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“At least it’s confirmation, right?”
“Yes, right. It is definitely confirmation.” And she didn’t know how to deal with it or what to do next. She was lost. Completely and totally lost, and the only lifeline she seemed to have at the moment was a certain attorney who was sitting next to her, looking at her as if she’d completely gone insane.
Which might be close to the truth, but she couldn’t dwell on it now. Keeping her gaze glued on the sea stretched out before them, she decided to go for it. “She thinks we’re together.”
She felt more than saw his head whip in her direction. “What did you just say?”
Glancing at him, she noted his incredulous expression. No surprise there. “You heard me.” She was sure he did.
“Who thinks who’s together?”
“My mother thinks the two of us are together. Like we’re a couple, seeing each other. Dating.”
“And you told her I was your attorney and nothing more, right?” His voice was firm, sending a shiver down her spine. Not a good one, either.
“Nope.” She shook her head, feeling one thousand times the fool. “I didn’t. I didn’t want to scare her.”
“Jesus, Stasia.” She dared to glance his way. He raked his fingers through his hair in that universally frustrated way, the anger emanating from him palpable.
“Shit. This is just great,” he muttered. “I need a drink.”
“That is the
last thing you need and you know it.”
“Be proud of yourself. You’re driving me to drink.”
“Gavin…”
He cut her off. “Don’t try and placate me. This is a bad idea, us pretending that we’re together.”
Disappointment crashed through her, which was ridiculous. What happened between them last night didn’t mean a thing to him. She’d assumed from the start it had been some sort of release for him and she’d been merely the vessel for him to take advantage of. He didn’t care about her. He could hardly stand to be around her, most of the time.
Like now.
He stood. She could feel his steady glare upon her, even shielded behind his sunglasses. “I’m going in the water. I need to cool down.”
Without waiting for a reply from her, he left, moving between the rows of lounge chairs, pushing his way through the crowds of people that stood on the edge of the beach. She watched him go, admiring the width of his back, the play of muscles beneath his lightly bronzed skin. His passing turned more than a few female heads, not that she blamed them. A woman couldn’t not admire Gavin as he walked past.
She ignored the jealously spiking within her. As if she had any right. She had no claim on the man. One night beside the pool didn’t make them a couple.
With a sigh, she flopped onto the lounger, staring up at the clear blue sky. She couldn’t disappoint her mother by telling her the truth, could she? She was in a fragile enough state. Thinking that her poor, lost daughter at least had a man to cling to most likely had given Claudia Renaldi reassurance.
But what if Gavin was so mad he wanted to leave? How could Stasia explain his abrupt departure?
Closing her eyes, she breathed deep, trying to calm her racing heart. This was a mess. She hadn’t expected to get so tangled up in her emotions, so tangled up in her feelings for Gavin, whatever they were. Confusing, baffling, irritating, exhilarating, they were all that and more.
Incredibly hard to deal with too, especially since the man she felt all of this for wanted nothing to do with her.
Deciding to hell with it, she left her lounge chair, followed the same path Gavin took to the edge of the water. She stood there, staring into the distance, trying to locate him when he miraculously appeared. He wasn’t too far out, the water almost chest deep as he faced the beach. She felt his gaze on her, knew he was watching her, but he didn’t beckon her to join him.
Well, too damn bad. She was going out there anyway. They needed to draw up some sort of plan so they could figure out how to handle her mother and she couldn’t let him avoid her.
She walked straight into the warm water, never taking her eyes off him as she approached. He didn’t move either, seemed prepared to wait for her and when she finally waded out far enough that she was close to him, she finally spoke.
“Ignoring me isn’t going to fix this predicament we’re in.”
“Since you’re the one who put us in it, I’d love to hear your suggestions on how we might fix this.” The sarcasm in his voice was beyond evident.
