Bedding The Billionaire (24 page)

She sighed. It was now or never.

"On the night when I left, I told you I slept
with Vane." She felt him stiffen and his arm suddenly retreated. "I
lied. I didn't."

Nick moved away from her. He stopped, paced the room
once, then returned to the bed. He lifted her chin. "Then why did you tell
me you did?"

She shrugged and lowered her gaze. "To hurt your
feelings."

"You succeeded," he whispered. He turned
away from her and headed into the bathroom. When he came out, Abbey swallowed. He
avoided her gaze.

"Why don't you want to talk about this?" she
said.

"Because I want to forget about it. I want to
start over. I'm not proud of the way I lost control over the situation back
then."

"I'm not proud of a lot things either," said
Abbey. But he still didn't look at her. There was something else. And she knew
what it was. "You don't believe me do you? You still think I slept with
him."

He shook his head but said nothing. He was pulling on
his shorts and pants.

"Nick stop. Talk to me. Do you believe me?"

He sighed. "Abbey, I told you, I don't want to
talk about it." He stopped, fly still undone and came to the bed. He
kissed her deeply and held her to him, resting his chin on her head.

She could hear his heart beating rapidly and loudly. Nick's
arms felt good around her, reassuring, but his rigid body told the truth. He
thought she was lying, and it still pained him to think that she'd slept with
that creep Vane.

It pained Abbey that he didn't believe her. Did that
mean he still thought she was a gold digger too?

"Why don't you believe me?" she asked, her
voice sounding small.

Nick touched her chin so she was forced to look up at
him. "Abbey, it doesn't matter. The important thing is I want to start all
this over again and do it properly. I've decided I want to be with you. What
happened then is history."

"It's not history! It was only a month ago. And
you don't believe me! Will you ever believe me, Nick, or will you always wonder
if I'm here because of your money? Will you always wonder what really happened
that night? Will you always think I came to you because I wanted the real Nick
Delaware, the wealthy one?"

Abbey choked back a sob and Nick reached for her.

"Abbey, don't do this. It's not necessary."

"Damn
you, it
is
necessary! You still think I'm here for your money, don't
you?"

"Abbey, I don't care."

The
tears flowed down her cheeks, burning her eyes and choking her throat. "What?
You don't care that I'm a gold digger?"

He threw his hands up in exasperation, then tried to
hold her but she stood and walked away. She pulled a robe out of the closet and
threw it around her shoulders.

Nick followed her but she held out her hand. "Don't
touch me."

"Abbey, Sweetheart, please listen to me." He
paused and ran a hand through his hair. Taking a deep breath, he let it out
slowly. "I'm sorry if you feel like that, but you're right. I wonder about
it, but I've decided I don't care if you slept with him or not. I just want
you. I've made my decision."

He reached for her but again she moved away.

"Have you decided that I'm a liar as well as a
whore?"

"Abbey, don't talk like that."

"It's true. You think I'm after you for your
money."

Nick threw up his hands. "So what? I don't care. Have
it. It hasn't made me happy, but if that's what you want
—
"

"It's
not
what I want!"

Nick
sighed and turned away. He reached for his shirt and put it on.

"I think I'd better go. You need some sleep. I'm
sure in the morning you'll see this from my point of view." Fully dressed
he turned back to her and caught her face between his hands.

He kissed the top of her head and left.

Abbey spluttered out a few tears then fell onto the
bed, sobbing. Her heart was heavy and cold as her world suddenly fell apart all
over again. This time she knew it was final. This time she knew he didn't
believe her and never would. He said it didn't matter, but what if they took
this further and in a year he decided it did matter. What then?

Abbey curled herself up into a ball on the bed and
waited for sunrise.

***

Nick watched the sun rise slowly over the horizon. Dressed
in a light robe, coffee in hand, his toast sitting untouched on the table, he
leaned back into the deck chair on his balcony and closed his eyes, shutting
out the cheerful brightness.

He felt anything but cheerful.

The pain that had settled in his gut at Abbey's hotel
hadn't disappeared and he couldn't eat. He could hardly swallow his coffee but
he forced it down. He needed it. He had a long and difficult day ahead of him
—
he
was seeing Abbey again.

But closing his eyes didn't make him feel any better. It
just made the images of Abbey more vivid. The image of her making love to him,
the image of her crying when he admitted he didn't believe her about Vane.

He'd really blown it this time. He'd had a chance,
damn it, a good chance to make it work with her, and he'd thrown it away as if
she meant nothing. There was no bigger fool in the world than Nick Delaware. Just
when he was beginning to feel in control of his life again after such a
wonderful date, everything had to change.

He thought about going back, talking to her, but that
would only risk making it worse. He at least had today to talk to her again. Hopefully
she'd calmed down and had thought it through.

He'd tried to tell her he loved her last night, but
she'd been too upset to really hear him so he'd refrained. Besides, he'd
repeatedly told her it didn't matter to him about her and Vane, so surely that
had sunk in by now. Surely that meant something to her. Surely it was enough.

Nick moaned and rubbed his fingers into his eyes.

Of course it wouldn't have sunk in. She didn't believe
for one minute that he didn't care about Vane. Because he did, and she knew it.
She knew him.

At about five AM. that fact had hit him hard. He'd
been lying in bed, going over the evening again for the hundredth time in his
mind when he suddenly realized she'd seen something in him that he hadn't known
was there
—
jealousy. Fear.

Fear that she really was only with him because of the
money. Fear that she'd slept with Vane, learned the truth, and come to him to
try again. Fear that she didn't really love him. And fear that he'd lost
control of his life because of her. He had never been afraid of anything in his
life. Now, thanks to Abbey, his fears were going to suffocate him.

Abbey had identified those fears. It had probably
scared the hell out of her, because she knew his fears would continue to hound
him until they eventually destroyed any feelings he had for her. Maybe not
soon, but one day.

But that was the problem. Had she been telling the
truth? Had she not slept with Vane? Did she not want him, Nick, for his money? Evidence
pointed in that direction
—
the tears, the pain he could see in her
eyes. Every part of him ached at seeing that pain, and it was all he could do
not to go back to the hotel and hold her and tell her he loved her, that he
believed her.

But Nick wanted more than intangible evidence, he
wanted proof. Solid, rock hard facts. Facts were the only way he could regain
control of his life and the fears that were crushing him. Having proof was the
only way he could ever know for sure and be with Abbey without regrets and
second guesses.

He needed to call Vane. Problem was it was way too
early and his home number was at the office.

Later then. Later.

Nick checked his watch. Only a few more hours till he
saw her again. He closed his eyes and pictured her face, hot and wet with
tears. That was the image he'd hold for the next few hours. It hurt him so much
to re-live, but God knew he deserved the pain.

"We want a twenty percent discount."

"Twenty percent?" Nick shook his head. Abbey
was really pushing it. Regretting how he treated her a month ago was one thing,
but this was business. Twenty percent was way too much.

"It's reasonable considering we're the first
client for this product. We are the first client aren't we?" Abbey's
bright blue eyes flashed at him, her jaw firm and uncompromising. There was no
hint of last night's tears. She was good at this. Damn good. If he didn't love
her he'd employ her.

"How did you know?"

She shrugged. "I did some checking. And Donaldson
tells me it's standard practice to give the guinea pigs a discount. We'll act
as a reference site of course."

He sighed and nodded. "Of course." He leaned
forward and extended his hand. "You have a deal."

She took it and Nick could feel the buzz of energy
that comes with closing a successful deal coursing through her skin. He held
her hand for much longer than was respectable but he didn't care. Let Willis
and Donaldson know he had feelings for her. Let Abbey know.

But she removed her hand and let it fall limply to her
side.

"Have the contract drawn up and send it down to
us."

"You're leaving?"

She nodded and checked her watch. "We have a six
o'clock flight."

That was only two hours away.
Think Delaware,
think.
"If you wait I'll have the contract drawn up tonight. You can
take it with you first thing in the morning."

She
hesitated and he took the opportunity to dismiss Donaldson and Willis. When
they left, he caught her hand. "Please, Abbey. I need to talk to you. Stay
one more night." He took her face in his hands but she stepped away,
avoiding his gaze.

Eventually she nodded and Nick felt like a weight had
lifted from his shoulders. He tried to smile, but Abbey's stoic expression
wasn't giving him any reason to be happy.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Fine. We'll talk. That's all."

He nodded.

The door opened and Beverly popped her head round. "Damien
Vane returning your call, sir."

Nick glanced at Abbey. Her mouth dropped open and her
cheeks flushed pink as she stared up at him.

"I'll be right there," he muttered to
Beverly as she shut the door behind her. "Abbey, I have to ask him
something
—
"

"I hope you get the answer you want to
hear." Her voice sounded hard, cold. She picked up her laptop case and
stormed out the door. Nick followed and indicated to Beverly he'd take the call
in his office.

That morning when he'd arrived at the office, he'd
called Vane's home number. A woman who didn't sound like Vane's wife said he'd
already left for the office, so Nick had tried him there, only to be told he
was in a meeting. He knew he ran the risk of Vane calling back and Beverly
retrieving him from the meeting with Abbey, but it was a risk he had to take. So
what if Abbey knew he was calling Vane? At least she'd know he was trying to
clear everything up so that they could be together without any issues hanging
over their heads.

"So what does my ex boss want?" asked Vane
casually.

"There's something I need to know about the night
you spent in Melbourne a month ago."

"Ah, you want to know about that hot little woman
in the blue dress." There was a sneer to his tone that Nick didn't like.

He clenched his teeth together and held back a retort.
"Yes. I want to know if you slept with her."

Vane chuckled. "Got you by the balls has she,
Delaware? Doesn't surprise me. She looks like the type that would cling. Me, I
like the ones who just want a night of pure ecstasy. It makes life easier when
they don't want commitment."

"Just answer my question."

"Seeing as I'm such a nice guy and I think you
two will make a cute couple, I'll tell you the truth, even though it'll damage
my reputation. No, I didn't sleep with her. She left as soon as she got in my
room. Seems she was just trying to make you jealous. Sounds like it worked if
you're still thinking about her after all this time."

Nick hung up on a laughing Vane. He leaned back in his
chair and pressed a hand to his heart. She'd been telling the truth all along. And
he'd practically called her a liar, and a whore. He leaned forward and placed
his elbows on his desk, then ran both hands through his hair. He sat like that,
with his head down, for a very long time, thinking about what a fool he was. What
a damned, stupid, stubborn idiot.

How the hell was he going to make this up to her? How
could he explain he was just too scared to accept the truth without proof?

At least now he could go to her, tell her he knew she
was telling the truth all along and hope that they could pick up where they
left off. At least he knew for sure that Abbey really did love him and not his
money. She had all along.