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His gaze drifted over her, and she caught the slight flare of his nostrils as he exhaled.“Don’t tempt me or we’ll never leave this room.There’s been a development.I prefer you to know about it sooner rather than later.”
With that cryptic remark, he exited as quietly as he’d entered.
And just like that, the anxiety was back.
Jumping out of bed, she quickly shrugged on the silk robe supplied by the hotel.A brush through her hair provided a little composure.
Barefooted, she entered the sunlit dining room to find him reading a paper.
On the table, delicate croissants andpain au chocolate, coffee, fruit and condiments were spread on crystal tableware and sterling silver china.
He lowered his paper, rose and came around to where she sat.The casual kiss he dropped on her head made her breath catch.Without speaking, he spread a linen napkin over her lap and poured her a coffee.Once he’d added the prerequisite spoon of sugar and a drop of cream, he set it down in front of her and returned to his seat.
His lips firmed as he picked up the spare newspaper and pushed it across the table.“Page seven.”
Her heart lurched and she curled her fists in her lap.“What’s on page seven?”she asked.
He remained silent but his eyes stayed on her as she slowly reached for the paper and opened it with trembling fingers.
A picture of Zach with a stunning, statuesque blonde, who had a hand on his shoulder and her face raised to his.She looked as if she was about to burst into tears.
Bethany recognized the heartbreak in her face.It was the same way she’d felt when Chris had dropped his bombshell and shattered dreams she’d nurtured for years.
She cast her gaze over the words.A few familiar words jumped out at her.Names too—Cindy, Isabelle, Farrah.But joined together, they meant nothing.She was cursing herself for not taking high school French seriously when he leaned closer.
“Zachary Savage Dumps Latest Flame.”
He murmured the translation, but Zach may as well have shouted it.Because she was looking closer at the picture and seeing the clothes he wore yesterday when he’d left her for hours and hours.Just to confirm, she glanced at the date of the newspaper.The vice tightened harder around her chest.
She raised her gaze to his.“This was what you were doing yesterday?”Her voice shook almost as hard as her fingers.Irritated with herself for that humiliating show of emotion, she slammed the newspaper down.Unable to sit still any longer, she pushed her chair back and hurried away from the table.“Fuck you, Savage!”she threw over her shoulder.
“Bethany, wait!”
She heard his chair scrape across the terrace floor and broke into a run.It was insane how much she hurt.Insane and frightening.
He caught up with her just as she entered the hallway that led to their suite.
A hand on her arm stopped her.When she struggled against his hold, he pinned her to the wall, his hard thighs bracketing hers.“Baby, listen to me.”
“Why should I?You left me here, cooling my heels so you could go dump your old girlfriend and come back and fuck your new one.It’s not exactly axe murder territory but it ranks up there next to sleazebag.Jesus, do you know how that makes me feel?”
She tried to pull away.He held her tighter.
“That wasn’t all I did yesterday?—”
“God, please tell me you didn’t fuck her goodbye.”The very idea of it made her stomach flip over.
His jaw tightened.“Of course I didn’t!Until last night, I hadn’t fucked another woman in months.”
The answer appeased her a little, but the knowledge of what he’d been doing was still wedged like stone beneath her breast, terrifying the living daylights out of her.How had this man come to mean so much to her in so short a time?
“Why did you show that picture to me?You could’ve kept it to yourself.”
“Last night you told me you didn’t like secrets.I can’t share all of my life with you, but what I can I will make as transparent to you as possible.”
“So you intend to tell me about every woman you’ve slept with since your balls dropped?”
His gaze hardened.“Don’t get snippy, Peaches.Or I’ll have to spank your gorgeous ass.I only told you about Sadie because you were already in my life before I’d made it clear she was out of mine.But I assure you it wasn’t news to her.”