Page 26 of Thiago
Slowly she turned to face Thiago. “Actually, I need to cancel this Friday night.”
“Do you have plans again… with your friend?” he drawled.
He had probably guessed she had been with another man, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of admitting it. If he wanted to know, he’d have to ask her outright.
“Yes, I do. So, maybe next week?”
“Maybe,” he said in a tight voice, an inscrutable expression on his face. “IfIdon’t have plans.”
His response set her teeth on edge, and she fake-smiled at him. “I guess we’ll see when the time comes.”
India marched out the door, feeling his dark gaze on her the entire time. In the hallway, she was able to breathe easier but was unsure of what had just occurred. Their relationship waschanging. She supposed the change was partly her fault. Since the last time they slept together, her view on life had gone through a monumental shift, and perhaps Thiago was picking up on the difference in her.
Nonetheless, she was certain she had made the right decision. Though they had sizzling chemistry, she and Thiago were not in a committed relationship. They weren’t in a relationship at all, and she needed to keep her options open.
Chapter Eleven
She had lied to him.
Thiago lowered the folder in his hand and stared at the closed door where India had exited moments before.
She had lied, or at the very least was being deceptive.
He pushed up from his chair and shoved his hands deep into his pockets. Frowning, he stood in front of the window and looked out at the Atlanta skyline.
He suspected India was seeing someone else, which explained why she hadn’t been willing to see him when he was free last Friday. It explained why she gave evasive answers and was going to be busy yet again this coming Friday. Too busy for him.
Am I losing her?
The idea of India with another man was deeply unsettling. His nostrils flared, and he experienced a rush of emotion he couldn’t do anything to stop. It felt suspiciously like jealousy—a foreign concept—which gripped his body with harsh, sharp talons.
True enough, they weren’t in a committed relationship, but he didn’t like the thought of… sharing her. It sickened him to the core.
Thiago swung abruptly from the window, walked over to the bar, and fixed himself a whisky and Coke. He didn’t usually drink this early, but he needed the liquor as he pondered a situation he hadn’t considered happening—the possibility of losing India.
While his brothers believed he didn’t have relationships, he did—sort of. He had lovers because, at this point in his life, his priority was work. As a result, the women he had slept with over the years had never held his attention for very long. When their time together ended, he had the concierge service send them a parting gift—a Van Cleef bracelet, Lorraine Schwarz diamond earrings, or a two-tone Cartier watch.
But India was different. He never once became bored with her, and they had fit together perfectly right from the start.
Thiago took a long sip of his drink, going back in time to when he was visiting from Brazil and had first seen India years ago. Back then, she had been working one floor below.
“Who’s that?” he had asked his father.
“The new director of marketing, India Monroe.”
Her hair was longer then. Hoop earrings peeked between the strands, which were parted on one side and framed her face in a neat arrangement of curls that touched her shoulders. He’d been mesmerized by her chocolate-brown skin, full lips, high cheekbones, and those dark-brown eyes looking at him with very little interest.
He could count on one hand how many times he saw her after the initial encounter, including after she received the promotion to vice president of marketing for the U.S. and moved to the executive floor.
She was an attractive woman. He wasn’t blind. But he hadn’t had any intention of sleeping with her—until he came to town for Ethan and Skye’s wedding last July.
One Friday night, by chance, he walked into the sports bar down the street, and India was there. She had removed her blue jacket, exposing a blue sleeveless top that showed off arms with a hint of definition.
He joined her at her table. They ate together and had a few drinks. They shared a few laughs. They talked about business. They talked about current events.
At the end of the meal, he told himself that he was simply escorting her to her car in the parking deck to be a gentleman. But on the walk over, he knew he had been lying. He wanted her. Badly. He was consumed with the possibility of relieving his aroused body by thrusting into hers.
She was sharp, sexy, funny. If he had been reading the signals correctly, the attraction was mutual.
