Page 20 of 2 Books in One Bundle

These past few days, she’d managed to control her anxiety about staying away from her business in order to play her part in their arrangement but now she was thinking—if Zander was going to renege on his side of the deal, then why on earth should she continue to bother with hers? She felt absolutely fine. She’d experienced no more pain, no more spotting. The gallery was only a ten-minute walk from here and when they’d swung by her flat to pick up a bag the afternoon she’d moved in, she’d packed her black dress, just in case. There was nothing stopping her from dropping in to make sure things were going smoothly. She could be there and back in a couple of hours. And not that it mattered in the slightest, but Zander would never even know.

CHAPTER EIGHT

‘SHE’SDOINGWHAT?’

In response to Tony the concierge’s bombshell, Zander nearly dropped his phone.

‘Miss Halliday just left,’ Tony repeated slowly and loudly, as if Zander’s hearing was somehow impaired rather than merely succumbing to outrage and shock. ‘And when I asked her where she was going, as per your instructions, she mentioned popping to a gallery around the corner. I understand that her company is catering an event there. A private viewing, she said. We had a very interesting conversation about modern art and the food she designed to accompany it.’

Zander didn’t give a toss about modern art. Or designer food. He did, however, object greatly to Mia taking advantage of his absence to do what they’d agreed she wouldn’t.

‘Many thanks for the update, Tony,’ he muttered, then hung up and leapt to his feet.

What the hell was she playing at? he wondered as he grabbed his coat and strode to the lift. Did she have no concern at all for the safety of the child she was carrying? Short walks and a brief trip to the shops were one thing. Defying his orders to go to work and most likely overdoing it—because why wouldn’t she give an event she’d planned anything less than one hundred percent?—was quite another. How could she be so selfish?

With every step he took his anger climbed, but it wasn’t solely directed at her. Much as he’d like not to, he had to accept part of the blame for what had happened, which only added fuel to the fire.

He shouldn’t have stayed away so long. He hadn’t planned to. He’d assumed a day would be more than enough to get a grip on his unruly reaction to her, but then she’d texted him, offering to cook, and with the previous meal’s struggles fresh in his mind, he’d thought it wise to maintain his distance a little while longer. A little while stretched into a longer while, with regular updates from Tony assuring him she was fine, but once again the plan that had seemed such a solid one at the time hadnotworked out as he’d hoped.

So much for out of sight, out of mind, he thought darkly as he stalked to his car. Despite his hopes to the contrary, Mia occupied his thoughts all the damn time. At night, while he tossed and turned in the bedroom suite that connected to his office, she invaded his dreams and destroyed his peace. By day, thoughts of what she was doing and how she was derailed his focus so severely it was a miracle he hadn’t seriously screwed up.

As he fired up the powerful engine and steered the low-slung convertible out of the car park, he tried, and failed, to work out what it was about her that was so all-consuming, so distracting. Yes, she was beautiful and sexy, but so were many women and he’d met a lot of them. Could it be the fact that she was carrying his baby, which was sparking in him some primitive instinct to defend and protect, even though he wasn’t doing a very good job of it at the moment? Or was it simply down to the unsettling novelty of never having had a guest who’d stayed longer than one night?

Whatever it was, spending the last three days at his desk and away from her had not suppressed anything. He had not got his desire for her under control at all. His defences felt as rocky as ever and he was more on edge than he could remember.

The tiny voice in his head, the one which a moment ago had prompted a rare reflection on his role in this debacle, was now urging him to exercise extreme caution. He was in a febrile state. He wasn’t thinking clearly. But it was far too late for that. The decision to go home and confront her had been sealed the minute he’d heard what she was up to. Wild horses wouldn’t drag him from it now, because Mia had some serious explaining to do.

Two hours after she’d left, Mia let herself back into the apartment. She toed off her shoes with a sigh of relief and headed for the stairs, adrenalin still whooshing around her system like wildfire.

What a night.

What an event.

Celebrities had abounded. Champagne had flowed and canapés had been devoured. Within half an hour every piece that hung on the walls had had a little red dot on its label.

Quite frankly, she hadn’t understood the art at all and had liked it even less, but if someone wanted to spend a cool two million on a blue circle with a red line through it, that was up to them. She was hardly going to complain. The enormous amounts of money that moved around this city financed the catering and gave her a job she loved.

She didn’t regret dropping in for a moment. Hattie had been faintly put out to see her, true, and she was tired and her feet hurt, but she’d felt soalive, so full of purpose. The event had been a resounding success. The effusive gallery owner had said she’d be recommending Halliday Catering to everyone she knew. Tomorrow, there was a lunch in the Docklands for which her company was supplying the food and she’d be going to that too.

‘Good evening.’

At the low rumbling voice that came from the depths of the living space, Mia froze for a second then spun round to see Zander behind the bar, in the shadows, fixing himself a drink.

Her head emptied. Her heart lurched and then began to pound. Heat poured through her and her cheeks flamed, as if she’d been caught in the act. But she had nothing whatsoever to feel guilty about. If anyone did, it was him for having got her here under false pretences and then abandoning her. So she took a deep breath and willed herself to calm down.

‘Goodness, you gave me a fright,’ she said, nevertheless needing a moment to gather her wits and stamp out the inconvenient surge of desire that the sight of him always provoked, even now when she was so annoyed with him.

‘My apologies.’

‘What are you doing here?’ How ironic that he should show up the very evening she’d gone out.

He pulled off the top of a bottle that contained an amber liquid, a shot of which he poured into a tumbler. ‘I live here, if I remember correctly.’

‘You could have fooled me.’

The only indication that her jibe had hit its mark was a minute clenching of his jaw. He slowly and pointedly ran his dark gaze over her, taking in the dress she wore and the file she carried, obviously putting two and two together, and she flushed—ridiculously—all over again.

‘You’ve been to work.’

---