Page 15 of Stars Shine In Your Eyes

But sex shouldn’t be about perfect angles. It should be about having a damn good time and forgetting everything else.

Thinking back, he wasn’t sure they had ever had that good a time together.

“You look like you have something on your mind,” she noted.

He shrugged. “A big deal almost fell through, but thankfully, I pulled it off at the eleventh hour.” He picked up his drink and downed the rest of it, gesturing to the bartender for another.

She rolled her eyes. “You’re king of the business world. What would it matter if you lost a deal?” She didn’t wait for his response. “Not that you ever would. Everybody kowtows to you, the great Malcolm Sullivan.” She put the word great in air quotes, already angry with him about something, even before the breaking-up part of their evening. “The whole world is always at your feet.”

Yes, he thought as they both got their drinks and the maître d’ approached to take them to their table, there was definitely a bitter edge to her tonight. Almost as though she sensed impending doom. He brightened inside. Maybe she was planning to break up with him. That would be a sweet relief.

They were led to a table in the middle of the room, the prime spot to see and be seen. But Malcolm was sick of always having to be on what felt like a stage. What he wouldn’t have given just to be seated in a quiet corner. To have a conversation without everybody looking. To sit and listen in on other people’s conversations. Or to just quietly eat his meal and drink his drink without anyone giving a damn who he was or what he could do for them.

He almost laughed out loud at his thoughts. Between his attitude at the airport and his current mood, he was certain playing the grumpy-git card today. His mother would tell him off, and rightly so, while his father would suggest he go for a run to let off some steam.

That was exactly what he’d do tonight. After dinner, he’d go back to his place to change into his running clothes, and then he’d hit the dark streets of London as hard and fast as he could. Until there were no more thoughts, just the press of breath moving in and out of his lungs and his heartbeat pounding like a bass drum in his ears.

“I still need to pack for Thailand,” Katrina said after they’d ordered.

She’s chosen a plate of undressed greens topped with a tiny piece of something vegan. He’d ordered a steak, which had prompted a very disapproving look. She wanted him to be vegan. He respected vegans, whatever their reasons for eating that way, but he didn’t want to be one.

“Are you packed?” she asked.

He paused before answering. He didn’t relish this part. Even though Katrina had a hard edge to her, her emotions were as real as anyone’s. His mother had raised him to care about other people’s feelings, even if sometimes it didn’t seem like he did.

“About Thailand—”

She cut him off, irritation already written all over her face. “Are you canceling the night before we are supposed to leave?”

“You’ll have a better time without me.”

Her artificially plump mouth tightened, and her brow would have furrowed if not for her regular Botox injections. “Don’t I mean anything to you? I thought this trip signified a change in our relationship.”

“When we booked it,” he said slowly, “I thought that might be the case. But you can do better than me.”

Her nostrils flared. “You son of a bitch. Stringing me along. Letting me think you were serious when I could have been with anyone.”

“I am sorry, Katrina.”

“I don’t care if you’re sorry. I don’t need your apologies.”

“I can transfer my ticket over to one of your girlfriends, if that would help at all.”

She was silent for a long moment. “Actually, I will take you up on that offer. But the ticket won’t be for one of my girlfriends.” Her eyes were like daggers as she said, with no small measure of satisfaction, “You can transfer it into my lover’s name.”

He nearly laughed at that point. He hadn’t expected her to bring up a lover, hadn’t actually guessed that she’d been seeing anyone but him for the past couple of months. But at the same time, he wasn’t particularly surprised. After all, he wasn’t around much. He canceled their dates frequently for work. He didn’t care about the world of fashion. And she’d made it clear that spending time with his family wasn’t high on her priority list. All of which meant they had very little in common.

“Do I know him?”

Her smile grew even more self-satisfied. “The hotshot new lawyer I brought onto my team from America is a demon in bed.”

Again, it took great self-control not to laugh. But although she was clearly trying to get a rise out of him, he understood that laughter wasn’t the reaction she was looking for.

“Sure,” he said. “I can put his name on the ticket. Happy to do it.”

Her eyes widened at his easy acquiescence, then narrowed again as she put her hands flat on the tabletop and leaned in. “You really don’t care about me, do you?”

“I’ve had a good time with you,” he replied as gently as he could, “and I’m sorry if I’ve let you down along the way.”

---