later, she sank her head back against the plush leather headrest and sighed as the limousine slipped smoothly from the hotel. Better to end this way, she reflected; better that they had argued rather than agreeing to meet again. Better that it had ended now when anything else would merely have been putting off the inevitable.
For it would have ended, nothing surer, and probably as soon as their next meeting. And then Leo would take off in his jet and find another convenient Evelyn somewhere else in the world, and she would be forgotten.
But now they’d claimed their stolen night, the night they’d been cheated out of by conspiring circumstances those years ago, and it had been an amazing night and she’d managed to survive with both some degree of pride and her job intact. But it was for the best that it had ended on a sour note.
Now they could both put it behind them.
SHE grappled with the front-door key, her baby growing heavier by the minute. That or her night of sinful and unfamiliar pleasures had taken it out of her, but the child dozing on her shoulder felt like he’d doubled in size and weight overnight. Then again, maybe he’d just had one too many pancakes. She knew she had. She’d woken this morning after too few hours’ sleep almost ravenous.
She was barely inside the door when the phone started ringing and she picked it up more to shut it up than any desire to talk to whoever was calling. She had less desire to talk when she found out who it was.
‘Evelyn, it’s Leo.’
The sound of his voice sent ripples of pleasure through her, triggering memories formed all too recently to not remember every single sensual detail. She sucked in air, but Leo was the last person she’d expected to call and there was nothing she could think of to say. Hadn’t they said everything that needed to be said last night?
‘Evelyn?’
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to ignore the snatches of memory flashing through her mind, the rumble of his murmured words against her thigh, the brush of his whiskered cheek against her skin, his clever tongue…
‘I…I didn’t expect to hear from you.’
‘I didn’t expect to be calling. Look, Evelyn, there’s been a development. Culshaw wants to move the contract discussions to somewhere where the weather suits Maureen better. He suggested we reconvene on his island off North Queensland.’
With the dead-to-the-world weight of her toddler on her shoulder, she battled to work out what it was Leo actually wanted. ‘So you need me to make some bookings? Or do I have to rearrange your schedule?’
‘Neither.’ A pause. ‘I need you to come.’
Sam stirred on her shoulder, his head lolling from one side to the other, and she kissed his head to soothe him. ‘Leo, you know that’s not possible.’
‘Why isn’t it possible?’
‘You said our deal was for one night only and I already told you I wouldn’t meet you again.’
‘But that was before Culshaw came up with this idea.’
‘That’s too bad. I did what we agreed.’ And then, thinking he might better understand it in business-speak, ‘I fulfilled the terms of the contract, Leo, and then some.’
‘So we make a new deal. How much this time, Evelyn?’ he asked, sounding angry now.
‘I told you before, it’s not about the money.’
‘Fifty thousand.’
‘No. I told you, they’re nice people. I don’t want to lie to them any more.’
‘One hundred thousand.’
She looked up at the ceiling, cursing under her breath, trying not to think about what a sum like that would mean to the timing of her renovation plans. She could engage a decent architect, get quotes, maybe landscaping so Sam had a decent play area outside. But it was impossible. ‘No!’
‘Then you won’t come?’
‘Absolutely not.’
‘So what am I supposed to tell Culshaw?’
‘It’s your lie, Leo. Tell him what you like. Tell him it’s family reasons, tell him I’m sick, tell him I never was and never will be your fiancée. It’s your call.’ On her shoulder her son grew unsettled, picking up on the vibe in the air, butting his head from side to side against her shoulder, starting to grizzle.
‘What was that?’ Leo demanded.
‘Me about to hang up. Are we finished here? Only it’s not really a convenient time to call.’ Please, God, can we be finished here? she prayed as her muscles burned under Sam’s weight.
‘No. I need…I need some documents to take with me!’
‘Fine,’ she said, sighing, wondering which documents they could possibly be when she was sure she’d provided him with everything he needed already and in triplicate. ‘Let me know which ones and I’ll email them straight away.’
‘No. I need them in hard copy. All originals. You have to bring them to the hotel, as soon as you can.’
If she’d had a free hand, it would have gone to her head. ‘I’ve always emailed documents to you before. It’s never been a problem.’
‘I need those documents delivered to me personally this afternoon!’
She sucked in a breath. ‘Okay. I’ll get them couriered over as soon as I can.’
‘No. Definitely not couriered. You need to deliver them personally.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I need them immediately and they’re commercial-in-confidence. I’m not about to entrust them to someone else, not at this crucial stage. You’ll have to bring them yourself.’
When she made no response, she heard, ‘You did say you wanted to keep working with me.’
Bastard! She could take a veiled threat just as well as she could take a hint. She was damned if she’d take more of Leo’s money to pretend to be his fiancée, but right now she couldn’t afford to ditch him as a client. ‘Of course. I’ll bring them over myself.’
‘Good. I’ll be in my suite.’
‘Not there.’
‘What?’
‘I won’t bring them to your suite. I won’t go there again. Not after…’
‘You think I’d try something?’
Hardly, after the way they’d parted last night. But she didn’t trust herself not to be tempted, there in that room where they’d done
