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“It was incredible.” Her shoulders sagged. It was the truth. It had been incredible. Mind-blowing. Fantastic. And a huge mistake.
Darren whistled. “‘Incredible’ is good. So how’d it go from ‘incredible’ to tossing envelopes of money at him?”
“What do you think happened? He tried to pay me off. Like I was some whore.” A fresh sob bubbled into her throat and stung the back of her nose as Darren reached for her hands, squeezing them reassuringly.
“Pay you off? Not just for the dance?”
“We barely even danced for an hour and there were thousands of dollars in the envelope!”
“Bastard. If I see him again, I’m going to kill him,” he said, matter-of-factly.
She opened her mouth to reply but a low, steady knocking interrupted her. It wasn’t coming from the front where the crowd of reporters were milling but from the back.
She and Darren exchanged a look of sheepish surprise. Clearly, neither of them had considered that anyone might try the emergency exit. Darren rolled his eyes, a gesture that spoke eloquently of how stupid they both were, and walked over to the back.
From her position behind the front desk Sophie could only see Darren’s face as he registered who was on the other side of the door. His jaw went tight, his handsome face cold and sharp. She’d never seen such a look of biting anger on her friend’s face.
“Darren?” she asked, tentatively.
“I should throw you to those wolves out front,” he growled at whoever was at the door. Cold dread seized her—there was only one person Darren would be that angry with right now.
Heedless of the reporters outside, she stood and hurried to her friend’s side. She could hear Henry speaking as she approached.
“...me in, I’m sure we can work this all out.”
She gritted her teeth. Not only had Henry screwed her and then sent her out with an envelope of cash, but he had also compromised her livelihood. What could he possibly say to try and justify himself? She touched Darren gently on the shoulder. “Let him in.”
Darren gave her a narrow look but pushed the door open further so Henry could slip inside. He looked firm and gorgeous in a dark Burberry London wool and mohair suit. Darren had swooned endlessly over the same one in a catalogue earlier in the year. It must’ve cost two-thousand dollars.
“Sophie,” he began. She slapped him. The flat crack of her palm on his stubbled cheek echoed through the empty studio. Crap. She hadn’t meant to do that; her hand seemed to have moved of its own volition. But she couldn’t deny that it felt good to take some of her anger out on him, although she was still livid.
Darren put an arm around her shoulders protectively, shooting Henry a look sharp enough to kill.
“What do you want, Henry?” Sophie said.
His gaze moved over her face beseechingly. “To explain.”
“I think you made yourself clear.” Her hands clenched into fists at her side. He’d been so passionate when he made love to her, and at breakfast the next morning he was nothing but sweet. But in a matter of seconds he went cold, and she didn’t understand it.
Henry frowned. “That money wasn’t... ” He trailed off, shooting a glance at Darren. “Can I talk to Sophie alone, please?”
“No,” Darren snapped. “You’re lucky you’re talking to her at all.”
“Sophie,” Henry pleaded. But she shook her head. Be alone with him? No way. She seethed at the thought.
“You can say whatever you need to say in front of Darren.”
“That money was just for the dance. I swear. Nothing else.”
She bristled. “Just the dance? There was five thousand in that envelope, at least. What am I supposed to think?”
“That I’m incredibly grateful you agreed to dance with me? That I enjoyed that short dance more than I’ve enjoyed anything in a long time? I don’t know. Anything but that I was trying to pay you for what happened after.”
She didn’t believe him. Not entirely. She’d seen the distant look in his eyes as he’d practically shoved her out of the elevator and stuffed that envelope into her hand. He’d wanted her to go away as quickly as possible. He might not have meant to insult her, but he meant to brush her off.
Henry opened his mouth to speak again, but she raised her hand, palm out, to keep him from going on. “Fine, let’s just say that I believe you.” She waved an agitated hand toward the front of the building.
“I’m dying to hear this,” Darren interjected, voice cutting. He hadn’t removed his arm from around Sophie’s shoulder, and he was staring at Henry like he thought he could burn holes through him.
