I hesitate. If I know Meg, she already knows. If I find out she’s hooked her claws into Amelia, I will start breaking things.
“She’s my executive assistant,” I say finally, deciding honesty is the best policy. “Amber cut out on me at the last minute, and Amelia was gracious enough to step in.”
Her whole face relaxes. “Well, she’s beautiful. Good eye candy. I was rather put out when Ambrose stepped up in her defense. But knowing how much he likes to pick up your cast-offs, that makes a lot more sense now.”
She takes a sip of her drink, and I fight the urge to snatch it from her grasp and instruct her to leave. The wave of anger that rushes through me is so acute, so unexpected, that it takes me a moment to gather myself.
“What are you talking about, Meg?” I ask, adding as much disdain as I can to my voice, even as my heart beats a mile a minute.
Is Amelia with Ambrose? Is that why I can’t find her? Shit.
“Oh, he was very gracious. I had no idea you shared our arrangement with anyone else. I can see why you’d entertain yourself with her though; she must have a killer body under that dress.”
I watch her, taking my time before I reply, and see her twitch, her free hand plucking at the edge of her dress.
“Careful, Megan, you look a little green.”
“Hah! Of course, you’d think I was jealous. You realize that girl is as common as they come? She doesn’t belong in this world. She knows it as much as you do.”
“Speaking of little girls, I haven’t spoken to Sinclair yet. Where is he?”
Megan’s lips thin, shaking her hair out over her shoulders and curling a loose lock of it behind her ear.
“He’s networking. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to be doing?”
“That’s what Iwasdoing, Meg, but you needed to speak to me, apparently. Or was it just to warn me off getting attached to Amelia?”
Her eyes narrow, and she takes a step toward me. “Attached? What is she, half your age?”
I chuckle, my mood lifting even further as I look at the dark heat in her eyes. There is no lust between us now, just rage on her part and indifference on mine. It’s a wonderful development.
“She doesn’t seem to have a problem with my age. We never discuss it, if we talk at all, between everything else we get up to. Have a good night, Megan.”
I walk away briskly. I feel like I’m floating, a weight lifting from my shoulders. But as I scan the crowd looking for Amelia, my elation disappears.
That was a cheap shot.
Admitting to Megan that there’s more to Amelia and my relationship than just CEO and executive assistant feels degrading. My shoulders tense as I imagine what people would say if they discovered what Amelia’s role in my company really is.
I stare around me, desperate to find her. I need to see her face and reassure myself she’s here because she wants to be.
I begin to walk through the crowd, smiling vaguely at the people around me. I don’t want anyone else to hold me back. I need to find Amelia and make sure she’s alright.
I try to shut out images of walking into a side room, finding Ambrose driving his cock into her against a wall while she moans for him, but they flood my mind all the same.
As I entered the room tonight, it didn’t feel like I had a paid escort on my arm. It felt as if we were heretogether.
The idea seems like pure madness, but as the champagne courses through my system and I feel the buzz of the alcohol take hold, the need I feel to touch her skin, have her beside me again, is almost overwhelming.
Since the day she cared for me while I was sick, things have been changing between us in incremental ways I hadn’t even realized.
When Amber called to tell me she couldn’t make the gala, I wasn’t even angry even though I played it off like I was; I felt relief. Relief that I could finally ask the person I really wanted to accompany me instead.
Finally, the crowd parts to reveal that glorious, shimmering hair I love so much. Letting out a grateful breath, I make my way toward her, only to stop in place, fury rising so fast I want to slam my fist through the nearest wall.
She’s standing beside Ambrose, and his goddamn hand is resting against the small of her back.
Chapter 36
