Page 61 of Love Among the Ruins
“What are you hoping to keep away?”
“Other women. Even the married ones have no shame. A woman on my arm is a deterrent.”
She sat back. It made perfect sense. Why not. Her heart had sunk a little, and she didn’t know why.
They returned to the office and she had her lunch at her desk, hoping to catch up with the work she had missed. But at the same time, she was trying to wrap her head around the idea of going to dinner with Dominic Steele as his deterrent.
She managed to get through the rest of the workday just fine, and then she rushed home.
Dominic had told her he’d come to pick her up in the car and to be ready by 7pm.
Luckily she’d brought a few of her nice dresses with her, when she hadn’t been sure what she’d wear for her twenty-first celebrations.
She opted for a black dress, nothing like the short and off the shoulder number that she’d worn on her birthday, but something more sophisticated, in the vein of an Audrey Hepburn outfit.
She slowly got ready, curling her hair into waves. With her heels, and clutch bag, and her hair swept to one side over her shoulder, she looked elegant and understated, not too over the top. The look was perfect. She wouldn’t be out of place as Dominic’s fake plus one and now found herself looking forward to the evening.
Dominic’s explanation for inviting her made her feel safe. She didn’t get any creep vibes off him, never had, otherwise she would not have taken this job. She’d met many men, had suffered their rude innuendos and glances, to know that when a man showed an interest in her, it was because he wanted something.
Not so with Dominic.
If anything, he’d always been good to her, which was why his treatment of Miranda had rubbed her the wrong way.
Dominic was too wrapped up in the big deal he was pursuing and nothing else mattered.
Besides, he had a girlfriend.
Why hadn’t she asked him about her?
Tonight was going to be a business arrangement, and she would get to see the house of the great Hector Galatis. She would get to see how the rich lived. This was exciting, stepping into a different world, and it beat staying in her hotel room eating a takeout alone.
She was using the curling irons to twirl a wayward lock of hair into place when her phone rang. It was Dominic. In a panic she looked at the time, then breathed easy, because she still had half an hour to go.
“Eleni?” He sounded meek, unlike himself.
“I’m getting ready, won’t be long.”
“I meant to call you earlier, but I got tied up in a conference call. I won’t need you to come tonight after all.”
“You won’t?” Her voice sounded sad, pathetic. Disappointed.
“Helen’s back and it’s probably better that I take her.”
Too much information. She managed to pull her senses together. “Oh, that’s okay, I was about to start getting ready.”
Her heart sank. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, all dressed up and with nowhere to go.
He didn’t need her, because he’d found someone better.
