Seduced by Mr. Right(59)

Hope surged through her veins. “When?”

“I don’t know.” Emilio turned around and strode out through the back door.

Sharleen peered out of the kitchen window, tracking his movements as the distance between them grew. Her thoughts returned to last night, and her heart ached when she remembered how they’d talked and kissed and danced outside on the deck. Emilio made her feel whole, more comfortable and confident than she’d ever been. He was the only man for her, and—

“Didn’t you hear what my brother said?” Francesca smiled in satisfaction and pointed down the hallway. “Goodbye and good riddance!”





Chapter 18

Every time Sharleen’s cell phone rang, butterflies swarmed her stomach. But when she realized it was another pesky telemarketer calling, and not Emilio, her spirits fell. Why hasn’t he called? Doesn’t he miss me? Doesn’t he want to work things out? She hadn’t seen or heard from him since she left his estate on Memorial Day, and she wasn’t sure if she’d ever see him again. For the past four days, guilt had been her constant companion. Sharleen regretted not telling Emilio about the bonus, but she’d feared that if she’d told him the truth he would have broken up with her. Some good that did me, she thought miserably. He found out and dumped me anyway.

Her gaze strayed to her wall calendar, zeroed in on the date. They hadn’t spoken in four days, but it felt like months since she’d heard his voice or seen his face. Emilio had promised to call but hadn’t. She’d sent him text messages, emails and even tropical flowers from his favorite florist shop, but he still hadn’t reached out to her. A troubling thought came to mind, one that made her heart throb in pain. Has Emilio found someone else? Is that why he hasn’t called? Because he’s forgotten all about me?

Driven by fear, Sharleen picked up her desk phone and punched in his cell number. The call went straight to voice mail, but she didn’t hang up. “Hey, it’s me again.” She paused, took a deep breath to calm her nerves and wiped her damp palms along the side of her sleeveless dress. This was the third message she’d left for Emilio today, and this time she was determined to be concise, not emotional and upset. “I haven’t heard from you since Monday, and I just wanted to see how you’re doing. Please call me when you get a chance.”

Sharleen lowered the phone, remembered something else she wanted to say and put it back to her ear. “I miss you, Emilio. I know you think the worst of me right now, but I want you to know that I love you and always will, no matter what.”

Hanging up the phone, she dropped her face in her hands and released a deep sigh. At the office, she put on a brave face, acted as if everything was okay, but inside she was an emotional wreck. She wasn’t eating much, had skipped her Stiletto Aerobics three days in a row and hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since she’d left Emilio’s estate. Last night, she’d dreamed Francesca was chasing her around his kitchen with a butter knife, and she’d woken up drenched in sweat.

Determined not to spend the entire day fretting about her problems, she logged on to her computer, typed in her password and opened her file on Rashad J. The R&B superstar was a handful, but rereading her session notes was the perfect distraction. Hard at work, despite the thoughts of Emilio crowding her mind, she didn’t hear Antwan enter her office and yelped when he touched her shoulder. “Don’t sneak up on me like that. You scared me half to death,” she said, resting a hand on her pounding, thundering chest. “What are you doing here?”

“I heard about your showdown with Francesca on Monday and thought you might need to see a friendly face. And since I was in the neighborhood, I decided to drop by.”

Sharleen evaded his gaze by rearranging the pictures on her desk. “That was very sweet of you, but you shouldn’t have wasted your time. I’m fine.”

“Are you mad at me?”

“Did you give Francesca a copy of the check you mailed me?”

“No, of course not,” he said, shaking his head. “I hired her to help me around the office for a few weeks, but when I found out she was snooping through my personal files, I fired her.”

Antwan leaned against her desk and gave her a slow appraising glance. “In all the years we’ve been friends I’ve never seen you in a dress.” He winked and grinned like a leprechaun who’d found a pot of gold. “You look amazing, Sharleen. Love definitely agrees with you.”

Sharleen started to dismiss his compliment with a wave of her hand, then remembered what Emilio had said to her last week at the Exotic Car Show and nodded her thanks.