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‘Absolutely,’ he drawled, pushing the sunglasses back in place and dropping hers on the table.
He signalled for the bill without taking his eyes off her. ‘Tell me what happens next. I like a woman who takes charge. And you’re right—absolutely the correct thing to do. Business and pleasure? Never makes for a good mix.’
‘Agreed.’ Her smile looked frozen. ‘I’m glad you’re not...not...upset.’
‘Upset?’Mateo laughed shortly. ‘I think you must be confusing me with someone else. So what’s the way forward? We head back...you take your time out with flowers and bridesmaids and then the wedding...?’
‘Which, I think you’ll agree, it’s probably wise for you to skip. Now that we’ve decided on a way forward, there’s no point feeding the illusion that this is some kind of love match. Which it isn’t.’ Maude paused just for a few seconds. She could feel the heat burning her cheeks.
‘Don’t you think your parents might be a bit alarmed that your fiancé isn’t around on such an important occasion?’
‘They’d be more alarmed if you didn’t show up atourimportant occasion.’ The joke fell flat. ‘I’ve sent them a couple of photos of here and of you, and before we head back today I can get someone to take some shots of us. I’ll just tell them that you were called away on business and after that—’
‘Bridges to be crossed,’ Mateo interjected levelly. He gave her a mock salute but there was no humour in his smile. ‘Well, my darling, here’s to a short-lived but highly enjoyable engagement. Tomorrow is another day...’
CHAPTER SEVEN
MAUDESTOODINfront of the wine bar where she had arranged to meet Mateo.
She could have chosen the office. She could have chosen his house in Chelsea. But she had ditched both options—the office because she wasn’t sure she could bear the curious looks of the people she had worked with, and his house because that reeked of the desperation of an ex who refused to leave him alone. Besides, she hadn’t relished the thought of seeing him in his natural habitat, surrounded by stuff that might weaken her defences.
So here she was. Standing in front of a trendy pub in Kensington, one half of which was gastro, with fashionable rustic tables and cool, colourful mismatched chairs, and the other half pub, with a semi-circular bar and lots of stools by a high counter and squat, square tables and chairs.
It had been nearly three weeks since she had last seen him. They had spent that last night together. They had made love and she had smiled through it all, knowing that she was saying goodbye to a place to which she would never return but one that would leave lasting damage to her heart.
It had been intense. Maude had wanted to take everything she could from that last time she got to feel his nakedness, got to enjoy the way he touched her, the way he responded to her touching him. She wanted to fill herself up to the brimwith himand commit every single detail to memory.
They had parted on excellent terms. She had kept that smile on her face and he had been perfectly happy with the end of their affair. She suspected that he’d been thoroughly relieved that she had done the dirty work and called the whole thing off, without putting him in the awkward position of having to give her the brush-off.
She’d then headed to Berkshire. She could have popped up there now and again to help out, but she chose to stay instead, because she knew that keeping herself busy would clear her head.
‘But honestly, darling, what about your work?’her mother had questioned, for once concerned about the career she had previously despaired of.
‘Holiday,’ Maude had responded. ‘Also, Mateo is...er...away, I’m afraid, for most of the coming month with huge deal in the Far East... Globetrotting...always on the move... Not ideal, to be honest!’
And so his non-appearance at the wedding had been glossed over. And in fairness it had been such a busy time that in-depth questioning had been avoided.
But foundations had been put in place. Amy had casually asked her about an engagement ring.‘Not,’ she had hastily added, ‘That anyone really cares about that kind of thing any more...’
Maude had looked saddened and had made noises about whether she was doing the right thing with Mateo.
‘I want a guy who’s going to be around for me,’ she had said vaguely but sincerely, which had been nothing but the truth. ‘Not a guy who’s married to his work. What starts out in good faith can end up crashing and burning in the face of reality.’
Amy had been far too busy to probe but Maude had planted seeds, and what else could she have done? But, in her head and in her aching heart, Mateo refused to be consigned to the past.
The wedding day had been hard as she had watched the joyful couple, the love they shared, cruel reminders of what she so desperately wanted in the end with Mateo—the happy-ever-after future Amy and her brother were united in finding, and what she knew she would never have, because she had foolishly fallen for a guy who was incapable of giving it.
As soon as the wedding was out of the way, she had headed back to London, emailed Human Resources and quit her job.
Tellingly, Mateo had had nothing to say about that.
Had he spared her a second’s thought?
He had texted her on the day of the wedding to tell her that he hoped it had all gone well and had sent the couple a ridiculously expensive set of high-end luggage as a present, apologising for his absence.
In return, she had texted him back, informing him that she was going to hand in her notice, that it was for the best and that she knew he would be pleased to hear that she was making great headway in finding an out for their so-called relationship. She had ended the text with a friendly winking emoji, keeping it light-hearted.
Things would all work out in the end, she had told herself. Broken hearts mended. Time was a great healer.
