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Did she know how much he started to hope whenever she looked at him like this? His hand lifted, the urge to possess her born from a need that came from his heart. “Do you need some more shots like that?” His fingers grazed her cheek as he spoke, Damen’s question was aimed at the photographer, but his gaze remaining on Mairi.
Her lips still tingling after Damen’s unexpected kiss, it took a second for Mairi to understand the import of Damen’s words. When she did, she blushed and stammered, “I think he’s got enough.” When Damen seemed prepared to argue, she sent him a pleading look. Dear God, didn’t he see that she was still trying to catch her breath?
The look Mairi darted towards him made Damen smile. He was about to tease her by asking for another kiss when his phone buzzed insistently in his pocket.
Since Mairi was standing right next to Damen, she, too, heard the buzz coming from his pocket. Paling at the sound, her whole body tensing, Mairi swallowed back an instinctive plea for Damen not to answer it. To not choose another woman over his own wife.
Chapter 12
“I have everything I need,” the photographer was saying enthusiastically. “Thanks for the time. I’ll make sure you all look great and the piece that comes with the photos will be just as great.”
Mairi only half heard the photographer’s words since most of her attention was on Damen’s buzzing phone. Inherent courtesy had Mairi forcing herself to concentrate on the photographer. “Thank you, Mister—-?”
“Guthrie, Mrs. Leventis. Eric Guthrie.” Eric found himself unexpectedly tongue-tied at the blinding smile that accompanied Mairi Tanner-Leventis’ words. So this was what had captured the ex-billionaire’s heart, he realized. Good, old-fashioned genuineness that none of the jaded supermodels and frivolous heiresses of the world could ever fake.
Her smile warm, Mairi shook hands with Eric, automatically slipping into her role as Damen’s #1 goodwill ambassador even as she couldn’t prevent her gaze from straying towards her husband. “Thank you so much, Eric. We appreciate your interest in sharing our side with the public.”
As she and Eric talked, four words kept echoing in her mind.
Please don’t answer it. Please don’t answer it.
Damen was talking to the photographer now. She watched as Damen and Eric shook hands, heart still in her throat.
Please don’t answer it. Please don’t answer—-
When the photographer left, Damen turned around to face her, the smile on his face heartbreakingly dazzling. That smile easily summed up everything she loved about him, and it had nothing to do with the fact that he was – or had once been – a Greek billionaire.
“The photographer’s infatuated with you,” Damen said in a low, half-teasing, half-exasperated voice.
Mairi managed a laugh. “I don’t think so.” His phone had stopped buzzing, and she allowed herself to start breathing again.
“Yes, he is. It’s making me rethink whether I should let you be interviewed alone—-” Damen suddenly stopped speaking.
Mairi knew why. It was that sound again.
Please don’t answer it. Please don’t answer it.
If he did, there was no point staying with him. She loved Damen too much to force him to stay with her when it was obvious he already loved someone else.
The phone vibrating in his pocket was impossible to ignore. Biting back a curse but knowing there was no help for it, Damen turned back to Mairi, saying gruffly, “Could you excuse me? I need to take this call. I won’t be long at all.”
Mairi’s heart shattered, and it kept shattering into innumerable pieces even as she made herself smile. “No problem,” she said lightly. She started walking backwards, pride not letting her turn away and give her the chance to cry without being seen. She was done crying. She was done being weak. “I’ll just entertain myself with Drake instead.” They were great last words, but there was no thrill, no satisfaction, from saying them.
Not bothering to wait for Damen to reply, she spun around and headed straight to Drake, trying not to run as she did. She had to get to Drake, Mairi thought feverishly as she made her way past the players waiting for their turn. Drake would know what to do to make her...strong. Drake would know what to tell her so she could survive the pain spreading like cancer inside her body, a gnawing, clawing hurt that served as a reminder of how Damen couldn’t bear not talking to Alina even if his conscience dictated that he stay true to his marriage and the feelings he no longer had.
Damen watched his wife go, stunned immobile by Mairi’s words.
Entertain herself with Drake? Had his wife just told him that she would be flirting with Drake while he was otherwise occupied?
Without another moment’s hesitation, Damen stalked after his wife. Everything was forgotten, everything made unimportant compared to the need to make Mairi realize one thing.
