“Yes, Caro.”
“I’m sorry, I know you’re due to leave in a few moments. But there’s a Ms. Percell here to see you. She says it’s personal. I’m sorry, but she talked her way up through security. I have her in the waiting area.”
He considered having Caro dismiss her. If anyone could shake Magdelana off, it would be Caro. And that seemed unfair to all involved. Using one woman to shield him from another woman because of yet another woman’s ridiculously suspicious mind.
Damned if he was going to be led around by the nose that way, even by the woman he loved.
“It’s all right. You can send her in. I’ll need my transpo in ten minutes.”
“All right then. Oh, tell your wife we’ll be watching her.”
“I think I’ll wait until it’s done to mention it. She’s annoyed by the whole business. Thank you, Caro.”
He scooped a hand through his hair, glanced around his office. A long way from what once had been, he thought. In every possible way.
Time to find a way, he supposed, to make it crystal clear to the women currently squeezing him from both sides that there was no going back to wh
at had been and no desire at all to take the trip.
She came in, a golden fur tossed over her arm, her hair sexy and tumbled, her face glowing with energy. And yes, she reminded him of what once had been. There was no way to avoid it.
“Look at you! Look at this!” After tossing her coat over a chair, Magdelana turned a circle.
Roarke met Caro’s eyes, nodded, and she backed quietly out of the room. Closed the doors.
“The den of the global mogul, both sleek and plush, tasteful and absolutely male. Well, it’s all you, isn’t it?” She moved toward him, both hands extended.
He took them, briefly. There was no way to avoid that either, without making them both look like idiots. “How are you, Maggie?”
“Right now? How I am is incredibly impressed.” She glanced at the desk. “What exactly do you do here?”
“Quite a bit of what needs to be done, with a healthy portion of what I choose. What can I do for you?”
“Offer me a drink.” She sat on the arm of one of his chairs, crossed her long legs. Tossed her long hair. “I’ve been shopping, and I’m worn to the bone.”
“Sorry. You caught me on my way out.”
“Oh.” Her lips pouted. “Business, I suppose. You always were one for business. I could never understand that you actually liked to work. Still…” She uncrossed her legs to rise, then wandered toward his window where New York spread and speared. “Lovely benefits.” She looked back at him, over her shoulder. “I suppose I always pictured you in Europe, though, carving your way through the Old World.”
“New York suits me.”
“Apparently, it does. I wanted to thank you. I’ve had some meetings already with the money people you suggested. It’s early to say, but I think this is going to work out very nicely. I’d never have known where to start without your help.”
“I think you’d have found your way well enough. You’ve been busy,” he added. “Shopping, taking meetings, visiting my wife at Central.”
Wincing, Magdelana turned around, stood framed by the energy and towers of the city. “She told you. I was afraid of that. I don’t know what I was thinking—well, yes, I do. I was just so curious about her, and wanted to get to know her a little. It didn’t go well.”
“Didn’t it?”
“I bungled it, no question. She disliked me before I walked in the door, and when I’d calmed down and licked my wounds, I understood that perfectly. Here, I was…” Smiling easily, she spread her arms. “…a former inamorata of her husband’s, sauntering in, offering to buy her a drink, all smiles and friendly overtures. She must have wanted to slap me.”
“She rarely slaps. A good bare-knuckled punch is more her style.”
“I’m so sorry. I was completely wrong. And she was so…harsh, it put my back up. I don’t know how to make amends for it. Did I cause you trouble at home?”
“I told you that you wouldn’t like her.”
“And you were right, as usual. It’s odd, isn’t it, when you cared for us both. In any case, I am sorry. I suppose, in a way, I was looking for contacts, connections. Friends. I’d hoped she and I would get along. After all, what we had, you and I, is ancient history.”