London Falling (28 page)

Aimee felt like ducking her head in embarrassment, but Simon drew her gently into his arms and kissed her on the lips. As more tears slid down her face, Simon kissed each tear away.

She hated him for being so gentle and understanding. Why couldn’t he have mocked her tears or been uncomfortable with them? Why did he have to be so enlightened? The one man who was out of her reach and lived on an entirely different continent than her! How could he do this to her? He was going to rip her heart out and toss it to her on a platter of you’re-not-good-enough-for-me. And she couldn’t do anything to stop him.

Because she was already in love with him.

Simon opened his eyes to see Aimee’s relaxed face on the pillow next to him Her mouth was slightly open and the wet spot on the pillow indicated that she’d drooled very recently. He smiled. She was beautiful. Without doubt, he was a lucky man.

Sunlight peeked around the edge of the curtains, so he knew it had to be morning sometime. He had to get to work. Time was running out on his proposal, and tonight was the event at his house. Now was the time to tell Aimee that she had to move to Lucy’s flat. Permanently.

His gut clenched into a thousand knots at the thought. He didn’t want to let her go. She was a distraction to the millionth power at a time when he needed to focus all of his energy on winning the royals’ business. He’d never felt like this about anyone before, not even Nealy. He’d never wanted to drown himself in Nealy and forget about the rest of the world. He’d never cared about someone so much it distracted him from his business. He’d never felt so torn in his entire life.

Aimee was giving and caring and strong and courageous. And every time he learned more about her, he admired her even more. Not to mention the fact that the chemical attraction between them was beyond words. Add it all up and .

He had it bad.

He stretched in bed, which caused the puppy to sit up, shake, and return to his ball at Aimee’s feet. When had Cupcake come up here? Aimee must have picked him up at some time in the middle of the night. He patted the mattress next to him, but Cupcake remained at his patroness’s feet. Even the dog had it bad for Aimee. He didn’t blame him, but neither one of them were very smart. They both had to say goodbye to her soon.

Simon pulled the cover back. Aimee stirred, turning sleepy eyes towards him.

“Where are you going,” she asked, her voice a husky whisper.

His body reacted to her sexy voice, but he was determined to ignore it.

He leaned down to kiss her gently on the lips. “I have to go to work.” Now was the time to tell her she needed to move to Lucy’s.

“Mmm-hmm.” She opened her eyes a tiny bit more and smiled at him.

“Thank you for last night.”

Simon halted with one leg halfway out of the covers. She was thanking him for one of the best nights of his life? She looked so beautiful right now, with her hair all mussed and her face relaxed from sleep. He couldn’t leave without another kiss. Another taste.

Twenty minutes wouldn’t impact his work day.

He touched his lips to hers. He should have known that he was playing with fire. Twenty minutes wasn’t going to be enough.

Aimee sat up in bed and watched Simon get ready for work. It was all so very domestic. She had to work hard to hold in her smile. Her life was a horrible mess, yet she’d never been happier. He was simply amazing. They’d made love twice last night and another time this morning. And each time, it only seemed to get better.

He pulled a shirt out of the armoire and tugged it over shoulders that were broad and muscular. Shoulders that she had kissed before he’d turned over and she’d explored more of his body. Her face turned red just at the thought. She couldn’t believe some of things she’d done!

And she couldn’t wait to try even more. Although tonight was the benefit so that might put a kink in her plans.

“What time is the benefit tonight?” she asked.

He finished buttoning the cuffs on his shirt and pulled out a striped tie.

He positioned himself in front of the mirror, eyeing the length of the two sides. “Half past six.” He wrapped one end of the silk around the other.

“Will people actually show up that early on New Year’s Eve?”

He finished the knot on his tie and pulled on his black suit coat. “It’s only a two-hour event, so they had better show up.”

“Two hours?” That seemed like a bad idea given that it was New Year’s Eve. Who would come to a party for only two hours?

“It’s a pre-party benefit. It was Lucy’s idea. Start the New Year off right by giving to a worthy cause. We’ll serve hors d’oeuvres before sending everyone off to their respective parties.”

“How does this help you win the business?”

“We’re benefiting the Royal Opera. Isabella Piccininni is going to sing for us, which should help open pockets.”

Wow. Even she had heard of Isabella Piccininni. “So you’re raising money for one of the royal charities and you’re hoping the royal family will appreciate your help so much that they’ll give you their banking business?”

“Not that simple. But yes, I’m hoping that it generates some goodwill.”

She wrinkled her nose.

“What does that look mean?” he asked.

She shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t know. I guess if I were going to give to a charity, I’d find something that really helped people.”

“This helps people. The Opera couldn’t exist today without generous donations.”

“Oh, I’m sure that’s true. But, if I had money to give, I’d rather give it to fight homelessness, or AIDS, or something like that. Didn’t Prince William spend his gap year helping Habitat for Humanity or something like that?”

He raised his eyebrow at her.

“What? I read People magazine. I would think that one of those charities would be better suited to your plan since you’re trying to get the princes’

business, not the Queen’s.”

“I don’t need you second guessing our strategy on the day of the event.”

He gave her a look that said “back-off” before grabbing his wallet off the side table.

Uh-oh. She shouldn’t have done that. The stress of the event, combined with his dad’s ultimatum had already caused tense brackets around his eyes.

Now he was upset with her. He turned toward her.

“I meant to mention this before, but since I have the event tonight, I need for you to move all of your things over to Lucy’s.”

“Lucy already told me.”

His head angled to one side, as if he weren’t sure about her answer. “Why aren’t you upset?”

“Why would I be upset? I know that I shouldn’t be around for the big event.” Which reminded her that she needed to tell him about the RPS or whatever the officer called it.

“Not just for the event. Until you return to the States.”

What? The blood rushed to her head and caused a ringing in her ears. He was kicking her out? After last night? And this morning? “You’re kicking me out because I told you that you should have picked a different charity? That’s pretty juvenile.”

“That’s not why I’m asking you to leave.” He walked closer to the bed, but didn’t sit down. All of the intimacy from earlier had disappeared into thin air. “I planned this last night.”

Before he made love to her?

“Don’t look like that,” he said. “It doesn’t have anything to do with what happened between us.” He sat down on the bed and reached out to her, but she pulled her legs up near her chest. She didn’t want any part of her touching him. “Because it’s too dangerous to have you here.”

She laughed at the ridiculousness of that statement. “It’s too dangerous?”

“Yes. Too many people already know about you. My aunt. My father.

Your presence makes it more likely that someone will discover what really brought you here. And I can’t risk it, as much as I would like to do otherwise.”

Aimee shook her head. She should have known this would happen. She’d been preparing herself to be rejected, but she didn’t think it would happen so soon, or that it would hurt so much. She pulled Cupcake closer and threaded her fingers through his fur.

“And if you could leave sooner rather than later? The Royal Protection Service will come by today, and I can’t have you here. It would raise too many questions.”

“They were already here.”

“What?” Simon shot from the bed. “And you didn’t tell me?”

“I forgot.”

“You forgot? Do you know how important this is? Bloody Hell! It could all be over. What happened? What did you tell them?” He paced back and forth.

She pulled Cupcake into her lap for protection. Not that she thought she needed it, but he was really upset. “I told him what you wanted me to tell him.”

“That you’re friends with my brother?”

She nodded.

“Did they buy it?” Simon asked.

“He seemed to.”

“And then what happened?”

“He walked around downstairs, took my passport number, and then checked out the rest of the house.”

“He what?” Simon said quietly. “I can’t believe you did this to me. I never thought you of all people.” His eyes darkened, and his face betrayed such hurt. The bank was the one thing he really cared about, and she’d put it at risk without any conscious thought. Just because he was rejecting her didn’t mean that she wanted him hurt.

She’d really messed up. Aimee shifted to put Cupcake down so she could explain that to him, but he turned and stared at the door. When he turned around, his face was completely devoid of emotion. Had she imagined the look of betrayal on his face?

She tried to explain. “He just said it was a formality in case I was at the event. It’s just going to say that I’m an American.”

“And they’ll also pull up the police report you gave.” He put his hands on the bed and leaned toward her. “They’re not stupid Aimee. They’ll put two and two together.” He pushed off the bed. “And it will all be over.” He turned around.

“You don’t know that.” Her voice sounded meek and unlike her own. She cleared her throat. “There’s no way he could find out that I’ve been working here without a permit unless you or I told him.” Or Lucy. Or his dad. But they wouldn’t do that.

“My father was right.” He stalked away from the bed and turned around.

“I should have never let you into my house.”

Aimee felt like she’d been slapped. His fear over losing the business was making him lash out at her, and she deserved it.

But as he stared at her, his expression changed. “No,” he said. He moved his hands to cover his face and rubbed his forehead with his fingers. “What in the bloody hell am I thinking?” He dropped his hands and let out a gigantic sigh. “I’m sorry, Aimee. There is too much at stake, and I just can’t deal with this right now. I need to get to the office now so I can handle the fallout. I’ll drop you at Lucy’s on the way.”

Aimee nodded. It was over. The whole thing was over. She slipped out of bed, feeling like a robot as she gathered her clothes and tugged them on. He didn’t even look at her as she walked past him.

She should have known this was too good to be true.

Simon raced home from the office. He only had an hour to change into his tux and make sure everything was proceeding smoothly before the first guests arrived. According to Lucy, everything was on schedule and Aimee was still at her flat.

Even though he couldn’t find any sign that the RDPD had discovered her illegal status, he was still worried. There was still time. He’d asked her to stop selling her damn fairy cakes because that was just one more opportunity for her to hurt him, but unless he chained her to the wall in Lucy’s flat, there was no way she would stop her illegal behavior.

He clenched his fists on the steering wheel as he thought about how terribly rude he’d been to Aimee. He’d always been able to handle his emotions, but the stress was getting to him. This morning, he’d happily been planning dates with Aimee–real dates, with dinner and a public location–where he’d pick her up and drop her off at Lucy’s as if they were a normal couple. He hadn’t meant to end things with her, and certainly not in that manner, but perhaps it was for the best. She made him take risks that put his goals in danger. Yet, all day he’d fought the impulse to race over to Lucy’s and ask her for forgiveness.

And that angered him more than anything. He’d lost control.

He slammed his car into a parking spot right behind the private detective and had to think twice about ramming into the guy’s fender. The only thing that stopped him was the realization that he’d harm his own car more than that piece of junk.

Simon grabbed his briefcase, slammed the car door, and stalked to his house. He put the key in the lock, but the door opened before he pushed it.

“Thank God you’re home!” Lucy said from the doorway. She grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. “Everything’s all at sixes and sevens!”

“What’s got into you?” he asked. Lucy was never flustered. His briefcase sank to the floor. They must have discovered Aimee’s illegal status.

“The caterer’s didn’t show. We have no food. No bartender. No alcohol.”

Simon opened his mouth, but couldn’t find the words to say anything.

That was unexpected.

What were they to do? It was New Year’s Eve. There would be no one available at the last minute to help them out. No pre-packaged food left at the shops. No anything. “What are we going to do?” he asked.

Lucy pulled him in the door. “I can only think of one option. I’ll go to the shops for food and alcohol. You go find Aimee.”

“No.” Lucy had gone mad. There was no way he’d let Aimee back in here tonight. It was too risky.

“It’s our only option. “We’ve only got a limited amount of time before the guests arrive. And Aimee knows how to cook. We’ll need all of the help we can get.”

Simon raked his fingers through his hair. Without food, people would leave early–and potentially not donate. Without alcohol, he might actually make people angry! Lucy was right. “I’ll go get her.”

Lucy let out a sigh of relief. “I’ll meet you back here.”

Simon raced back to the car he had just left. He had to find Aimee fast.

But where to head first? Lucy’s flat, where he’d told Aimee to stay, or Soho, where she’d been camped out the last few nights selling fairy cakes? If he made a mistake, he’d lose precious time since they were in opposite directions and holiday traffic was terrible. He made his decision.