Page 27 of My Wildest Obsession

“What?” I ask and he shakes his head.

“We should get back out there.”

Before I can respond, he turns and heads out of the room.

“Okay, then…”

I follow him back to the table where our friends are and we take a seat. I don’t need to look at him to know that something is wrong. I’m not sure what happened back there in that room that upset or spooked him, but that’s what he is.

We’re both silent as Cheryl takes the stage to talk about the charity and announce that there’s five more minutes to bid before the winners will be announced.

I clap along with everyone else, but my mind is a million miles away. Or rather, it’s back in that room.

What could have happened? Did I say or do something wrong?

“And the winner of the weekend stay at the Montclair Villa in Aspen is… Theo Jameson and Clara Winters!” Cheryl announces.

The crowd cheers and our friends congratulate us. I force a smile to my lips, but Theo doesn’t even bother with that.

Cheryl moves onto the next winner and I look over at Theo.

“I’m ready to leave now,” I whisper and he nods, standing and nodding goodbye to his friends.

“See you on Monday,” he says and they wave.

I know that we should stay until the end. We should visit with Cheryl and stay to mingle with everyone, but I just can’t. I can’t handle Theo’s mood and I need to talk to him, to get to the bottom of things.

He hands the valet his ticket and we wait for his car in silence. He tips the valet and I climb into the passenger seat.

“What’s going on?” I demand to know and he doesn’t even spare me a glance.

“Nothing.”

“Why did you freak out then?”

“I didn’t. We had sex and then we were done,” he says.

His words are like a dagger straight to my heart and I shift in my seat.

“What is this, Theo?” I ask him quietly. “It hasn’t been a one time thing, so what is it?”

“We’re just blowing off some steam,” he says easily.

I can feel my heart breaking in my chest and I swallow hard.

Shit. I’m in love with him. I think that maybe I always was, even when I hated him. Sleeping together was a terrible idea. It only made me love him more. It only made me want him more, but obviously he doesn’t feel the same way.

“I want more,” I whisper and he glances at me.

“What?” He asks, and I swallow.

“I said, I want more. I don’t want it to be just blowing off steam,” I admit.

We’re silent as we pull up to a stop light and I chance a glance at him. He looks almost panicked and I know that he’s about to break my heart even more before he even opens his mouth.

“I can’t do more, Clara.”

“Then I can’t do this,” I say softly.

---