As she picked up her purse, her phone vibrated once more. The damn man was persistent if nothing else. Four texts and two calls, all of which sang the same tune of “let me explain. Yada, yada, yada.” Tomorrow she might be interested in his explanations, but right now she just wanted to sleep.
Even so, she fished her phone out of her purse and checked the preview of her new message.
Sure enough it was from Darian, but this one simply read, “look up.”
Jerking her gaze from the ground, she saw him leaning against his black car. For a moment the desire to run nearly overwhelmed her. She could go back into the bar and pretend she hadn’t seen him. Then she wouldn’t have to hear him outline just how sorry he was, but they weren’t a real item, and he had the right to see whomever he chose.
But that was the coward’s way out, and while she might be delusional and naïve, she didn’t run from a fight.
Straightening her shoulders, she walked over to him.
“How’d you know I was here?” she asked.
“Gillian.”
“Ah.” That explained her cryptic apology at least. “All right, now let’s try why you’re here?”
“I should think that’s obvious.”
“Because stalking is such a turn on?”
He threw her a dirty look. “You ignored my calls.”
“That’s my prerogative.”
He ran a hand down his face. “I know. Trust me, tracking down a woman is not territory I normally find myself in. But I couldn’t let this day end, remembering…”
“Remembering what?” she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Remembering the expression on your face when you led Sasha into my office.”
Humiliation seared her. So much for appearing aloof. She hid her emotions as well as a two-year-old.
Stepping back, she looked anywhere but at him. “You didn’t need to go to such lengths to explain. I get it.”
He scoffed at her words. “I doubt that. Can we go somewhere else to discuss this?” He looked over her shoulder at the bouncer.
“Such as?”
“My house is close.”
That caught her off guard. He’d never invited her back to his place since the first time they’d slept together. All the other times had been at her apartment, and he’d never stayed.
“I don’t think we need to—”
“Please. I think we need to have a real conversation. Make some rules.”
She drew in a deep breath. She was this far down the rabbit hole already. Maybe he was right and it was better to get everything over with tonight. Then she’d have the weekend to lick her wounds rather than torture herself with not knowing where they stood.
“Fine.”
He held the door open for her before rounding the car to get behind the wheel.
As he pulled out into traffic, she searched for something to say, but everything circled back to the blonde, and that wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have while he was operating a vehicle. So instead, she sat back and watched the world flash by outside her window.
True to his word, they were in the car less than ten minutes before they pulled into his driveway.
Wordlessly, she followed him up the walk and into his home. She kicked off her heels and wandered into his sprawling living room.
“So, rules,” she said, not turning to face him even when he followed her rather than turning on the lights. “Let me guess. Rule number one: don’t interfere with each other’s personal lives.”
“No.” His voice was soft. “Exactly the opposite.”
She turned then to see his expression in the moonlight. There was a sincerity in his eyes that had her conviction wavering.
“The meeting with Sasha was completely innocent.”
She shrugged. “Want a gold star?”
“She was hoping for an escort to a benefit next month.”
“I really don’t want to hear about your future date plans.”
“I turned her down.”
That surprised her. “You turned down the leggy goddess?”
“I did.” He took a step closer.
“Why?”
“Because I realized that whether it was next week or next month, if I was going to go anywhere, I wanted it to be with you.”
She blinked. “Only me?”
“Only you.” When he reached out to wrap his hands around her waist, she didn’t protest. “Which is a rather new concept for me.”
“So what you’re saying is I’m making my way to the top of your harem?”
He laughed. “What I’m saying is, since the night of our disastrous pasta dinner I haven’t touched another woman.” He pulled her closer. “And I’d rather like that to continue.”