Fates Tied by Jack Wildman Page A

surprise but more importantly the desire that was in her eyes. He licked his lips, saw her gaze follow the movement and swallowed.
    “I wasn’t expecting you to come,” he said quietly, his voice dry and rasping. He swallowed his drink and ordered another. “I thought it would be that blond colleague of yours, Tiffany.”
    “She… she…” Suzanne tried to say. She coughed, cleared her throat and took a large gulp of wine. “She had an emergency in her personal life and asked if I could fill in for her.”
    “That’s not very professional,” Edward said with a frown, disapproval obvious in his voice.
    “She’s usually very good about this sort of stuff,” Suzanne said defensively. “She never does this normally so I was happy to help her.”
    “Ok, ok,” Edward said, holding up his hands in surrender.
    They lapsed into silence, both staring at their drinks and glancing at each other. It was awkward, uncomfortable, nothing like the conversations that they had shared until so recently. They opened their mouths and began talking at the same time.
    “I’ve missed you,” Edward said.
    “How’ve you been?” Suzanne said.
    They both stopped talking and blushed as they fell into silence once more. Edward looked around and noticed people watching them, coming closer to talk to him. There were other men looking at Suzanne too, with considerable interest and desire.
    “Would you like to go outside and talk in private?” He asked quickly, looking at Suzanne at last.
    She looked around and saw the way that men were looking at her, the way that women were looking at Edward. She turned back to him and smiled.
    “I think that’s an idea,” she said gently.
    Edward let her go first, guiding her wordlessly with a hand on the small of her back.
    They slowly made their way through the crowd, stopping now and then so that Edward could greet people before making his excuses. Eventually they reached the corridor, the door shutting behind them and cutting out most of the sound. Now there was only a quiet rumble of voices from the other side, the odd clink of glasses colliding or a sudden barking laugh. Suzanne turned to look at Edward and waited for him to speak.
    “Let’s go outside properly,” he said quietly. “I don’t usually smoke but I really need one right now.”
    “You never mentioned that you smoke,” Susanne said as they walked down the quiet corridor.
    “I don’t normally but I’m a bit on edge,” Edward said with a guilty smile, “I don’t really like public speaking much, it makes me stupidly nervous.”
    “You and me both,” Suzanne said smiling.
    They stepped out into the coolness of the night air. Suzanne hugged her arms around her body against the chill. Edward quickly shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around her.
    “I’m sorry, I forgot how cold it was out here,” he said, smiling gently and pulling her close to him.
    They stood in silence for a few moments, staring up at the stars and listening to the traffic going around the ring road.
    “I’ve missed you,” Edward said quietly as he smoked his cigarette, “I’ve missed emailing you and texting you. I’ve even missed seeing your name appear on my phone.”
    Suzanne twisted in his arms to look up at him.
    “Is that why you used my agency to create your event?” She asked firmly.
    “I was hoping that you’d be the one arranging it yes,” Edward admitted, “I just wanted to see you again, to be sure that you were as beautiful as I remembered and that it wasn’t all in my head.”
    “And?” Suzanne asked, expectantly, nervously.
    “You are even more beautiful than I remembered,” Edward said quietly.
    He tossed his cigarette to the side and began to run his hands up and down her arms, “And the connection between us is still here, it feels even stronger than I thought. Can’t you feel it?”
    Suzanne closed her eyes and focused on the sensation of Edward’s hands running up and down her arms. She could feel the