Page 44 of London
“I was going to ask Danielle to feed them.”
“Oh.” Linda fought to keep smiling despite the acid filling her stomach. She pushed her plate away. “Great idea.”
Gerard’s gaze stayed on her as he finished his last bite. He wiped his mouth with a paper napkin and reached for her hand.
“Does my asking Danielle to do this bother you?”
Linda shied away. “Why should it?”
“You tell me. And don’t answer with another question—it doesn’t work.”
Irritation filled her. What did he want to hear? That she was jealous of the stripper just because she was smoking hot? Did he expect her to act like the wicked queen in Snow White who constantly needed to be told she was the fairest in the land?
“I’m a mature, intelligent woman, Gerard. If your neighbor was your type, you wouldn’t be here with me. And you wouldn’t have introduced me to her as your girlfriend.”
His eyebrows rose. “Good answer. And perfectly accurate. Did you mind that I introduced you as my girlfriend?”
She laughed, her cheeks getting warmer. “As opposed to what? Your bed buddy? Your friend with benefits?” She sobered quickly. “I’m not a slut. I don’t sleep around. I just want you to know that—”
“I know,” he interrupted, reaching out to take her hand once more and kiss her palm. “I would be lying if I said I didn’t care. I don’t take the privilege of being your lover lightly.”
Her stomach knotted. She stared at her empty plate, chewing her bottom lip.
“What is it?” Gerard asked.
“It’s just… strange. I never thought of myself as the kind of woman who would have alover,” she said, the word sounding foreign to her own ears—and not because they weren’t in her native language.
Gerard grinned and winked. “Well, you have one now. And don’t make any plans for another anytime soon.”
How did he manage to sound playful yet deadly serious at the same time? But she didn’t mind. In fact, she was thrilled about it. This was nothing like Tony’s ridiculous bouts of jealousy. This was a man who wanted her to be his and only his, but unlike her ex-husband, Gerard was willing to offer himself to her as completely. And unlike Tony, she desperately wanted Gerard.
“Same goes,” she said, arching a sassy eyebrow. “Now, let’s buy those tickets, then get over to your place. We have work to do.”
She switched on her laptop. They sat on the sofa checking out the airlines’ schedules. There were London-Bucharest flights every day—reasonably priced considering the flight was less than four hours long.
“How about we leave Monday?” Gerard asked.
“That’s only two days away.”
“So? It’s just a short trip, okay? Please don’t tell me you’re one of those women who needs three suitcases for a lousy three-day trip.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Shut up.”
“All you need is a couple of changes of clothes, a pair of pajamas and some underwear. If anything else comes up, Mariana and Jean-Paul can help you with it.”
“Fine.” Linda grabbed her phone. “Let me call Mrs. Adams to make sure she can take care of Pirata.”
She made the call, relieved when her wonderful housekeeper was more than delighted to take care of the cat. She suggested taking him to her place, but Linda had second thoughts about that. The animal would probably prefer staying in his own element.
“If you can come and spend an hour or two with him every day, give him food and water and let him outside for a while, he should be great,” Linda said.
“Consider it done, Miss. Now, do you need me to come over and help you pack?”
“No, thank you, Mrs. Adams. I’ll be traveling light. We’ll be back on Wednesday.”
“Alright then, Luv. I’ll be there Monday morning. Don’t you worry about a thing. Pirata and I will be just fine.”
“Thank you so much. I’ll bring back a souvenir for you.”
