have to excuse me. An urgent matter requires my immediate attention.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘We’ll resume our negotiations after lunch.’
A peripheral part of his brain registered the surprised reactions of a few of his executives and a ripple of irritation from the representatives of the television corporation, but he didn’t care. Amanda was waiting for him. That was all that mattered. Finally she was here, ready to acknowledge their mutual attraction. Ready to become his lover again.
As he rose from his seat at the head of the table, urgency gripped him, making his heart pump harder. Barely able to contain his anticipation, it was hard to restrain himself from sprinting out of the conference room to meet her.
It was Sophie’s hand on his arm that made him pause.
‘No. Don’t do this to yourself,’ she pleaded in hushed tones as she waved away hovering employees who would have approached him.
‘I have to,’ Jake said.
She grabbed his hand, steered him into a small soundproof room off the conference area and closed the door. ‘Just what do you hope to achieve, Jake?’
‘You know as well as I do that I haven’t been able to get on with my life. I can’t move on until I finish this on my terms.’
Sophie let go of his hand and paced the length of the room, one hand at her narrow waist and the other running through her stunning red hair in agitation. ‘It’s a fatal attraction. She’s ripped you up before and I saw how destructive it was. Don’t let her do it to you again.’
‘She won’t. I don’t have blinkers on anymore where she’s concerned. I’ll get closure on this and I’ll do it my way.’
It seemed he’d been waiting for Amanda for an eternity. Seeing her again—no, he corrected himself—eradicating his feelings for her, was more vital than closing a multimillion-dollar takeover deal.
‘You should never have gone to Bennett’s funeral. To publicly align yourself to a woman whose deplorable actions have earned her public loathing...It was sheer insanity.’
‘I’d hoped, once I saw her again, I’d discover she didn’t affect me as profoundly as I remembered.’ He’d been wrong. He’d been aggravated that both her physical and emotional impact upon him was as strong as ever. He was still surprised at the overwhelming surge of protectiveness he’d felt for her as Fiona Bennett had attacked her. His vulnerability to Amanda annoyed the hell out of him.
‘But she did.’ Sophie sighed as she looked at him closely and her lips twisted in frustrated resignation. ‘We’re both as hopeless as each other when it comes to falling in love with the wrong people.’
‘No. My heart isn’t involved in this anymore. This is just about ending it.’
Sophie merely shook her head and grimaced. ‘This is me you’re talking to. Sometimes I think I know you better than you know yourself.’ She put her hands on his arms. ‘Don’t forget this was the woman who held that heart in the palm of her hand and didn’t think twice about squeezing the life out of it. She’s a faithless woman whose affairs drove her husband to suicide.’
Jake closed his eyes briefly. The pain of Amanda’s betrayal was still there.
‘I’m afraid she still affects me like no other woman has. Pathetic, isn’t it?’
It was his vulnerability to Amanda that had made him lash out at her with harsh words. He admitted he’d been pretty brutal in the things that he’d said to her, but the wounds she’d inflicted upon him when she’d left him to marry Bennett were still open and bleeding.
‘Maybe you’re right. Maybe the only reason you still feel this way is lack of closure. She never did provide you with any good reason for having left and I know that’s tortured you.’
It felt good to have Sophie put into words what had been plaguing him. He was still angry and hurt to think that Amanda had left his bed and immediately fallen pregnant with Bennett’s baby. To know that the tenderness and
A peripheral part of his brain registered the surprised reactions of a few of his executives and a ripple of irritation from the representatives of the television corporation, but he didn’t care. Amanda was waiting for him. That was all that mattered. Finally she was here, ready to acknowledge their mutual attraction. Ready to become his lover again.
As he rose from his seat at the head of the table, urgency gripped him, making his heart pump harder. Barely able to contain his anticipation, it was hard to restrain himself from sprinting out of the conference room to meet her.
It was Sophie’s hand on his arm that made him pause.
‘No. Don’t do this to yourself,’ she pleaded in hushed tones as she waved away hovering employees who would have approached him.
‘I have to,’ Jake said.
She grabbed his hand, steered him into a small soundproof room off the conference area and closed the door. ‘Just what do you hope to achieve, Jake?’
‘You know as well as I do that I haven’t been able to get on with my life. I can’t move on until I finish this on my terms.’
Sophie let go of his hand and paced the length of the room, one hand at her narrow waist and the other running through her stunning red hair in agitation. ‘It’s a fatal attraction. She’s ripped you up before and I saw how destructive it was. Don’t let her do it to you again.’
‘She won’t. I don’t have blinkers on anymore where she’s concerned. I’ll get closure on this and I’ll do it my way.’
It seemed he’d been waiting for Amanda for an eternity. Seeing her again—no, he corrected himself—eradicating his feelings for her, was more vital than closing a multimillion-dollar takeover deal.
‘You should never have gone to Bennett’s funeral. To publicly align yourself to a woman whose deplorable actions have earned her public loathing...It was sheer insanity.’
‘I’d hoped, once I saw her again, I’d discover she didn’t affect me as profoundly as I remembered.’ He’d been wrong. He’d been aggravated that both her physical and emotional impact upon him was as strong as ever. He was still surprised at the overwhelming surge of protectiveness he’d felt for her as Fiona Bennett had attacked her. His vulnerability to Amanda annoyed the hell out of him.
‘But she did.’ Sophie sighed as she looked at him closely and her lips twisted in frustrated resignation. ‘We’re both as hopeless as each other when it comes to falling in love with the wrong people.’
‘No. My heart isn’t involved in this anymore. This is just about ending it.’
Sophie merely shook her head and grimaced. ‘This is me you’re talking to. Sometimes I think I know you better than you know yourself.’ She put her hands on his arms. ‘Don’t forget this was the woman who held that heart in the palm of her hand and didn’t think twice about squeezing the life out of it. She’s a faithless woman whose affairs drove her husband to suicide.’
Jake closed his eyes briefly. The pain of Amanda’s betrayal was still there.
‘I’m afraid she still affects me like no other woman has. Pathetic, isn’t it?’
It was his vulnerability to Amanda that had made him lash out at her with harsh words. He admitted he’d been pretty brutal in the things that he’d said to her, but the wounds she’d inflicted upon him when she’d left him to marry Bennett were still open and bleeding.
‘Maybe you’re right. Maybe the only reason you still feel this way is lack of closure. She never did provide you with any good reason for having left and I know that’s tortured you.’
It felt good to have Sophie put into words what had been plaguing him. He was still angry and hurt to think that Amanda had left his bed and immediately fallen pregnant with Bennett’s baby. To know that the tenderness and
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