it out of her Birkin and loaded up the latest press release she’d received for NewNetwork.
She felt the waiter hovering beside her before placing a glass of red wine at her elbow. Frustrated, Carrie shook her head. “I didn’t order that,” she snapped.
Only when she tilted her head, her gaze clashed immediately with Gael’s.
His eyes were darkly assessing, his expression impossible to interpret.
Carrie lifted one brow, waiting for an explanation. An apology, from a man like Gael, was too much to ask for.
“Vodka is not a lunchtime drink.”
She pulled a face. “I thought it wasn’t a dinner drink. And I don’t drink wine.”
“I am ordering today, remember?”
She continued to stare at him, as he eased his strong frame into the seat opposite. Beneath the table, she felt a charge of awareness as his knee brushed hers. When he still said nothing, she looked pointedly at her watch, then flicked her glance back to him.
His lips lifted in cynical amusement. He leaned forward, and placed a hand over hers. “Have you missed me, Carrie?”
She snatched her fingers away, feeling immediately off balance. She had lost the ability to behave rationally with Gael, and it was an entirely unwelcome feeling.
“I don’t have time to sit around waiting for you to materialise,” she corrected swiftly. And for something to do with her hands, she lifted her wine and sipped it.
“I did not intend to keep you waiting.”
She regarded him thoughtfully, wondering if that had indeed been his plan. Whether he’d wanted to wrong foot her like this. “Didn’t you?” She asked simply, cradling the elegant crystal of the glass in the palm of her hands.
He admired her for the challenge. He could even see why she’d think that of him. “In truth, no. I had three meetings scheduled this morning and each of them ran late. None of them could be put off, or I would have made it on time. I do not believe in playing stupid games like you are accus
ing me of.”
Her cheeks felt warm. How had he made her very reasonable question seem childish? She shook her head. “In any event, you’re here now. I have the NewNetwork press release, if you’d like to have a look at how we’ll be positioning ourselves across social media and then the more traditional press.”
He nodded, but his dark eyes didn’t leave her face.
