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“Enough,” he muttered, minimizing his calendar and opening his email, allowing work to distract him.
As soon as he clicked on the first message, the door to his office swung open and he looked up, scowling. No one entered without knocking. Not even his personal assistant.
He mentally groaned when Patricia Eddington sauntered in, his PA hot on her heels.
Henri shot Matt an apologetic grimace. “I asked her to wait so that I could see if you were available.”
Matt waved his hand at Henri, aware Patricia wasn’t the type of woman to follow any protocol that required her to wait. She’d mentioned countless times in the past that she expected others to accommodate her busy schedule. Her self-importance was off the charts. Every time she made the comment, Matt had to practically bite his tongue off to stop himself from retorting that getting manicures, going for coffee, and “doing lunch” at the country club with girlfriends hardly classified as “busy.”
“It’s alright, Henri.”
Henri frowned behind Patricia’s back. His PA was a stickler for perfection and Patricia had just broken a cardinal rule by making him look incompetent. “You have a meeting in fifteen minutes,” Henri reminded him, not because Matt didn’t know but because he wanted to let Patricia know she was on the clock.
Like that would work.
Patricia glanced at Henri over her shoulder. “Leave. Now.”
“That’s enough,” Matt said, his tone low and threatening enough that Patricia actually looked chastened…for a moment. He hated the way Patricia spoke down to anyone she considered her lesser, which seemed to include anyone with less than ten million dollars in the bank. She was rude and insulting to everyone from waiters, doormen, chauffeurs, and now, his personal assistant, something he’d made clear to her he wouldn’t stand for.
Henri sniffed, then left, closing the door behind him.
It would be polite of Matt to rise and greet her, but Patricia was the one who’d shown up here without an appointment, so screw that. He’d wanted a distraction, but she wasn’t it.
“Patricia,” he said coolly.
Her well-plucked eyebrows lifted when he remained seated, but only for a moment. Then she skirted around his desk, bending down to press a kiss to his cheek. “Matt, darling. You couldn’t believe how much has happened this past month.”
Matt forced himself to be civil. “How was Aspen?”
Patricia perched herself on the edge of his desk, taking care to make sure the slit in her pencil skirt parted just enough to give him an eyeful of her thigh. “Wonderful! The powder was fresh and soft as a pillow. You simply have to come with us next year. Daddy and I insist.”
Hell would have to freeze over before he’d make that trip or any others with the Eddingtons.
Matt offered no reply, not that Patricia needed one as she prattled on about the ski conditions in Colorado. “And then, we decided we were having so much fun that Daddy surprised me and Mommy by whisking us off to Switzerland to ski at our chateau for a couple of weeks. We only just got back to Philadelphia yesterday. I’m sure you must’ve been wondering if I was ever coming home,” she said with a giggle.
Matt hadn’t realized she wasn’t in Philadelphia. He hadn’t cared either. After all, he’d broken off their relationship the last time he’d seen her.
“I’m sorry to rush this along, Patricia, but I do have a meeting.” If he didn’t get her out of there very soon, there would be little chance of Liza and Patricia not running into each other.
And while that was something he could use to his advantage, he refused. He despised the way Patricia talked down to Liza, so there was no way he’d subject her to that if he could help it. “Was there something you needed?”
Patricia pushed away from his desk, walking around it to sit in one of the chairs opposite him. He didn’t like the way she settled in like they had all the time in the world. “I suppose you saw that article about us on the internet. It’s terrible how the two of us are never out of the public eye. I mean, we couldn’t even enjoy a quiet dinner together without the paparazzi bombarding us.”
Bombard wasn’t the word he’d use, considering neither of them even saw the cameraman.
Matt sighed, infusing as much boredom into it as he could. “That site is infamous for gossip. I doubt anyone takes the lies written there seriously.”
“Oh, I know. It’s just…Daddy saw it and he thought it was true. He got very excited about the possibility.”
And with that, Matt’s suspicions that he hadn’t seen the last of Patricia were confirmed. As were his feelings that she’d set up the pictures and the article. Because there was no way in hell Richard Eddington would have just happened upon that article if Patricia hadn’t shown it to him.
“I hope you explained to your father that it’s not a possibility and that we’re no longer seeing each other.” He refused to feed her the “just friends” bullshit again. It was time to be a lot less subtle with Patricia.
“I did, but you know Daddy. Once he gets something in his head, he’s relentless. It’s why he’s such a successful businessman. He never says die.”
“This isn’t a business deal.”
“It could be.” She’d said the same at the gala, assuring him that theirs wouldn’t be a love match and that they could both have affairs as long as they were discreet about it.
