Page 53 of The Player

She nodded, picked up her designer bag, and barged out of the room, leaving the board members watching him carefully.

What did they expect? For him to cartwheel across the highly polished conference table? He might’ve been tempted, if not for the fact he had serious business to conduct after this meeting.

Business far more important than Qu Publishing.

Business of the heart.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Liza hadn’t expected Wade to show up again so soon after their morning outing.

When she’d dropped him at the office earlier he’d been withdrawn, and while he’d mustered a genuine goodbye for Cindy he’d shot her the oddest look: like he was disappointed in her.

She knew why. She’d been uncomfortable discussing her parents and how she supported Cindy, and he’d picked up on her evasiveness. If he only knew how far she’d come in letting him spend time with Cindy today, and lowering her guard in front of him. That had been a big step for her. Huge. But she couldn’t blab all her deep, dark secrets at once. She had to take this slow.

To find him waiting for her in the living room while Shar and Cindy had a late supper on the back porch made her incredibly happy that he couldn’t bear to be away from her for more than half a day. Though her cautious side couldn’t be ignored and she wondered if his impromptu visit heralded bad news.

‘Would you like a drink?’

He shook his head. ‘No thanks, I’d rather talk.’

‘Okay.’

She perched next to him on the sofa, wondering if he noticed the threadbare patches on the shabby chintz. Those patches made her angry. She’d scrimped and saved, hoarding every cent away for Cindy’s future, going without stuff like new furniture because she didn’t deem it as important as having a failsafe should anything happen to her.

Instead, something had happened to her money and while the advance and royalties would help, the thought of being conned out of her sizeable savings made her stomach gripe.

‘Are you all right?’

‘Yeah, why?’ She met his gaze, knowing he was far too astute not to notice her jumpiness.

‘You seem distracted.’

She tapped her temple. ‘I’m making a mental to-do list for tomorrow and it’s a doozy.’

He nodded, his grave expression indicating he didn’t buy her excuse for a second. ‘I’ve got news.’

Trepidation made her freeze as various scenarios, each of them worse than the last, filtered through her brain. Pre-orders had fallen through. Bookstores had reneged on stocking her biography. Online advertisers had pulled their backing. Early reviews had been appalling.

Quelling her nerves with effort, she said, ‘What’s the news?’

He eyeballed her and she didn’t like the wariness she glimpsed.

‘With Qu Publishing in the black, I’m going back to London.’

The blood drained from her head and spots danced before Liza’s eyes before she blinked, inhaled, steadied.

‘My business is there and I’ve been away long enough.’

‘Of course,’ she said, grateful her tone remained neutral and modulated, when she felt like screaming.

‘I want you to come with me.’ He took her hand, rubbed its iciness between his. ‘You and Cindy.’

Shock tore through every preconception Liza had ever had about this guy. He was returning to his life and he wanted her and Cindy to be a part of it?

If she didn’t love him before, she sure as hell did now.

Love?

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