Page 60 of Worth the Risk

CHAPTER EIGHT

Leonie

FORTHENEXT six days, we repeated the routine.

We would find private coves to drop anchor and spend the day. After breakfast I dismissed the crew, who were overjoyed to be given so much time off. The only time Gideon and I stepped off the yacht was to go skinny-dipping or jet-skiing in the turquoise waters of the Adriatic. The rest of the time was filled with new and inventive ways of fucking each other’s brains out.

And, boy, were we inventive.

To my delight, and Gideon’s, I discovered that deep throating wasn’t a myth, after all.

We separated to catch up on work for a couple of hours every day. Mine were oftentimes smooth, but Gideon tended to return to me a little distant each time, tensing each time his phone rang.

He was on another call to his office now while I stood on the balcony of his bedroom suite, basking in the sunset and the approaching lights of St Tropez.

I jumped when my phone rang. Then guilt struck because I’d missed my weekly call to my mother. It wasn’t her. I frowned at the unfamiliar number as I slid my finger across the screen. ‘Hello.’

‘Leonie.’ The voice was abrupt. Nasal. Instantly recognisable.

‘Adam?’ A clammy sensation drifted over me and I couldn’t hide my grimace.

Low, cocky laughter. ‘Hey, babe, I guess it bodes well that you still recognise my voice, right?’

No, it didn’t. At all. ‘How did you get this number?’

‘It’s not exactly a private number, is it? And let’s face it, you were never good at playing hard to get, were you, babe?’

My teeth clenched as fury swept through me. ‘Was there a specific reason for your call, Adam, or did you just disturb my evening to ask me stupid questions?’

He paused and I felt a pulse of reciprocal anger down the line. He’d never liked it when I spoke back. ‘I see some things haven’t changed,’ he snarled. ‘And here I was hoping not to start off on the wrong foot.’

‘A lot has changed, including the fact that there’s nothing to start. Not where you’re concerned anyway.’

‘Dammit, Leonie. You know I’ve been trying to reach you. Why are you avoiding me?’

My hand tightened on the phone. ‘Do I need to spell it out for you?’

‘Didn’t you get my emails? It’s all over between me and—’

‘I don’t really care.’

He laughed again, with a nasty edge to it that made my skin crawl. ‘Are you sure? According to a few folks back home you cried for weeks when I left. Look, I’m back now. We can go for a coffee—’

‘And what? Pretend that what you did never happened?’

‘If that’s what you want,’ he replied smoothly. ‘Congrats on making our dream come true with the boating business, by the way.’

‘Our dream?’

‘Don’t pretend selective memory. Opening the business together was always our vision.’

‘Until you tripped and fell into another woman’s bed—why am I even rehashing this?’

‘Because you’re still hurt. You still care about me. I’m back now. Let me take you to dinner. We can pick up where we left—’

‘You’re really unbelievable, do you know that?’

‘Is that a yes?’

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