Page 15 of Reclaimed By His Billion-Dollar Ring

‘Oh, so damn irresistible that you walked out on me without a word! Walked out and—’

She broke off, twisting her head away, knocking back another gulp of water and then setting the glass down. He saw her take a breath, a deliberate one, to steady herself. Then she whipped her head back round. Returned to the attack.

But he did not let her speak. There was only one way he could answer her, only one response he could make. Anything else was out of the question.

She must never know why I left her.

Not that what he was going to say to her was not the truth. He felt a flicker of emotion rise within him. It was just not all the truth...

‘Calanthe, what we had together was good—memorably so! But,’ he said, holding her unseen gaze, ‘it was a summer romance. Wonderful while it lasted—but...’ He paused, knowing he had to say this. ‘Then it ended—just as the summer ended.’

He was speaking carefully. He knew that he was doing so, and knew why he was doing so. He was keeping to what he could say...explain.

To continue his defence, at least where he could, he went on, ‘And, to set the record straight, I did not leave “without a word”. I told Georgia that I’d been unexpectedly called away and I left you a note. I’m sorry not to have told you in person, but I had to leave the island right away.’

He’d had no choice—her father’s fixers had made that crystal-clear to him. No more contact.

Not that I could have looked her in the face again...

His mind pulled away. Those memories were too jarring. Emotion rose in him again. And besides, he’d had another pressing reason for leaving the island immediately...

‘Why?’ Her blunt question was still hostile. ‘Just what was so pressing...so urgent?’

She was staring at him, her face immobile. He found himself wishing she was not wearing dark glasses, so he could see the expression in her eyes. See what she was thinking. He’d always been able to see what she was feeling...she’d never hidden her emotions from him...

His mouth tightened. No, she’d never done that, all right! But they’d been feelings that had only...complicated things.

And now—now he wanted things to be simple between them.

He wanted to put aside those elements of the past that jarred, whose memory was unwelcome—not let them get in the way now.

Because what I want now is the present—only the present.

His eyes washed over her again from behind the protection of his shades. And that was so very, very enticing...

Again he felt desire rise through him. The impact she’d had on him all those years ago was stronger now, so much stronger...

His own words that he’d spoken just now hung in his head—irrefutable and compelling.

‘You are the most beautiful woman I have ever set eyes on.’

But he could not yet indulge himself. He still had to dispose of her anger to him. Get it out of the way. Explain—justify—his behaviour in the only way he could.

Her hidden gaze was still levelled at him. Her fingers still tight around her glass. Her body was still quite immobile. Tense.

‘Family matters,’ he replied. ‘My grandmother...’

He left it at that. The only way he could leave it.

He saw her mouth thin, as if he’d uttered a typical self-exonerating excuse. He didn’t want to hear her put that into words, so he took control of the moment instead.

‘Calanthe, I know that the way we ended eight years ago upset you, but... Well, like I said, what we had was a summer romance. It was always going to end... You went back to your life.’

His voice hardened unconsciously. After all, her life—her real life—had not been what she’d let him think. She had not been just another one of the bunch of British university students on a working holiday in Greece.

He continued, ‘And I went back to mine. We went our separate ways.’

She was still keeping that hidden gaze levelled at him, immobile and tense.

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