That she happened to see naked too many times to count. She knew what his face looked like when he came, knew the taste of him when he erupted in her mouth…
“Then the car will be waiting for you. Is twelve-fifteen too early?”
“Sounds perfect,” she said crisply, clutching the phone receiver so tight, her fingers cramped.
“Gabriella.” His voice pitched lower, a velvety rumble aimed directly at her frantically beating heart. “How did they turn out?”
She remained silent, unsure as how to answer. Offering him the employee reply was the best route to take, she knew this. Simple, succinct. So she went with it. “They’re all similar, featuring the theme you expressed in the brief, yet varied enough that I believe you’ll be pleased with the results.” Ah, that was quite the proper answer. She sounded downright professional.
He snorted, the bastard, seeing right through her. “Be honest. Did you—capture the scent you wanted?”
Rhett referred to sex. Though he was being professional as well and not blatantly throwing the word out there. The air between them was heavy with the unspoken, though. They both knew it.
And chose to ignore it.
“I believe I did, to the best of my ability.”
She swore she heard him mutter a curse, but she couldn’t be sure. “I want to see you.” His abrupt request sent her head reeling and she inhaled sharply.
Her heart panged and she wondered at the sincerity of his words. “No, you don’t.” Her reply came in a heated rush, an automatic defense. “You just think you do. The feeling will pass.”
“No.” He soun
ded pained now. “No, I don’t think it’ll pass. It hasn’t passed since we exited the goddamned plane and went our separate ways. I want to see you. Tonight.”
Closing her eyes, she rested her forehead against the nearby wall, the cool, sleek feel of it calming her bouncing nerves. “Don’t ask me to do this,” she whispered. “I can’t do it.”
“I miss you.” He paused, the words sinking in like sharp, jabbing stabs to her vulnerable heart. “I told myself I wouldn’t. I told myself I didn’t need you.”
Harder stabs now, they penetrated deep, almost to her very soul. “How sweet of you to confess such romantic sentiments.”
“Jesus, Gabriella. Don’t act like this.”
“How do you expect me to act? Do you want me to beg you to come see me? Do you want me to be waiting for you, naked and willing in my bed, ready for you to use me, charm me, satisfy me with a quick orgasm before you’re on your merry way, as per your usual mode of operation? I don’t think so.”
“It’s different with you,” he started, but she cut him off.
“It’s different only because you spent a few days with me versus one night. You were trapped with me on an island, remember? You had nowhere to run. Otherwise, you would’ve been out of there before dawn broke.” She knew it was true, he’d admitted as much. She hadn’t believed him at the time, thought she was different. That she could change him.
Foolish, stupid girl she was.
“You don’t want me.” He sounded like a petulant child. Well, truly he was. The man had never fully grown up, didn’t know how to handle a mature woman and her wants and needs. Playthings, he knew all about. One-night stands, pretty trophy bimbos hanging on his arm, he was a professional at dealing with those types.
A real woman, one with faults and problems, who knew how to love and give and expected the same in return, he hadn’t a clue what to do.
The thought of that, the knowledge of what he was missing, made her sad.
“I want you too much.” The agony in her voice, the sadness, was so palpable. It hurt her throat to say the words, let alone the emotions swirling within her, threatening to break her down. “But I can’t do this to myself. I can’t see you again, only to watch you walk away so easily. It can’t happen, Rhett. No matter how much I want it to.”
The silence stretched, fraught with tension. Finally, he sighed, the sound ragged. Painful. “I fucked it up. As usual.”
“Yes, you did,” she agreed cheerily. “You’ll be fine. You always are. Eventually, you’ll forget me.”
“I doubt that,” he murmured, hanging up.
He couldn’t eat. He couldn’t sleep. He hadn’t been able to do much of anything normal upon his return from Maui but work. So he did what most people do when they’re having trouble with their personal life and they wanted to forget.
Rhett threw himself completely into his job.