Page 18 of One Week With You
Talia breathed out a soft laugh, ducking her chin, and the top of her head brushed my jaw. Some strands of her hair caught on my stubble, and I smoothed them away. Her gaze immediately found mine and the air between us shifted in a blink, crackling with awareness as I gently tucked those strands behind her ear.
“Thanks,” she whispered, blinking up at me like she was as frozen as I was.
I couldn’t do this much longer. I couldn’t.
It was one thing to manage with time and distance but another when she was right there, walking by my side, talking to the people I worked with daily, slotting in like she’d been here the whole time.
“I don’t know about you, but I could use a drink,” I said as the music changed to something more upbeat.
“I could definitely use a drink,” Talia muttered. “Or five.”
At the bar I ordered a scotch and a white wine, glancing around the room, trying and failing not to think about Talia in my arms, while she chatted with Ted from Accounting who, thankfully, hadn’t flashed his ass. Yet.
I’d barely handed Talia her wine when Ingrid marched over to join us, pushing everyone else aside. She was almost as tall as me – with short platinum blonde hair and a dress the colour of the Merlot sloshing around in her glass – and unbelievably irritating, like the buzz of a fly that wouldn’t leave the room.
“Hello,” she drawled, her German accent all but disappeared now. “We didn’t get a chance to talk at dinner, unfortunately. I’m Ingrid. Henry’s wife. You must be the girlfriend?”
My grip tightened around my glass.
“I prefer Talia.”
“I’ve heard so much about you,” Ingrid replied.
I stiffened while Talia blinked a few times, her brow lifting in surprise. “All good I hope.”
“Oh, Rafe raves about you constantly. Talia this, Talia that. Isn’t that right, Rafe darling? We wondered why it’s taken all these years to meet you.”
“Years?” she repeated, throwing me another startled look.
Shit.“I’m sure it hasn’t been that long,” I bit out, knocking back the rest of my scotch.
“I was pregnant with my youngest when you first mentioned Talia and he’s six now, darling.” Ingrid shook her head, rolling her eyes. “We’ve been waiting with bated breath for so long.”
The hardness that flickered across Talia’s face was gone in a second. “You must think I’m so rude. I’m so sorry.”
“Not at all,” Ingrid dismissed with a flutter of fingers weighed down with diamonds. “More intrigued than anything. We started to wonder if he’d made you up.”
She cackled like she’d cracked the best joke in existence, but when Talia turned to me it wasn’t amusement firing in her eyes.
* * *
Henry was in the process of telling Alan about his family’s plans for Christmas, but I was too distracted to do anything but nod along.
Usually Talia’s smiles were blinding, painted on no matter what, but now one barely reached her eyes. Her cheeks only flushed when she drank too much or was angry about something, and she’d barely touched her wine. More than once her gaze flittered to the exit, and I felt a surge of panic that she was about to run. Stupid because she’d never do that. Talia stuck to her commitments no matter what. There was no real risk she’d leave and yet… My hand curled into a fist. All this talk about Christmas and New Year plans pissed me off. I didn’t fucking care. I needed to know what was wrong.
I’d formulated three different reasons to excuse us both when Talia said, “If you’ll excuse me, I need some fresh air.”
Everyone carried on as if it was no big deal, but they didn’t know Talia. I threw out a quick apology and followed her determined march outside, unsettled by the shake of her head, the swaying clench of her fists. She wasmadmad.
Outside, the terrace was all dark corners and shadows and overlooked The London Eye; the pods lit a bright, neon blue that hurt my eyes while they adjusted to the lack of light.
“Talia,” I said, conscious of the cold but also grateful for it because it meant we were out here alone. Thank fuck.
“I need some air,” she said quietly, curling her arms against a shiver, the cold turning her words white. “Go back inside. I won’t be long.”
Goosebumps scattered across her skin, barely visible in the sliver of moonlight.
“It’s too cold out here.” I started to shuck off my suit jacket, but Talia shook her head and another step away.
