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Heart thudding, she lifted her chin. ‘You need to leave.’
He dropped back down onto the sofa once more, totally unperturbed by her words. ‘And I will, but now that we’re on the same page, why don’t we go through our diaries? Get a date for the wedding.’
Same page? Had he not listened to a word she’d said?
Clearly not.
She watched him stretch out his legs, hating him, hating the pulse of longing that still beat across her skin. He was so sure of himself. So sure of her, so sure that what had just happened was her acquiescing to his stupid plan instead of understanding that it was simply a muscle memory of that hunger they’d once shared.
Across the room, she could see the stairs that led up to her bedroom, the bedroom where Trip had stripped her naked on that very first night they’d spent together. He had stripped too with swift, expert precision, because he would be expert at getting naked with a woman. But she hadn’t cared. She had been too busy staring at—no, drinking in—all those contoured muscles and the smooth, tanned skin and his erection, standing proud.
She had wanted him and wanted to give him everything in return in those feverish hours between dusk and dawn. But that wasn’t a reason to marry him now.
Turning, she snatched up her bag. ‘You’re wrong,’ she said with what felt like admirable calm, given that her body was still throbbing with the aftershocks of his mouth on hers. ‘We’re not on the same page. We’re not even in the same book. And I will not be marrying you any time soon. Or ever, in fact.’
Her nerves were screaming. She’d spent the last six weeks battling her emotions, riding a roller coaster of guilt and need and grief, and now she was in the middle of processing her shock and relief at his sudden reappearance. Not that he cared about any of that. He was too busy making demands, making assumptions.
He had the gall to smile then. ‘You don’t have a choice. I can’t take back what I said. Besides, Mason has already texted me asking when we’re going to make an announcement.’
She had to press her hands against her thighs to stop herself from slapping the complacent smile from his infuriatingly handsome face.
‘For the last time, there’s not going to be any announcement,’ she said flatly. ‘Now get out of my apartment or I will call Security.’
Her breathing jerked as his eyes locked with hers. ‘Why are you making this into such a big deal? It’s nothing in the scheme of things. A year maybe, tops. We’d have to do a handful of public appearances together.’
‘Including a wedding. Our wedding. When we’d have to lie to our family and friends. I’m not going to do that. This is your mess, so you can sort it out. Anyway, I have plans so I’ll be leaving the city. Tonight.’
He tipped back his head, back in control once again. ‘What, and miss all the fun?—’
She glared at him. ‘You and I have a very different idea of fun, Trip. Like I said, I leave this evening, and if you haven’t spoken to these trustees and explained to them that we are not and never have been engaged by the time I touch down, then I will tell them myself.’
His eyes blazed but she was walking quickly and with purpose.
‘Lily—’
He was moving now, coming after her, but she was already opening the front door. She caught a glimpse of his face, blue eyes narrowing in disbelief, and then she slammed the door, pushed the key in the lock and turned it with a rush of relief.
She couldn’t be in the same room as him. Not for another second. In fact, she didn’t want to be in the same city as him, the same continent even. Not when she could still feel the imprint of his mouth on hers and the burn of her own stupidity.
As she stepped into the sunlight outside, she felt a flicker of guilt at having locked him in. After all, he had only just escaped from a prison of sorts. But this was Tribeca, not Ecuador, and there was a spare key by the door. She just needed a head start and to prove that she was serious.
Even after he heard the turn of the key, it took Trip several seconds to realise what had happened.
Watching Lily lose her temper, he’d started to laugh. Because it was funny. She was so angry and outraged even though she had kissed him back.
But it had been a dumb thing to do, he knew that now.
Almost as dumb as kissing her.
He scowled. It was her fault. Lily had always been so uninhibited, so passionate, so responsive to him. Not today. Today her haughty froideur had put his teeth on edge and he’d wanted to throw her off balance.
But mostly he’d just wanted to kiss her.
That was all it had taken for him to lose control. He’d forgotten why he was there in her apartment. All that had mattered was her, making her his again.
Only then she had jerked her mouth from his and he’d known from the storm in her eyes that she was furious at being proven wrong, which was no doubt why she had decided to punish him. Only by the time he’d realised that, she had already turned the key. And then he was locked in.
By the time he’d worked out what she had done he’d been too late to stop her. Even then, he’d assumed she was bluffing, that she’d wanted to have the last word, but, having called out her name a couple of times, he’d finally looked through the peephole and seen that she was gone, presumably on her way downstairs. A quick check of the street had proved that assumption correct and he’d watched, torn between disbelief and fury, as she’d looked up in the direction of the window and waved before climbing into a taxi.
