He forced himself to follow the motions of his usual act. He was attentive through the meal. When they finished, he guided her out of the building with a hand at the small of her back. He even opened the car door for her. He knew she would interpret the actions as an acceptance to her proposition the moment he took his seat in the vehicle and her hand landed on his thigh.
The entire drive back to the office he was silent. Willing his body to relax while hoping a part of him would stiffen up a bit. It wasn’t for lack of effort on Ginny’s part. She had been drawing progressively larger circles on his leg for five blocks. Each pass getting closer to that part of him that was embarrassingly unaffected.
He had to bite back a sigh of relief when he pulled into the parking structure. Pulling into the first available spot he quickly turned off the car and made to get out. A hand on his lower stomach stopped him.
“What’s the hurry?” Ginny asked, setting her hand into motion again. This time exploring his stomach and chest.
“I have work to do.”
“But I thought you would make some time.” She leaned in and took the lobe of his ear in her mouth to give it a little nip. “To play with me.”
He pulled away and took her wandering hand in his. Bringing it to his lips, he was glad he mastered the art of covering his emotions long ago. Because the thought of playing with Ginny made him more nervous than he could ever remember being.
“I’m working on a deadline. I thought you understood that.” Falon looked over at the woman in his car, almost daring her to challenge him. The fact that he was willing to end this before it even got started spoke volumes of his state of mind.
Giving himself a mental shake, he gave her a cold smile and climbed out of the car. Not bothering to walk around it to open her door he waited for her to come to him. He didn’t want her to get too comfortable. Getting the hint, Ginny unfolded herself from the car and walked toward him, hips swinging, sex in her eyes. Falon nearly sighed.
She snaked her arms around his neck, pressing her body against his, shoulder to hip. “I had a great time.” She pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth and stepped back, eyes drawn over his left shoulder. “Call me when you’re done here.”
When Ginny disappeared behind the elevator doors, he turned and was confronted by a wall of anger rolling off Marcy. His eyes bounced from her glare to the woman standing next to her. Sarah looked pale. Pale and unable to meet his eyes. For a moment he thought she was sick and his gut clenched. Then he remembered Ginny looked over his shoulder. She knew the women were there and whatever she had seen on their faces had her kicking things up a notch. He had to hand it to the woman. She played a good game.
Kicking himself for still being concerned about Sarah, he assumed his most condescending stance. Crossing his arms over his chest he looked down his nose at the women who brought his world crashing down. “Enjoy the show?”
He watched Sarah squeeze her eyes tightly shut before forcing herself to look at him. Well, not directly at him. Some point beyond his right shoulder. His heart tripped over itself when he noticed her red-rimmed eyes. Had she been crying? Clenching his fists, he fought the instinct yelling at him to close the distance between them and comfort her. She brought this upon herself. She had lied, played him like the sorry fool he was beginning to believe he was.
“Look here you son of a b—”
“Marcy. Enough.” Sarah’s wane voice cut her friend off.
“As much as I hate to agree, don’t you think you’ve done enough talking?” He sneered. If it weren’t for the woman, he would still be living in the blissful delusion that Sarah actually cared.
Marcy had the grace to look ashamed. For about half a second. Then her spine straightened and she opened her mouth to deliver what he was sure was a rather scathing remark.
“Marcy. Just leave it.” Sarah sounded so defeated.
“I’d listen to your friend.” Falon couldn’t keep his eyes from shooting to Sarah. “For all her faults she’s smart enough to recognize a lost cause when she sees one.”
He watched as Marcy looked at her friend. She winced and bit back whatever words were fighting to work past her lips.
As they walked past him, Sarah kept her distance like she feared getting too close. He felt his jaw clench as the thought of her being physically afraid of him toyed with his mind. She couldn’t think …
“You’re a real bastard, you know that,” Marcy called over the hood of her car.
Yeah. He knew.
Chapter Thirteen
If Sarah thought the scene in the parking garage was bad, she really should have taken sick days the rest of the week. Watching Ginny wiggle through the office every day to visit Falon was killing her. She felt physically ill every time she watched him place a talented hand on the small of her back and ushered her out the door.
The happy couple had just left for another lunch date. Her stomach turned as she realized they probably weren’t eating. Well, food anyway.
She lowered her head to rest on her crossed arms. She was lost. And she didn’t know what to do about it. A part of her wanted to rail at him until he listened. Understood that, yes, she did set out to get under his skin. But her intentions had been good. She only wanted him to remember what it was like to live with his heart. Instead, she had lost hers to the only man who had successfully frozen his.
Another part of her, the part more prone to roll over and play dead, told her that she could talk until she was blue in the face and it wouldn’t make any difference. He was probably looking for a way to get rid of her anyway, and her little slipup in the bathroom was just the exit he needed. Look how fast he attached himself to Ginny.
Sarah groaned. Maybe there was a nice hole somewhere she could go crawl in.
“Come now, it cannot possibly be that bad.” The deep accented voice pulled her head from its resting place. Standing just inside her door was an extremely well dressed older man. He appeared around her grandfather’s age. And like him, he stood tall in his custom-tailored suit. His rich dark hair, snow white at the temples and the lines on his tanned skin were the only clues to his true age.
“Can I help you?” She wondered if the man was an actor looking for Frank. She had never seen him before, but their prospective client list had picked up a little to the work Falon had done.
“Yes, my name is Armand Cortinovis, am looking for someone actually.” The man’s Italian accent and charming smile had her relaxing. He had a great smile. Almost familiar. Maybe she had seen him in the agency before.
“If you’re looking for Frank or Ralph, I believe they are out to lunch.” She found herself returning his smile, even if hers was a little sad. “Can I take a message?”
The man stood studying her for a moment and the comfort of the moments before fled. “You’re her aren’t you?”
She was startled. “Her who?”
“The woman that has my grandson tied up in knots.” She had to remember not to let her jaw hang open. That was why his smile looked so familiar. Falon had flashed her the same grin whenever he was up to something. Studying the man closer, she noticed they shared the same liquid brown eyes. Only where Falon’s were now full of icy disdain this man’s were a story of regret.
“I don’t think …”
“Mind if I have a seat? I think there are a few things you need to know.” Not waiting for her to tell him it wouldn’t be a good idea, that he couldn’t possibly be more wrong where she and his grandson were concerned, he swept further into the room and claimed a chair across from her.