‘Surely you could put your playboy life on hold for a week or two? He’d settle better at your place because you have a garden.’
Drake set his mouth in an adamant line but then Mutley whined and wagged his tail again. ‘Don’t look at me like that.’ He growled at the dog without malice.
Aerin laughed. ‘He adores you. I think he senses you’re a strong leader. Dogs need that, they get nervous if they’re not given reliable leadership.’
Drake let out a long ragged-sounding breath. ‘I knew it was a mistake coming to see you tonight.’
‘Why did you?’
‘I wanted to give you some flowers.’
‘In person? Why not have them delivered?’
‘This is why.’ He took her by the upper arms and planted a lingering kiss on her lips.
Aerin melted into his embrace, relishing in the warmth and pent-up passion in his kiss, wanting him so badly it was a hollow ache deep inside.
Some breathless moments later, she eased back to look up at him. ‘I’m not sure what’s going on. You said our fling had to end once we came back to London.’
Drake stroked his thumb across her lower lip, his eyes hooded. ‘It didn’t feel right just dropping you off last night and carrying on as if the last few days never happened.’
Aerin tried to keep her hopes in check. What was he actually offering her? ‘So, are you saying you want to continue our...involvement?’ She was not fond of the term ‘fling’ when it came to what they had shared together. Those wonderful memories of being in his arms would be tainted if she referred to it as a fling.
Drake took her hands in his. ‘I’m not ready to end it.’ His voice had a rough edge and his eyes looked haunted.
‘But you will end it.’ It was a statement, not a question. A fact written on a tablet of stone that weighed down her heart with its cruel veracity. ‘Not tonight, not next week but some time soon you will end it.’
‘I can only offer you a fling.’
She squeezed her eyes shut on the word. ‘Please don’t call what we had together a fling. It was much more than that. You know it was.’
Drake squeezed her hands as if he never wanted to let her go. ‘I want more time with you.’
‘How much time?’
His throat rose and fell over a tight swallow. ‘I don’t know. I just want more time.’
Aerin knew she should insist on a clean break then and there but what if more time together actually helped him open up even more? He had shared with her so much, things he had not shared with anyone else, not even her older brother, who was his closest friend. Didn’t that count for something? Didn’t that suggest thatshecould be the key to opening his heart to love? Aerin let out a wobbly breath. ‘Okay, but how are we going to keep our involvement a secret?’
A flash of relief lit his gaze and he drew her closer to his body, his arms wrapping around her. ‘It’s no one’s business but ours what is going on between us. I’d like to keep it that way for as long as possible.’
Aerin didn’t like to tell him she had more or less told Harper what was going on between them. Harper would have guessed in any case, so too Ruby, but still. ‘So, how are we going to do it? I mean, are we going to meet in secret or—?’
‘Can you come and stay at my place for a few days?’ Drake asked. ‘It will help Mutley settle in to have someone familiar there. It’s closer to your work and far more private than a tenement flat.’
Aerin’s eyes widened. ‘Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean, do you ask many of your lovers to stay over?’
‘Never, but you’re different. Besides, it’s only until Mr McPhee comes out of hospital. After that we can reassess.’
‘How come you haven’t had lovers stay over before?’
Drake’s expression was shuttered. ‘I’ve got used to living alone. I’ve been doing it since I was eighteen. I’m not the most convivial host but I would like you to stay.’
It wasn’t a difficult choice, although it should have been given the sharp prods her conscience was giving her. Reminders about her plan for her life, the checklist she had so carefully written in order to find her Mr Perfect. Extending her temporary relationship with Drake Cawthorn was hardly going to help her achieve her goal. Not unless he morphed into the man of her dreams. But then, he already was the man of her dreams but he didn’t want to be. He didn’t want to be anyone’s soulmate. He didn’t want to love anyone with his whole heart. But the temptation to have more time with Drake, private time at his lovely home in Bloomsbury, was too much to resist.
Hewas too much to resist.
CHAPTER TEN