by Ashley Blake
I gave him a small smile. ”Okay, thanks. Well, I should really get upstairs. I am exhausted.”
He glanced over his shoulder at the group of clients who were waiting for him and then looked back at me.
“I have to go wrap a few things up with the group over there but I really want to talk with you, Eva. Can I stop by your room when I’m done for the evening?”
I looked at him and then looked away. ”I really don’t think that is a good idea, Christian. I don’t know that there is much more to say.”
“On the contrary, there is a lot more to say. Eva, you have to let me explain my side of things. I know what you’re thinking of me and you’re wrong. Please give me a chance to explain.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly as I looked up at him. “Okay, I suppose we can talk when we get back home.”
“Home? You’re not kidding, are you?”
“No, I’m not.”
“So you’re not going on our trip?”
“I just don’t think it’s the right thing for us to do. We should take a few days apart to figure things out. Let’s talk when we’re back home.”
“I have to say I am extremely disappointed because I was really looking forward to spending time alone traveling with you. I really wish you would reconsider.”
“Honestly, Christian, with everything that happened, and what I now know about your relationship with Jessica, the Paris trip is kind of tainted.”
He furrowed his brow. “What do you mean, ‘what you now know about my relationship with Jessica’?”
“I talked to Evan and he told me more about her and the history you two have. I’m not really interested in taking what sounds like an identical trip you took with her.”
“It’s not the same trip, Eva, I wouldn’t do that to you, and that was a long time ago. Evan needs to get his facts straight.” I could see that he was irritated.
“Don’t get upset with Evan. I may have misunderstood that part because I was so confused by everything that had happened in the room earlier tonight.”
“Nothing happened, Eva.”
I held up my hand to stop him from saying anything else.
“I am exhausted and I don’t want to get into it now. I am going home tomorrow and you and I can talk whenever you get home.”
“Don’t you want to know if I am going home with you?”
I did want to know but I was afraid to ask. My heart was so hurt and I just didn’t have the energy to process whatever his answer would be.
“Even if you are, we will still wait until we get home to talk. I really do think I need time to process everything that happened.”
He let out a deep sigh and put his hands in his pockets, looking totally defeated.
“Okay.” He leaned down and kissed me on the cheek and I inhaled his delicious scent as his scruff grazed my cheek. “Sleep well and I will see you soon.”
By the time I collapsed in the bed, I was so wiped out from the evening I think I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.
Chapter Seventeen
I went in to work an hour earlier than normal the Wednesday after I returned from Paris and I felt like a completely different person. We were told to take off Monday and Tuesday so that our body clocks could reset back to Chicago time, and after working on that project for the month I had so much more confidence than I’d had when I started at the company. I had requests for several conference calls with many of the people I had met in Paris and I had several requests for my participation in many new projects.
My first meeting was at 9:00 that morning and I wasn’t sure if Christian would be there because I had not seen or heard from him in several days. He ended up not flying back home with us which was a relief for me, but it had been four days since I had seen him and I had no idea what his schedule was because his calendar was clear for the entire week. It took a minute for me to realize it was clear because we were supposed to be traveling around Europe.
The rest of the day passed quickly because I was so busy with meetings and it was time for me to go home before I knew it. I had dinner plans with Carrie that night and she was dying to hear all about my trip. She had just returned from visiting family so we had not had any time to catch up. I went home, showered and changed, and rushed out to meet her at Il Cantinori by 6:00.
As soon as she saw me she ran up to me, threw her arms around me and nearly squeezed the life out of me.
“Oh my gosh!” she squealed, ”It is so great to see you, Eva!”
“It’s great to see you too! I can’t believe we haven’t seen each other in a month! When has that ever happened?”
“It hasn’t!” She looked me over, taking it all in, and I was waiting to hear what she thought about my new designer clothes, courtesy of Christian. “Wait a minute.” She cocked her head to the side. “Something is different. You’re different. Okay, who is he?”
Not even my best friend knew how much had happened with Christian. The only reason Evan knew was because he was there and witnessed how upset I was after seeing Christian with Jessica. I couldn’t hide it.
“Okay, you can’t say anything because this cannot get out.”
She inched closer to me, fully engaged. “Oh my gosh, who is it?”
“Christian Locke.”
“No way!” she screeched. People in the restaurant turned and looked at us.
“Carrie, quiet!”
“Sorry, you just caught made by surprise. You and Christian Locke? He’s like the most eligible bachelor in Chicago!”
“I know, and it’s over.”
“What do you mean it’s over? How long were you together and when did this even start?”
I realized I had been keeping my relationship with Christian a secret and Carrie only knew him as Mark. I don’t think I ever told her Mark turned out to be Christian Locke because I had been so busy with work and then I was off to Paris for a month. But since things didn’t work out I decided it was time to fill her in on everything.
“Okay, so remember Mark, the mysterious guy?”
“Yes, he kind of fell off the map because you never talked about him again.”
“Well, he didn’t really fall off of the map, Mark turned out to be Christian Locke.”
“Wait, what?!”
“Yes, he told me his name was Mark because he wanted me to like him for who he was and not because he is a Locke.”
“So he lied to you? Doesn’t that bother you?”
“It did at first, but after he explained why he did it I understood and I decided to move on from that issue.”
“Okay, so wait a second. Is he your boss?”
“Yes.” I wasn’t sure how she was going to take that so I just sat there, letting it hang in the air while she processed it.
“Eva, you were sleeping with your boss at your brand-new job? Isn’t that the fastest way to lose your brand-new job?”
I got a little annoyed with her because I thought I sensed judgment. “Are you judging me?”
She instantly got a little defensive. “No, of course not, but I am a little bit concerned when you tell me that your brand new boss is the guy that you have been sleeping with and now are no longer sleeping with. Do you even still have a job?”
I was shocked by her tone. “You know what, Carrie, I should not have said anything to you. I really didn’t expect for you to respond this way.”
“Hey, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. And I am totally not judging you. I just don’t want you to get in over your head, especially because you have such an amazing opportunity with this company. Tell me more, I want to hear what happened and I promise, no judgment.”
I looked at her and smiled. “Okay.” I told her everything from what happened with catching him with Jessica in the penthouse to catching him with her in Paris.
“So why is this chick around so much? What the hell was she doing in Paris if nothing is going on with them? I don’t know, Eva, it sounds kind of fishy to me and I think
you did the right thing by telling him you needed some time to think about everything. He sounds like a major player. He lied to you in the beginning, right? How do we know he’s not lying to you about this entire Jessica thing and basically just trying to have both of you?”
“That is what I’m trying to figure out.”
“Do you really think you will go back to him, after everything he has done?”
“I don’t know. Evan told me not to listen to anything Jessica says and said she’s basically a psycho ex who can’t accept that it’s over.”
“Does it seem that way to you?”
“She does kind of have that stalker thing going on so I guess it could be possible that she’s just not over him.”
“I guess, Eva, but I really don’t like the lying that he did. It just puts a lot of doubt where there really doesn’t have to be any.”
“I know, I know, but we have no idea what it’s like to live in his world. Paparazzi were everywhere in Paris, it was insane.”
“Yeah, I guess we don’t know what that’s like. But if you decide to give him another chance, that might become your world. Are you ready for that?”
“Honestly, Carrie, I’m just trying to take things one day at a time.”
“I guess you can at least hear him out. Evan sounds like a really cool guy and I don’t think he would encourage you to give Christian another chance if he didn’t think he was telling the truth.”
“Yeah, whenever he gets back I’ll let him know that I’m ready to listen. So, enough about me. What’s been going on with you?”
“Before we get to me I have to tell you I am so proud of you and happy for you that you landed such an amazing job, and I know that you are going to kill it with that company. I can’t believe you actually met Diane Locke. She sounds like such a nice and down-to-earth woman, not what I would have pictured at all. She knows everybody who’s anybody!”
“Thanks, Carrie. Yes, she was pretty amazing and I seriously have to pinch myself to see if all of this is real. Okay, on to you. Tell me what’s been going on.”
We talked so long that night I was surprised when our waiter told us it was last call. It felt good to catch up with my friend. I had forgotten how easily time slipped away from us when we were together.
I looked at my watch. “We’d better get going. Let’s do brunch this weekend, okay?”
“Okay, sounds good.”
That Friday I still had not seen or heard from Christian and I was immersed in a project for a client in Florence, and did not even notice it was almost 7:00 p.m. until my stomach reminded me that it was time to eat. I packed up my things and was thinking of what I would have for dinner when I literally walked right into Christian and I let out a little scream. He scared the crap out of me.
He grabbed my arms, steadying me. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you!”
“What are you doing standing there so quietly?” I was annoyed because he scared me.
“I was watching you work, you looked so intense and I can tell that you enjoy what you are doing. That makes me really happy.”
I looked to him trying to understand him. “Yes, I do enjoy what I’m doing. I love what I’m doing.”
He smiled at me and just stood there looking at me. “Good.” His voice was soft and his mood was mellow. His eyes searched mine and he reached out and gently touched my cheek. “I have missed you so much, Eva.”
Before I could say anything, my stomach grumbled. He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Oh, I’m stopping you from getting something to eat. Will you let me take you out to dinner?”
I almost said no but decided it was the perfect time to hear him out.
I smiled at him. “Sure, I would like that.”
We went to a restaurant nearby and Christian said something to the hostess, slipped her some cash and we were seated at a booth in the back. We had complete privacy. We ordered and then we talked. It was way past time for us to do that.
“Is it safe to talk about what happened in Paris?” Christian was treading lightly and I appreciated his approach.
“Yes, it is. I’m sorry I didn’t listen before but I was so overwhelmed with everything that was happening. I needed a minute to process everything.”
His eyes were sincere. “I can understand that. I know it looked bad, but nothing happened with Jessica, Eva. Nothing has happened for a very long time. We are over and she cannot accept it, so I took steps to make sure she won’t bother us again.”
The way he said it was almost mafia like so I was curious about what exactly he had to do. “You did? What did you do?”
“I treated her like an elementary school child and I had a long talk with her father.”
“Are you serious?” I couldn’t stop giggling.
“Dead serious.”
“Wasn’t she embarrassed?”
“At this point I really do not care. She has caused so much unnecessary stress in my life for the past two months, so it was time to get her father involved. She worships the ground he walks on and she never wants to disappoint him. He was not happy with her behavior and apologized to me profusely. He even arranged to return the ring I had given her.”
“He did?”
“Yes.”
“What are you going to do with it?”
“I am going to donate it to charity. Proceeds from the sale of that ring will go a long way in helping a lot of people.”
“That’s a very generous thing to do.”
“Thank you.”
“So where have you been all this time?”
He gave me a flirtatious smirk. “Did you miss me?”
I giggled at him. “You can’t answer a question with a question!” It felt good to laugh and have the tension between us gone. I believed what he told me about Jessica and I had missed him like crazy. I didn’t want to stay angry anymore, I didn’t have a reason to. If we were going to work I would have to trust him, and I was choosing to do just that.
“I know, but I just thought it would be nice to hear it.”
My eyes held his. “Yes, I missed you.”
He leaned across the table and gave me a soft peck on the lips and then held my gaze with his crystal blue eyes. “It’s good to see you again.”
With that sweet gesture I felt like we were back to being us, and it felt really good.
“So, you didn’t answer my question.”
“Oh, right. I was at my friend’s place in the French countryside doing a lot of thinking.”
“Thinking about what?”
“Us and how I was going to get back into your good graces. I know we didn’t start off the best way because I was not honest with you about who I really am and it killed me that you thought I was lying to you again. I was so angry with Jessica and I was so worried that I wouldn’t be able to gain your trust again. I thought about it all week and I just decided I was going to be honest, come to you and ask you to believe me.”
“You didn’t travel anywhere?”
“No, honestly I enjoyed just being still for a while. I never get to be still and it was amazing. Eva, you have to come with me to my friend’s place in Paris. It is so breathtakingly beautiful. I promise, you will love it.”
“Have you ever taken anyone else there?”
“No, I haven’t. That is one of the reasons I was so upset that you called off our trip because we were going to see and do things I’ve always wanted to do but had never done.”
I looked at him, kind of shocked. “You have never been to your friend’s house in the countryside before?”
“No, he has invited me several times but work always got in the way. I rarely have free time when I am conducting business in Europe so when I carved out the week for us it was something that is almost unheard of.”
“Well now I feel awful. I had no idea taking time off is such a big deal for you.”
“Don’t do that, don’t feel bad about it. The whole situation was messed up and it’s not like we can’t
do it again. We will do it again. There are so many places I want to go with you, so many things I want to see, and I can’t wait for us be able to do that. Speaking of doing new things, I really want you to spend time with my family. My mother raved about you; you really made a wonderful impression on her.”
“Oh my gosh, Christian, your mother was so amazing to me. I could have easily talked to her all night. She is one of the kindest people I have ever met and I am so honored that she is even spending a second of her time helping me.”
