Her husband shifts awkwardly while she waves a nonchalant hand in the air.
“Oh, you know, some couples just can’t seem to get enough of each other. Others are more… reserved, I suppose. Less obviouslyintoeach other.”
My spine hardens. “Oh, we’re into each other. We just don’t feel that’s anyone else’s business.”
I leave her staring open-mouthed as I walk back to the table and take my seat. Her observation has left a bitter taste in my mouth. As I sit and wait for Erin to arrive, I rack my brain to work out exactly what’s bothering me.
Unbeknown to anyone else here, Erin and I have known each other—and ‘known’ is perhaps an exaggeration—for all of ten days. Last night was the first time we shared a bed, and even then it was with a line of pillows between us. We’re not really together and we won’t ever be. This is a business transaction. That’s what we both signed up to.
When a number of heads turn toward the entrance and I follow their gazes to a woman arriving in a floor-length waterfall of dark green satin, it suddenly becomes crystal clear what is bothering me.
Erin’s gaze meets mine and her bare shoulders instantly relax.
My chest aches with a need to turn her right around and take her far away from this place, because I now can’t escapethe highly inconvenient realization. I don’t want this to be a business transaction any longer. I want it to be more.
But that makes our arrangement muddy and complicated, and I can’t afford to be distracted. I need to find out which Russian players are holding all the cards to this deal, so I can end it. Cristiano needs me to figure it out, for the sake of our entire organization.
Of course, it would only be complicated if she felt the same way, but given the amount of crap she gives me, I’m not sure she does. So, maybe I’m on safe ground for now.
I hold onto that gaze and don’t let it go, even when she reaches the table. I don’t want her looking around and noticing that the eyes of every other man in here are on her.
I stand to greet her, then I do something we haven’t yet discussed. I slide my hand around her nape, pull her head toward me and kiss her. On the lips.
Her body goes rigid with shock, but only for a second or two. When she relaxes, her mouth softens and I catch her lips again before pulling away.
“You look beautiful,” I say, enjoying her flustered glow as she sits on the chair I just pulled out for her.
Staring at the table, she tentatively touches her lips as though she’s never felt them before.
I unfold a napkin and lay it over my thighs. “How was your afternoon?”
“Um…” she flicks her lashes toward me, then looks away again, fast. “It was fine, thank you. I went for a swim. You?”
I smile to myself. “Meetings.”
She nods, still unable to look at me. “Right.”
I lower my voice and lean in to her. “It’s been noticed that we’re not particularly…amoroustoward each other. I thought we should probably dial it up a touch.”
She nods again. “M-hm. Dial it up. Sure.”
I chew my lip. “Can I hold your hand?”
She glances up, finally. “But… no one will see.”
“Practice.”
She slowly lifts her left hand, dangling it between us as if it’s infected.
I roll my eyes and enclose it in mine, brushing a thumb over the rock I gave her. Then I rest our clasped hands on my thigh.
In my periphery she seems to be swallowing a lot, so I beckon over a member of staff and request some water.
Conversation picks up around the table, but I can’t focus on it when I’ve got Erin’s hand on my lap, loosening and molding to mine. I release her when the starters arrive then take it again when the plates are cleared. I release her again for the main course, but when those plates are cleared, her hand finds its way to me.
By the end of the meal, our fingers are entwined and relaxed, and it feels like they belong together. This is good, I tell myself. It all helps with our cover, and it’s just a happy bonus that I like the feel of her skin.
“I’d like us to stay and mingle,” I tell her as the waiters clear away the coffee cups.
