Romantic Getaways Collection. Liz Fielding
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they walked away from the Gothic quarter, Caleb finally allowed himself to think about what he’d overheard Elena saying to Carter’s wife about him.
She could have just been playing the game of being his lover, of course, but there had been something in the way she’d said it that had made his breath catch in his throat. Clearly she’d thought he wasn’t listening because when he’d turned to catch her eye she’d looked almost—shifty.
So there was something more than friendship between them, just as he’d suspected. But if that was the case, why was she pretending that there wasn’t?
He had no idea.
What he did know was that he was going to make sure to find out before she left for England and do everything in his power to smooth things over with her.
The kiss they’d shared before Carter and his wife had arrived had made his body hum with tension all evening. When he’d seen the look of concern on her face he’d wanted to do something to reassure her he was going to do whatever it took to win the Americans over, but as soon as his mouth had met hers he’d been lost in a great surge of hunger for her. The sounds and sights of the restaurant had faded away until all he was aware of was the gentle sway and press of Elena’s body against his and the sweet, exotic fragrance of her. Her mouth had felt so good against his it had taken a monumental effort to drag himself away from her and not grab her hand and run with her out of the restaurant and jump into the next cab to take them home.
After that, watching her charming Carter’s wife and dazzling the couple with her wit, intelligence and profound beauty—he’d found it almost impossible to keep his mind solely on the business conversation.
Throughout the entire evening he’d been intensely aware of the connection between them, taut and alive, as if it was a tangible thing drawing them ever closer together.
He wanted to know more about what was going on between them—had to know, for the sake of his sanity.
Yes, he assured himself, he wasn’t going to let her go until he’d got the full measure of Elena Jones.
THE CAR PICKED them up a couple of streets away from the restaurant and took them straight home to Caleb’s apartment, the two of them sitting in a buzzing, tension-filled silence as they looked out at the wide city streets flashing by.
‘You were great tonight,’ Caleb said after his driver had pulled up outside his building and he’d helped Elena out of the car, feeling her cool, small hand in his and marvelling at how good it felt to have it there. ‘Carter’s wife really seemed to like you.’
She flashed him an equable smile as she straightened up. ‘I liked her; she was a really lovely woman, very focused on her family.’
‘Well, I owe you big for what you did for me tonight.’
There was a loaded moment where they stood and looked at each other, the gentle, far-off sounds of the city at night making him feel as though they were trapped in a bubble together. Caleb broke the strange energy by smiling and saying, ‘Anyway, thanks, Elena. I really appreciate your help.’
She shuffled a little on the spot and nodded, her bright eyes gleaming in the light thrown out from the streetlight above them.
‘It was my pleasure. Anything for a friend.’
The emphasis she put on the word ‘friend’ made him bristle.
It suddenly struck him that by tomorrow her forty-eight hours of observation of him would be up and she might well leave and return to England.
And he found he really didn’t want her to go.
He wondered where this intense need to keep her here longer had sprung from. Okay, he found her really attractive and was impressed with her business acumen and how smart and savvy she was, but he never normally felt this sort of draw to a woman.
There was something different about her, something compulsive.
He had to explore what this thing was between them, or it would haunt him for ever.
Turning back to look into her hooded eyes, he was intrigued to see she seemed to be having her own non-verbal debate with herself. Was she only holding back because she thought he was still incapacitated? Weak? Frustration surged through him. Well, he wasn’t. He was completely in his right mind and he knew damn well what he wanted—her, and now.
Pulling his key card out of his pocket, he let them into his building and they stepped into the lift that would take them up to his apartment, Elena swaying gently in her heels beside him.
Being around her felt right, dammit—as if she were a missing link in his life.
And he was going to do whatever it took to have her back in it.
‘Elena?’ he said, turning to face her once the lift had begun its smooth ascent.
‘I know what happened between us at university. I know we were more than just friends. And I know we didn’t act on it because of Jimmy.’
* * *
Elena swallowed hard as blood rushed to her head and her stomach did a backflip.
His memory had finally returned.
‘You remember?’ she whispered through lips that would barely form the words.
He nodded, his beautiful mouth curving into another of its wolfish, dangerous smiles.
The lift came to an abrupt stop, making her stomach do an extra flip for good measure. She could barely breathe with worry about what he was going to say now he remembered what had happened all those years ago. Would he be angry with her? Shout and swear at her, or just be coldly dismissive again?
Her pulse throbbed in her head. She really hoped he wouldn’t go ballistic and chuck her out on the street now, not after what they’d just been through together. Not now she’d finally met the real Caleb again. She couldn’t bear it.
The door of the lift swished open and he strode out and straight over to his door without another word, slipping the key into the lock then holding the door open for her to walk through it.
She strode into his apartment with her head held resolutely high, determined to keep her cool, to restate her case and hopefully prove to him once and for all that she was sorry about how their relationship had ended.
Her heart hammered in her chest as she watched him shrug off his jacket and hang it up before finally turning back to face her.
His expression was impassive as his dark gaze bored into hers.
‘We’ve wasted a lot of time leading our separate lives and I think it’s time to remedy that.’
She stared at him in shock. Had she misheard? It sounded as though he was talking about pursuing more than friendship with her. ‘I’m sorry?’ she stuttered, aware that her hands had begun to shake at her sides.
‘What happened was a long time ago, and we’re both free and single now,’ he continued, apparently oblivious to her befuddlement. ‘Without anything standing in our way. No partners, no memory loss—’
‘Do you remember everything that happened between us?’ she asked, her voice sounding shaky with anticipation and hope.
There was a flash of something in his eyes, remembered pain perhaps, but it quickly disappeared. ‘Yes.’
‘And you forgive me for it?’
He took a deliberate pace towards her and raised his hand to touch her face, smoothing the backs of his long fingers gently over her cheek.
‘I’m not going to let some stupid argument from the past get in the way of what we have here—right now. We’re good together, you and I. We fit.’
‘Caleb—are