“So?”
“Are you kidding me? I thought when you started dating Nadia that you’d stop flirting with other women.”
“I don’t flirt.”
“You flirt all the time.”
“If I do, it doesn’t mean anything. Nadia knows that.”
“No.” Lexie sounded despairing. “God, Henry, do you not know anything about women?”
“Carraway, help me out here.”
“Sorry,” Caine’s voice rumbled up to me, “I can’t. If Lexie flirted with other men, it would piss me off.”
See! Thank you, Caine!
There was silence and I was about to head back to the bathroom when Lexie said, “It wouldn’t bother you if Nadia flirted with other men?”
More silence, and I found myself leaning further toward the staircase, desperate to hear his answer.
To my disappointment, he didn’t respond. With an inward sigh, I found the bathroom, washed up quickly, and wandered as casually as possible downstairs.
Henry stood from the table. “There you are. Time to go.”
Taken aback, I could only nod and quickly thank Lexie and Caine for having us before Henry grabbed my hand and led me out. Just as we walked into the hall, I looked over my shoulder and caught Lexie grinning mischievously at me.
Confusion wrinkled my brow.
Inside the elevator, his grip on my hand tightened. I dared to look at him. He was staring straight ahead, the muscle in his jaw twitching.
“Months ago when I crashed your date with that photographer, I was jealous as hell,” he bit out. “And I made that clear.”
My heart started to race. “Yes?”
Finally, he looked at me, his expression unsure. “You’ve been pissed all week because of June Hamilton and you didn’t tell me. How many times have I pissed you off and you haven’t told me?”
“Not pissed,” I said, my words so low I was almost whispering. “Hurt.”
Remorse and something else flicked across his gaze. “That’s a million times worse. Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because you’re a flirt.” I wrenched my hand away. “That’s who you are. I can’t change who you are, Henry. And I can’t change the fact that I’m the kind of woman who wants the guy she’s with to pretend that he doesn’t see how beautiful other women are. I don’t see other men when I’m with you. They don’t exist. Not like that. All I ever see is you. And yes… it hurts that you don’t feel the same way.”
He cut me a disbelieving look.
Yet he didn’t speak.
He didn’t speak at all. However, when the elevator doors opened, he grabbed my hand and marched me down the street to his apartment. I didn’t know what was going to happen next. Uneasiness made me tighten my hold on his hand and he squeezed back. In reassurance?
I didn’t know.
The doubt was obliterated as soon as I stepped inside his apartment.
He slammed the door shut behind us and pinned me against the wall, towering over me, covering me, staring down into my eyes with a fierceness that made me breathless.
“What I say to other women… it’s merely years of cultivated charm. A veneer. A mask. And I’ve been doing it so long, it naturally happens.” He cupped my face in his hand and leaned down so our noses were touching. There was nowhere for me to look but deep into those vivid blue eyes. “But I can promise you that you are all I truly see. You’re all I think about. All the time. And I’ve been trying my damnedest to give you space when you get distant with me like you did this week… but I’m not winning either way here so I might as well just say what’s been building inside me for months.” His thumb slid over my lips as he drank in my every feature. “Nadia, I am so in love with you. Every moment we’re not together, I miss you. I miss you like I haven’t seen you in years. The thought that I’ve been hurting you these past few months kills me. I’ll be more aware of the flirting thing. I won’t do it. I promise you. But you have to promise me that from now on, you’re going to talk to me. You’re going to tell me when I’ve made you happy and when I’ve pissed you off… and if, and I hope I don’t, hurt you.”
Nadia, I am so in love with you.
Never before had I felt such a mix of agony and euphoria. His words meant everything to me… yet they also terrified me.
The fear won and it closed my throat and any response I might have had.
That was when Henry Lexington proved to me he was someone very special.
He brushed his lips gently over mine and whispered, “I can wait, Sunshine. You take all the time you need.”
“I can’t believe you talked me into this.” Anxiety surged through me.
“We have to face her together. It might as well be now.”
Face Henry’s mother. Together. At a Sunday luncheon. A garden gala. Whatever that was. “Why is there always an event every weekend in your circle?”
He shrugged. “Charities, political campaigns, celebra—”
“People with too much time on their hands.”
He chuckled. “Please don’t say that in front of my mother.”
“She doesn’t like me, Henry. Nothing I say or do will change that.”
“Well, she needs to come around because you’re not going anywhere. And that’s why you’re here. So she can see that.”
I nodded, leaning into him a little more. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m just nervous.”
“Lexie is here somewhere,” he offered, knowing her presence would soothe me.
As we made our way around the lawn, people stopped to greet Henry, some I’d met at previous events, others who I hadn’t and were intrigued to meet the woman Henry had given up bachelor life for. I’d asked Lexie what I should wear to a garden gala and we’d gone shopping together. I was pleased to see my friend had steered me correctly. The women were dressed in a similar style—classy summer dresses with cardigans or blazers since the weather was turning cool.
I was wearing a blue dress in a stretchy material that hugged my body. The hemline sat an inch or so above my knee showing plenty of leg, but the neckline was slashed in a straight line below my neck and it had cap sleeves. It was sexy, demure.
Lexie had also given me little plastic heel cups for my stilettos so I didn’t sink into the lawn.
“Henry, Nadia.” Randall Lexington suddenly appeared, looking dapper in a blue cashmere sweater and tan trousers. He shook his son’s hand and then leaned over to kiss my cheek.
I relaxed a little, knowing at least one of Henry’s parents liked me. According to Henry, his father was trying to get Penelope to come around to us. Apparently he wasn’t having much luck.
“You look beautiful,” Randall said as he pulled back. “And I’m pleased no one’s run you off.”
We all knew who “no one” was.
Henry’s arm tightened around my waist. “I’d only chase her if she ran.”
I rolled my eyes and Randall gave a bark of laughter. “Who are you and what have you done with my son?”
“That is what I’d like to know.” Penelope sidled up to our group.