Amber looked Ellie up and down dismissively, then turned back to Garek. “Why don’t you ever call me anymore? I’ve been terribly lonely.”
“You told me you never wanted to see my face again.”
“Darling…I was joking. You can always call me.” She drew a French-manicured fingernail down his chest. “Anytime.”
“Sorry, Amber, that won’t be possible.” From the corner of his eye, Garek watched Eleanor smile at something Jack said to her. “I’m very busy.”
“Busy with Ms. Hernandez, I suppose.”
He turned his gaze back to Amber’s narrow, aristocratic features. “I’m sponsoring an art foundation through the gallery where she works,” he said evenly. “Our relationship is purely professional.”
Her mouth curled in a sneer for the blink of an eye, then disappeared, leaving her face smooth and blank. “I understand.”
What she understood was questionable, but the bell sounded, cutting off their conversation. The crowd started moving toward the theater doors.
“It was a pleasure meeting you, Jack.” Ellie’s warm smile faded only slightly when she turned to Amber. “And you, too, Ms. Bellair.”
Amber waved her hand carelessly, barely glancing away from Garek. “Darling, when you get tired of…working so hard, give me a call.”
She strolled off, and Garek escorted Eleanor toward the theater doors.
“Ms. Bellair is a good friend of yours?” Ellie’s voice was almost as cool as Amber’s had been.
“Not exactly.” He tried to increase their pace, but the crowd made it impossible. “We dated for a while.”
“But you broke up?”
“She was getting a little too…serious.”
“I understand,” she said, in much the same tone as Amber had a few minutes ago. He looked at her sharply.
Her expression was bland. “You don’t want to give up being Chicago’s Most Eligible Bachelor.”
He flinched as she said the stupid title out loud. “Hardly,” he snapped.
She made a slight choking noise. She didn’t smile, but her eyes gave her away, and he scowled. “It’s not funny,” he told her.
“No, of course not,” she agreed, coughing.
“That idiotic newspaper article has caused me more grief than you can possibly imagine.” He stepped back to allow her to precede him into the row.
She didn’t move, the laughter in her gaze gone. In its place glimmered a different emotion, a softness…sympathy?
She touched his arm lightly. “Money must be an awful burden in your relationships.”
The muscles in his forearm contracted at the brush of her fingertips, even as he blinked at her words. He’d always found money to be a great advantage. “Why would you say that?”
“Because…oh, I’m so sorry, ma’am!” Ellie stepped forward into the row of seats to allow a woman with sharp elbows to pass.
Garek followed Ellie, turning sideways, to shuffle past the patrons already seated. He waited until they reached their own seats before asking again, “Why would you say that?”
“What? Oh,” she whispered as the lights dimmed and the curtain rose, “just that it must be terrible to have women interested in you only because of your money.”
The music started, and she turned her attention to the stage.
Ignoring the opening strains, Garek stared down at her.
Amber obviously hadn’t believed him when he said his relationship with Ellie was purely professional, but it was true. He would never be interested in someone as venal as Eleanor Hernandez—she was merely a means to an end.