Page 6 of Out of Office Nights
Absurdly that, too, pleased him. He really needed to have his head examined. ‘No need for a hunt.’
‘What?’
He sagged deeper into his chair, his eyes coasting professionally, he assured himself, over her once more. Now the idea was planted in his head, he itched to see her wearing his latest one-of-a-kind creation he’d been working on. ‘I’ll have something overnighted from Milan. I’ll send a car for you in the morning. You can try it on then.’
Damn it, damn it, damn it!
This was supposed to have been a short, decisive meeting.
Meet with Teodor Domene. Deliver the unequivocal ultimatum she’d been withholding—and dreading—for months. Leave.
Instead she’d been locked in a room with him for over an hour. Forced to breathe him in. To listen to that rich, raspy sensuality that dripped with every syllable that fell from his too sexy mouth. Forced to parcel out the handful of times she’d allowed herself to look at him—because any more would seriously risk her equilibrium. Relive that exquisite, mind-shredding kiss. Berate herself severely when she’d failed.
She’d tuned both men out just to try and collect herself, catching words likefortnightlyandcontact, then regretted it when ignoring him had only drawn his attention, a question clear in his narrow-eyed look. She’d nodded and saidyesstupidly without knowing exactly to what she was agreeing.
Her belly churned now as she walked in painfully measured steps to the door, the deplorable weakness she’d experienced since their very first meeting on the night of her retirement party—a reaction that had sparked a heated argument—evoking a sense of fury and helplessness that made her yank the door handle far too hard, risking him seeing the further deterioration of her composure.
Damn it!
Shutting the door behind her, she sagged against the wall and sucked in a deep breath. She hated that he did this to her. That it was so effortless, the way he affected her. Like that abandoned kiss, which had triggered such horror in her and a volcanic gleam in his eyes that had only made her…hotter!
Her single saving grace was that her hard-earned composure worked most of the time, and she could only hope that he continued to remain clueless how she suffered in his presence. She hated it enough that the one personal area of her life she’d sworn to overcome, he obliterated so obliviously.
But that was a good thing, she assured herself as she straightened and exhaled. Because she’d discovered, to her emotional cost and annihilation, that men like Teodor Domene—who believed they owned the world and everything within it—only needed to smell weakness to pounce on and devour their prey.
And she was no one’s prey. Not any more.
Not after Nathan Gray.
Even thinking the name shot acid into her throat. Sabeen gritted her teeth and breathed through it. Then ruthlessly forced herself to focus on the problems in front of her.
The truth she’d admitted to herself only recently and still grappled with.
She’d lost her mojo.
She waited until the executive lift door completely shut before she wilted, swallowing hard as the words rolled frantically through her brain once more.
Her creativity had terrifyingly deserted her.
Despite the confidence-boosting support and friendship from Eden Domene, the new Queen of Cartana. Despite the stunning coronation and wedding trousseau Sabeen had put together under Teodor’s direction. Despite the multi-page spread she’d earned inVoguemagazine in the aftermath of those achievements.
Hell, even despite the fact that she’d attended the royal wedding with Teodor, and had been the subject of more media scrutiny than she’d wanted.
Because, sadly, those comments had been of a snide nature, weighing her value only by who she knew and not her professional worth. And as always, the stench of her past association with Nathan Gray had followed, reducing every ounce of hard work into one salacious, scandalous,dismissivesoundbite.
For heaven’s sake, they’d even stopped using her name for those stomach-hollowing column inches.
Notorious Nathan Gray’s Ex’s New Collection Is a Flop!
Gray’s Ex Faces Axe from Domene X!
But by far the most devastating of them all:
Supermodel to Super Mistress to Super Nothing!
Despite the euphoria of creating the wedding collection and the despair of the negative press, Sabeen attributed her current condition to two things. Grief. Andthat kiss.
Both had sent her running to the beloved remote house on the hill on the outskirts of Essaouira, Morocco. The house her grandmother had loved with every fibre of her being and which she’d passed on to Sabeen when she’d died shortly after the wedding. A refuge where she’d licked her wounds and thought she’d managed to get herself together enough to tackle her next project.
