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He wanted to forget. He needed to forget. And now he was gone. She had no idea where. It wasn’t really her business, after all. Salt filled her mouth. She rolled onto her side and stared at the wall as soft tears fell onto her pillow.
“My sisterand Noah will be here in an hour.”
Abby paused, midway through pouring an imaginary cup of tea for Charlotte – who clapped her hands at the sight of Gray. Charlotte’s excitement was obvious, but Abby had a different reaction. Doubt. Hesitation. Uncertainty.
He hadn’t come home last night. Wherever he’d gone, he’d spent the night, and when she forced herself to turn, slowly, and look at him, she was knocked almost sideways. He wore a navy blue suit with a crisp white shirt, unbuttoned at the neck to reveal his strong tanned throat and a hint of hair. He looked stunning, and oh so content with himself. It was impossible to reconcile this Gray with the man she’d glimpsed last night, tortured by his sleep.
She looked away quickly, unable to witness Charlotte’s delighted run towards Gray, nor the way he scooped her up and threw her into the air. She’d told him he should continue seeing other women. She’d said she wasfinewith that. He hadn’t done anything wrong. Not technically, anyway, but that didn’t stop bitter anger from forming a ball in her chest, making her want to strangle him or punch him or simply to disappear for the night, so she didn’t have to face this new reality.
“Abby?”
She swallowed past a lump in her throat, busying herself with tidying up the tea party set she and Charlotte had been playing with. “Great.” Her voice was overbright. There wasnothinggreat about what he’d said. She was nervous as anything at the prospect of meeting Gray’s famous sister Max. Not because Max Fortescue was the internet’s darling, but because she was so close to Gray, and Abby suspected it would be impossible for Max to forgive Abby for having kept Charlotte a secret.
Her heart stammered in her chest, and emotions threatened to swallow her whole.
“Would you like a glass of wine?”
With you?She bit back the acerbic rejoinder, conscious of Charlotte’s little ears. “No, thanks.”
She stood with innate elegance, carefully avoiding Gray’s eyes. “I’d better get ready.”
“You look ready to me.”
She didn’t want to think about his eyes on her. She didn’t want to imagine them running over her, taking in the detail of the simple pink singlet she wore, teamed with casual jeans and bare feet. She didn’t want to think about the fact she wasn’t wearing a bra – it was too hot – and that his eyes would easily note the detail.
“I haven’t even showered,” she muttered. “Excuse me.” The door to the nursery was wide, so she was able to choose an exit route that was far from Gray, avoiding being within striking reach. She held her breath until she was in her own bedroom, where she simply stood for a moment, staring through the window at Central Park, without really seeing it.
It took less than a minute for Gray to knock on the door. Her heart leaped into her mouth and she spun around almost guiltily.Go away.“What is it?” She sounded tense and impatient.
The door opened.
“That wasn’t an invitation to come in.” She crossed her arms over her chest – a mistake, because it pushed her breasts higher, and when his eyes dropped to her cleavage, she felt her nipples strain hard against the soft silk of her shirt.
“What’s going on?”
“Where’s Charlotte?”
“Making me a cake,” he said. “I’ve got a minute.”
The sweetness of that almost undid her anger, but then she remembered that he’d disappeared last night, undoubtedly to another woman’s bed. She didn’t smile.
“Has something happened?”
How could he be so insensitive?
How could he be so thoughtless?
“No.” After all, she’d told him he could carry on sleeping with other women.
“Then why are you acting like you’re pissed off with me?”
Because I am.She shrugged.
“Abby, come on. What’s going on?”
She turned her face towards the door to her ensuite, unable to look at him, to imagine another woman undressing him, kissing him, tasting him, being made love to by him. Unable to think of his hands on someone else’s hips, holding someone else close to his hard, hungry body. Anger, hatred, bile, jealousy, darkness, hopelessness, built up within her until her cheeks were slashed with dark color and her brain was firing a thousand and one synapses.
“I have to get ready. Your sister will be here soon and I –,”
