In the end, he’d left his friend on the proviso that they’d have drinks that evening. The guy needed to unwind. It scuppered his hopes of a repeat of last night but at least he knew now that Zara wasn’t cutting him off.
He grinned. The extra time gave him more time to plan too. He wasn’t ready to share her with the world just yet or, more specifically, the press. It was fine house-hunting with his sister; that could be deemed innocent enough. But as soon as it became just the two of them...
He looked out of the window, to the passing neighbourhood, the scathing words of that last article spearing him. What if it had been her photo splashed alongside it? Zara, all innocent and unaware...
His teeth gritted, his fingers biting into his knee—hell, no.
He had to open her eyes sooner or later to who he was. Sooner, if he was to do right by her, but his gut sank with the realisation. He wasn’t ready for it.
No matter how refreshing it was to have her like him for what she’d seen with her own eyes, it wasn’t fair to keep her in the dark and he needed to get there before the press did. Hell, maybe Julia had already done it for him. They’d been chatting enough. But he doubted it; he knew by the way she still looked at him that she had no clue. And suddenly he hated it with a passion, his well-cultivated public image that kept all women at arm’s length. Where they belonged—where she belonged...
He looked to her alongside him, felt her presence reverberating through him and the certainty of his mental spiel wavered.
Did he really want to keep her at arm’s length?
And what was the alternative? A relationship? A real relationship?
Scorn heated him through. Don’t be an ass. Relationships don’t work. Look at your parents. Kristus, look at Julia and Johansson—they’re made for one another and even they can’t make it work.
But sex—he could enjoy the sex. And she wanted that just as much as he did. Hopefully his reputation wouldn’t kill that off.
She chose that exact moment to slip him a look beneath her lashes, her sultry eyes transporting him back to their table at lunch, back to what he’d wanted to do, what she would have let him do, he was sure, and his cock twitched.
Fuck, no, nothing could kill this thing between them.
He brought his fingers to his lips and her eyes followed the movement, her nose flaring as she inhaled softly.
‘How many other properties
do you think you can line up now that I’ve agreed to the potential budget uplift?’ he heard his sister ask, her stress over the word potential totally for his benefit, he knew, and Zara’s gaze swept away to give his sister her full attention once more—damn it.
‘To be honest,’ she said, ‘I’ve not had a chance to look much, but, trust me, there will be many, so let’s take this one as a start, get a feel for what you think and then I’ll use that to shortlist more.’
All he heard was many, and many definitely worked for him. He would make his schedule work around the many viewings so long as they came with Zara.
‘Don’t worry, Daniel, you don’t need to attend them all,’ his sister said. ‘I know how rammed your schedule is since you hit the UK.’
‘Have you only recently flown in?’ Zara looked to him, brow raised in open curiosity. She really didn’t read the papers. They needed that talk, and soon. It was nagging at him more and more with every passing second. The uneasy feeling that he’d kept it from her on purpose, which he hadn’t, not in the beginning, but now...
Goddamn it.
‘Hmm?’ she pressed into his silence and he came alive with a nod.
‘Flew in last week.’
‘Yes, you see, my brother thinks I’m a delicate flower in need of his protection,’ Julia mocked, but her eyes were warm. She appreciated his presence even if she didn’t come right out and say it.
‘I wouldn’t say delicate, and, besides, it’s not all about you. I have business to conduct too.’
‘And that’s why I’m saying you don’t need to accompany us on every visit. I can fill you in later.’
He couldn’t stop his eyes flitting to Zara’s. ‘I want to.’
Her lips lifted in a small smile. ‘It’s nice that you want to see your sister settled.’
‘I am nice,’ he said with a grin, spying Julia’s eyes rolling in her head as she turned to look out of the window.
‘Here we go again,’ his sister muttered under her breath and Zara’s smile became a grimace, Julia adding louder, ‘Are we nearly there yet?’