Chloe froze in Andrés’ embrace. The rushed footsteps indicated Martha had already left again after her intrusion.
“Let go.” Chloe pushed him away, unable to believe she’d lost her head again so easily.
Andrés released her, but she knew it was only because he’d chosen to. For a moment she thought she saw compassion and longing in his gaze. It quickly disappeared and once again flickered with an arrogance that made her stomach roil.
“I think that should help,” he said calmly.
Chloe scurried past him to the front of the restaurant, trying to regain her senses. “Help with what?”
He didn’t reply, but a moment later his arm slid around her waist. She tried to jerk away, but his fingers tightened on her hip in warning. “Be still,” his words lashed quietly at her. “If you make a scene, I will see that you regret it.”
Chloe froze unconsciously, his tone sending chills down her spine. They moved toward the entrance, where Martha stood behind the cash register.
“Try to get her to rest a little,” her friend called out, almost beaming. “She’s been on her feet all day and is exhausted.”
“Of course. I’ll see her to bed as soon as possible,” he agreed and brushed a kiss across Chloe’s forehead.
Chloe blushed from her roots to her toes. So that’s what he’d meant by ‘help’. He’d just convinced Martha they’d made up and she was now completely besotted with him again. How dare he? How dare Andrés come in here and act like a doting lover? He was a jerk. A quick-to-judge, arrogant, womanizing jerk.
Somebody opened the door to the restaurant, and Andrés stepped outside, urging her into the drizzly Seattle night. Dismay rushed through her when the limo driver climbed out and opened the door for them.
Despite her reluctance, Andrés maneuvered her into the back of the limo and then climbed in next. The door was swiftly shut after them, leaving them alone in the back of the opulent vehicle.
Chloe slid all the way over to the far side of the bench seat, placing as much distance between herself and Andrés as possible. His mouth curved slightly he pressed the button to have the window between them and the driver slide up, increasing the intimacy of the moment.
Licking her suddenly dry lips, Chloe tried to calm her nerves. The limo pulled away and she turned her focus out the tinted window. The kids in the restaurant still had their noses pressed up against the window, watching the limo leave.
They probably thought it was like something out of a fairytale. The tired waitress being whisked off by a handsome man into a waiting limousine.
Her heart twisted and she squeezed her eyes closed. But Chloe knew better now. Fairytales were a far stretch from reality, and the sooner a girl stopped believing in them, the better.
Andrés sat across from Chloe in the limo, stretching out his long legs while he watched her squirm. She was nervous, and rightfully so. His gut tightened with something akin to disappointment.
But what had he hoped for? That she would be happy to see him or that she would eagerly throw herself into his arms?
There was a part of him that had craved just that. Wanted Chloe to need him. To desire to be with him. He flexed his jaw and drew in a slow breath. No, the only thing Chloe had ever needed from him were the details of his life to splash in a trashy magazine.
From the moment he’d walked into the diner he’d been on edge. His emotions raw, jagged. He’d felt caged. Ready to fight. And then he’d seen her and his lungs had locked. Chloe had been gorgeous in Spain, but now, pregnant with his child, she was stunningly beautiful. Almost ethereal. Her skin seemed to glow from within and there was a new softness to her body.
He hadn’t intended to touch her, but once close to her it had been as inevitable as breathing.
As if she sensed his attention on her, she finally turned to glare at him, her eyes sparking with frustration. “How did you get here so fast? I only called you yesterday.”
“It does not take twenty-four hours to fly to Seattle.” He offered a slight shrug, but her reminder of why he’d flown halfway around the world had his gaze hardening. “Besides, what would you have me do when you threatened the life of my child?”
Chloe blinked and her mouth fell open. She looked entirely too innocent, with her little country girl dress and her hair in braids, but he knew her better. It was all an act. After all, she was skilled at the art of deception.
“Wait…I don’t understand. Threatened the baby? How?”
“You referred to our child as it, Chloe. And then in the same breath announced that it wasn’t my problem and you would deal with it.”