‘One last thing,’ he said, ‘and this from the guy you thought had fabricated a job opportunity as some kind of coercive piece of bribery…’
‘Raffaele, please…don’t. I…’
‘You won’t see me again. We’re done and dusted. But the job is still yours for the taking.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean the job I offered you…still stands and it has nothing to do with whether we were lovers once or not. It stands because you would be good at it and you deserve it.’ He stood up, bringing the conversation to a close. ‘You can think about it and let Human Resources know if you’re still interested. If not, you can rest assured that the reference you get from me will be of the highest order.’
‘Thank you,’ Erin whispered, tears stinging the back of her eyes. She spun around before they could start streaming down. When she looked over her shoulder, one last, quick glance, it was to see him binning the envelope with her resignation letter inside. He hadn’t even bothered to read it.
Raffaele heard the sound of her shuffling in her office, clearing her stuff out. He could picture her so clearly, could see the soft curve of her neck, the slenderness of her arms, the delicate bone structure of her face with those freckles that had appeared from nowhere in the heat of the sun.
He slammed his fist on his desk, strode restlessly to the window and looked down at the streets below. From here, he had a bird’s-eye view of the people entering and leaving the building. He felt nailed to the spot.
Erin had left her office. He’d heard the quiet click of the outer door closing. He wondered whether she would say anything to any of her colleagues, or whether she would just disappear into a future that no longer included him or anyone else she had spent the past four years working with.
His hearthurt. He only had himself to blame. That was what came from being foolish enough to lower your guard.
He remained where he was, looking down, waiting to see her hurrying out and away from his orbit.
He wanted to tear himself away, return to the pile of emails waiting for him, but he realised that ever since this three-dimensional, fascinating, sexy, addictive woman had entered his life, work had taken a back seat.
But what would staring through a window do for him? Except ratchet up his levels of frustration? Frustration and basic incomprehension. He had made her an irresistible offer. They still wanted one another. To him, her reasoning for walking away, fordumping him because he’d served his purpose, made no sense.
But then again…
Raffaele frowned and thought about them both, thought about his own life experiences and about hers.
His formative years, spent cocooned in wealth but lacking the joy of loving, demonstrative parents, had toughened him and his doomed love affair had snuffed out any last remaining dregs of hope that love was for him.
He realised with a jolt how little real interest he had ever taken in the backstories of the women he had dated in the past. He had entered all those relationships with his emotions sealed off and, unable to share anything of himself, had never sought to discover anything about his partners.
He wined and dined them and pleasured them and then when it was over, he walked away intact.
But he had found out about Erin. He had begun to feel…things stirring inside him, like small shoots wanting to grow.
But as she had made perfectly clear, he’d never been her type.
She was someone whose entire background had geared her towards the eventual goal of a long-term relationship. Where he was content to have fun until the fun ended, she wasn’t. Their intense physical connection had made her realise that she wanted more. Who could blame her? He was cut from completely different cloth.
She did deserve better than him.
All told, it was a good thing that she had broken things off. However disoriented he felt at the moment, he would and could never be the straightforward kind of guy who wanted the neat house and the picket fence and the apple tree in the back garden.
Raffaele stared sightlessly down for a few seconds.
His heart picked up pace.
Yet what might it feel like to have had her love? To have seen that soft smile turn to him with tenderness as well as passion? To see love in her eyes as well as desire? To know that she had his back?
He gritted his teeth in frustration. He’d tried all that in the past and it hadn’t worked. He didn’t have it in him to return that depth of feeling. He was too conditioned by his past, however weirdly she’d made him feel.
About to swing away from the window, something caught his eye. The navy blue outfit, so severe considering it was summer. The glossy chestnut hair tied back in her attempt to look professional. How could she not know that when he saw that, he also saw it loose and tumbling as she moved beneath him, flushed with lust?
Erin…and next to her…
Raffaele squinted, his entire body stilling at the figure by her side and then freezing as she fell against the man standing in front of her and was enveloped in an embrace that brought a surge of primitive jealousy exploding in his veins.
