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"Japan."
"Another time, I would love to travel to Japan with you." Or anywhere else. "But I just got back from a vacation. I cannot take another one. Especially right now."
"I will get one of my employees to cover for you," he said dismissively.
"No. That won't work this time." Like in most nonprofit organizations, employees like her wore many hats.
Rowan had been put in charge of their major fundraising gala. The director believed the connections she'd made during her ill fated marriage could be leveraged to bring in bigger donations than ever before.
She agreed, but needed to reach out personally to donors and sponsors for that to work.
"You were okay with it in order to take the cruise you wanted. Now you refuse so we can spend the next two weeks together."
That was so unfair. Did she want to spend two weeks apart? No. But that did not change the fact that Rowan could not leave Athens right now.
"First, you did not actually give me a choice. Second, we left Greece for safety reasons and the choice to go on a cruise was subordinate to that. Third, I am up to my ears in planning the biggest fundraising gala of the year. A temp cannot fill in for me right now."
"What do you expect to raise at the gala? A couple hundred thousand? I'll donate it."
"Money is not always the answer, Sander. I have a life I am building that means something to me."
"And I mean nothing to you?"
"What do you want to mean to me?"
He shook his head. "Is it so much to ask? I have offered two valid solutions and you refuse both," he said, refusing to answer the question that really mattered. Naturally.
"Neither of your solutions work for me. My role is to build connections with donors. Having someone fill in for me won't do that. You making a large donation won't do that either. What happens next year?"
"I am not going to commit to millions of dollars of funding for your org in order to convince you to come on a single trip with me."
"I'm not asking you to. That is my point."
"I cannot send someone else on this trip in my stead. Thousands of employees and investors rely on me to do my job."
"I know."
"So, why are you being so difficult?"
Rowan grabbed onto her patience with both hands. He wasn't being thick on purpose. It was just hard for the billionaire to understand that regular people had important commitments too.
Maybe she wasn't going to impact thousands of people by putting on a successful fundraising gala. That didn't mean it didn't matter though.
"I'm not trying to be difficult. I am your girlfriend, not your mistress. My life does not revolve around your schedule."
Lysander's expression went completely emotionless and a steel door slammed down between them with a clang that echoed in her heart. "I have never once said or implied that you are my mistress."
Oh, crap.
That was the wrong thing to say, but it was accurate, darn it. Lysander wanted her to drop everything, like a mistress who was expected to be on call twenty-four-seven, always willing to accommodate the important man's plans.
"I don't know why you are making such a big deal out of this, anyway. If this trip is anything like your work schedule since we returned to Greece, we'll barely see each other."
"You'll be there for me. Every night. In my bed."
Oh, heck no. "Are you sure mistress isn't the word you're looking for?"
"It is not just sex. Knowing I will be able to hold you through the night gives me comfort."
