If they had been a little curious as to why she had suddenly decided to become the stay-at-home type who no longer needed to talk incessantly about her misfortunes, they had not said anything, and she knew they figured that she was just experiencing the aftershocks of what had happened with Robbie.
In time, she would confess all, but right now she needed time out from...everyone.
She had just showered and climbed into a pair of baggy joggers and an even baggier T-shirt—because she had lost the desire to wear tight and sexy clothes now that she was back to being on her own—when she heard the ring of the doorbell, and she froze, because there could be only one person who would ring that doorbell, having got past Eddy, the porter who manned the desk downstairs.
Lucas.
He had a key to the apartment, which made sense bearing in mind it belonged to him, but he always used the doorbell, only letting himself in if he knew that she wasn’t going to be in.
Her mouth went dry and she gulped in deep breaths because the thought of seeing him again filled her with pleasure and trepidation at the same time.
In the length of time it took her to traverse the wooden floor from sitting room to door, she had dissected, dismissed and re-dissected a hundred possible reasons for this unexpected visit.
In the starring role on her wish list was the tiny ray of hope that he had miraculously decided that they were suited after all, that he had made a terrible mistake. Or even, she was ashamed to concede, that he had missed her and would she climb back into bed with him? She would say no, she was pretty sure of that, but it would do her a power of good just to think that he, in some small way, missed her as much as she was desperately missing him.
Her heart was preparing to soar and she had to school her features into just the right level of indifference as she pulled open the door.
‘My dear!’
‘Antonia...’ Milly forced a smile but she was taken aback to find his mother on the doorstep. She hadn’t spoken to Antonia since the split, and she felt guilty now about that, because they had developed a strong bond in the short time they had been in each other’s company. ‘I...eh...have been meaning to get in touch with you...’
‘You look a little peaky, my dear.’
‘Please, come inside. I... What brings you to London? I didn’t think that you would be okay to travel overseas...just yet. Can I offer you something? Tea or coffee?’
‘I thought I might surprise my son with a visit,’ Antonia confided. ‘And a cup of coffee would be lovely, my dear. Decaf, if you have it. Caffeine any time after six in the evening ruins my sleeping patterns.’
‘That reminds me: well, I guess you’ve come... I would have called...’ To further compound your disappointment by filling in all the gaps Lucas might have left in the saga of why we had broken up? Added to the story of personality clashes, simmering rows and different hopes and dreams?
‘It’s even nicer seeing you face to face, Milly, my dear. I’ve missed having you there at the house. It felt rather empty and quiet after you and Lucas left. Of course, I was in tremendous spirits, but nevertheless... How quickly we become accustomed to having pleasant company around us.’
Milly could feel her face getting redder and redder and her body hotter and hotter.
‘Well, you look amazing,’ she said truthfully, even though the tremendous spirits may have taken a recent battering.
‘I feel it. I guess I’m just buoyed up by Lucas’s turnaround.’
‘His turnaround...?’
‘Finally coming to his senses and seeing the value of settling down.’
For a confusing few seconds, Milly was appalled at the question that had instantly sprung into her head: Who was he planning to settle down with? How fast could one man move when it came to women?
‘So—and I know I’m being an interfering old witch here—but I came over so that I could sit you both down together and find out when I can start looking forward to the big day...’
* * *
‘The big day, Lucas...and I’m quoting here. So what in heck’s name is going on?’
Milly had finally managed to get hold of Lucas, who was personally protected from hassle with anyone he might not wish to talk to by an army of people in charge of security checks. She actually had his direct line but, the second she had been redirected, she had had to engage in the usual barrage of questions from his guard dogs.
She was in a filthy temper by the time she actually heard his dark drawl at the other end of the line, which was possibly why her stomach didn’t instantly go into nervous knots.
For the first time since he had walked out, Lucas felt alive at the sound of her voice and that, in itself, was bloody infuriating.
‘I have no idea what you’re going on about, Milly. You can’t commence a conversation in mid-sentence and expect me to instantly be clued up.’
‘You know what I’m talking about! Guess who I just had a visit from?’
‘Can’t think. No time for guessing games.’
‘Your mother!’
Lucas sat up and digested this piece of information. ‘My mother...’ he said slowly.
‘Strangely,’ Milly all but shrieked down the end of the line, ‘she seems to be under the impression that we’re still an item!’
‘Where are you?’
‘Where do you think I am, Lucas?’
‘How would I know?’ he answered with silky smoothness. ‘It’s after seven on a Friday evening and you’re a single woman...’
‘I’m at home.’ How could he think that she would physically be able to go clubbing when she was in love with him? Or was he just judging her the way he judged himself? He would have no problem doing that. If he possessed a heart instead of a lump of cold where a heart should be...
‘I’m on my way.’
Milly fought the temptation to get a little more dolled up than she was. Maybe swop the baggy jogging bottoms, which she knew he loathed, for something a little more attractive. He could take her as he found her, she decided. He could explain why his mother was still in the dark and then he could be on his way.
She was as cool as a cucumber until the doorbell went half an hour later and there he was. All dark, tall and broodingly, sinfully gorgeous. Just the right side of dishevelled with the sleeves of his white shirt rolled to the elbows and his jacket slung over one shoulder. A sight for sore eyes and she just wanted to stand there and stare.
‘So...’ She pulled open the door and stepped away from him, not trusting herself. ‘Mind explaining...?’
Lucas couldn’t peel his eyes away from her. She was wearing just the sort of outfit he had always teased that she needed to wean herself away from. It hid every delectable curve, and yet she was still so enticing, still so damned sexy.
He’d missed her. It was as simple as that. He hadn’t been able to focus, had lost interest in deals that should have netted all of his undivided attention, could not even be bothered to rifle through his little black book for other women. And he had told his mother nothing because...
‘I need a drink. Something stronger than a cup of tea.’
‘You need a drink? This isn’t a social call, Lucas.’ Milly finally looked at him and her treacherous eyes skittered away. She clasped her arms around her body, hugging herself.
‘No. It’s not.’ He headed straight for the kitchen, directly to the cupboard where he knew she kept a practically full bottle of whisky,