And if I got a bit of private satisfaction out of privileged arseholes paying an arm and a leg to stay on some island so that the money could go to helping the very people those privileged arseholes looked down on, then that was just icing on the cake.
Another one in the eye for the old man.
‘I’ll be settling down too,’ I said. ‘Eventually.’
There was a pause down the other end of the phone. ‘You mentioned a girlfriend...?’
‘Yes.’ My gaze dropped from the famous view to the street below, tracking a long black car moving down it and drawing up outside the hotel. ‘What about her?’
‘You said yesterday that you were serious about her.’
The door of the car opened and someone got out. Small and curvy and female in black trousers and a white shirt, a chauffeur’s cap on her head. She moved to the front of the limo and pulled something out of the back pocket of her trousers: a piece of cloth. Then she leaned down and buffed the shiny black metal with it.
Everything in me drew tight.
Ellie.
My heartbeat began to accelerate, my jeans to feel a little snug, reminding me of why I’d had such a bloody terrible sleep the night before.
I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her.
How she’d come apart so beautifully in my arms. How she’d screamed as I’d made her come. How soft and silky her skin had felt, and how tight and hot her little pussy had been.
How she’d tried to take control, only to give it up to me in the end without hesitation. Trusting me despite my reputation for being the biggest bastard in England. Even though she’d only just met me.
Even though I’d not done a thing to deserve it.
Which either made her a fool or very calculated and I couldn’t decide which.
What I did know was that I’d wanted to scoop her up in my arms and carry her upstairs to my room. Peel her completely out of her clothes and lay her across the bed, do lots of dirty, dirty things to her just so I could hear her scream my name again.
Except she’d very firmly refused.
I hated being denied anything and I couldn’t pretend I hadn’t been royally pissed off by it. But maybe I wouldn’t have been quite so annoyed if I’d suspected that something had upset her. She’d determinedly avoided my gaze as she’d pulled on her clothing, giving me that incredibly fake smile again.
I should have pushed the issue, but had decided that, since I’d be seeing her the next day, I’d broach the topic then, meanwhile giving her the space she so clearly wanted.
‘Evans?’ Delaney’s voice was sharp. ‘Are you still there?’
‘Yes.’ I followed every one of Ellie’s movements as she inspected the limo, giving the black metal small polishes here and there.
Something had been wrong after we’d had sex. Something had upset her. Had it been me? Something I’d done? I’d been rough, but she’d seemed to enjoy it and I’d given her plenty of opportunities to call a halt to the proceedings if she’d wanted to.
Then again, I was, after all, still me. And plenty of women couldn’t handle my particular brand of rough dirtiness.
‘Well, how about it, then?’
Shit. I’d missed something, hadn’t I? I’d been too busy staring at my chauffeur. ‘Sorry, had a call on another line,’ I lied, still watching Ellie from the window. ‘What did you say?’
‘I said, why don’t you bring your girlfriend to the club event in Dubai in a couple of weeks? I’d like to meet her. Then perhaps we can talk more about the islands.’
Oh, fuck.
I gritted my teeth, annoyed that I’d let myself get so distracted.
‘Of course,’ I said, left with no other option but to agree. ‘That sounds like a great idea. I’ll bring her along.’
‘Excellent. I’ll look forward to it.’