Part 19 (1/2)

Though it was only the middle of the afternoon, Sean couldn't help opening the minibar. He needed a drink. And he wanted her to have one...because he had the feeling she'd soon need it, too.

But she declined with a brief shake of her head, waiting while he opened a small bottle and poured himself a shot of whiskey. Not particularly good whiskey, since it didn't come from Ireland, but it would do.

He finally answered her question. ”Yes, she knew. Despite appearances, she's a very nice woman.”

Annie nodded, not doubting it, obviously having seen the genuine regret in Constance's face over her faux pas. His former a.s.sociate wasn't stupid-she'd taken one look at Annie and had realized that she'd stepped right into the middle of a very personal personal relations.h.i.+p. Because anyone could see that the beautiful young blonde sitting across from him would never need to hire any man to give her what she needed. relations.h.i.+p. Because anyone could see that the beautiful young blonde sitting across from him would never need to hire any man to give her what she needed.

”She owns a gallery and had just gone through a bad divorce. She was in Munich attending some auctions, wanted someone to keep an eye on her and on her purchases...and hired me to be that someone.”

Annie thought about it for a moment, her head tilting in obvious bewilderment. ”You mean, you were her...bodyguard?”

”Yes, actually. That's what she asked me to be, at least at first.”

”I'm confused. I thought you were a businessman.”

He sipped his drink, then laughed harshly. ”I'm in the people people business, Annie. Wining and dining, wheeling and dealing, mostly for big corporations business, Annie. Wining and dining, wheeling and dealing, mostly for big corporations these these days. But back then, my clients usually wanted something other than a good translator or negotiator.” days. But back then, my clients usually wanted something other than a good translator or negotiator.”

”Like what?”

She still didn't get it. Didn't see the truth he was laying out in front of her.

So he made it a whole h.e.l.l of a lot more clear.

”Like a lover.”

She gasped.

”Though, love certainly had nothing to do with it. Attraction, yes. And money. But not love.”

He saw the exact moment when understanding washed over her. Annie's pretty pink mouth trembled, then fell open in a nearly inaudible gasp. Her blue eyes grew huge in her face and her sun-kissed cheeks went pale.

Oh, yes, she understood.

Sean made no effort to explain, to backpedal his way out of the truth. Or even to make it clear that his business dealings now were much more normal and impersonal than they'd once been. Nor did he use the justification that he'd never had s.e.x with a woman he wasn't attracted to, no matter what he was offered.

Because none of that mattered. The reality was, he'd done exactly what she thought he'd done.

”You were a prost.i.tute.”

He flinched. But didn't duck from the verbal stone. ”Yes.” Smiling with absolutely no humor, he clarified, ”Though I preferred to be called a male escort at the time.”

Annie rose, walked on shaky legs to the minibar, and helped herself to the bottle she'd refused before. She twisted the top off, brought the thing to her lips and drank straight from it, ignoring the clean gla.s.ses nearby.

When she was finished, she blinked a few times, cleared her throat, then met his stare. ”So the auction last week. That wasn't such an unusual thing for you.”

Feigning a nonchalance he didn't feel, Sean leaned one hip against the standard hotel-room desk and crossed his arms in front of his chest. ”Actually, it was quite unusual. No woman ever paid five thousand dollars for an evening with me.”

She frowned, then, understanding, muttered, ”No, I imagine they paid a lot more.”

The kind of women he'd been dealing with? Oh, yes. They most definitely had.

As if she couldn't bear to look at him, Annie crouched down, reaching out to her cat. Though usually aloof, the animal seemed to sense her need, because he immediately came to her, curling against her, letting himself be stroked by Annie's hand.

Her beautiful, vulnerable, shaking shaking hand. hand.

He turned away, unable to watch. Sean wanted to bend down and lift her to her feet, to kiss away her shock, to tell her the whole story-why he'd done it, what had driven him-everything.

Something stopped him. Maybe it was the way she'd repeated her mother's words in the car. Almost whispering, sounding stunned-and maybe a little wishful.

Sean couldn't make those wishes come true. Not now that she truly knew who he was...who he had been.

”I never expected to tell you any of this,” he admitted. ”Never dreamed there would be a reason.”

She looked up, her eyes s.h.i.+ny with unshed tears. ”And now there's a reason?”

”Yes. There is.” That whole ”cruel to be kind” motto had always annoyed him, but he suddenly knew that was the way this had to go down. He didn't want her crying over him, shedding a single tear. He simply wasn't worth it.

”I saw it in your eyes when you told me what your mother had said.”

Her lashes lowered a little in pure self-defense.

”Don't mix up s.e.x with emotion, Annie,” he urged. ”It's obvious you're a little confused, and considering what that a.s.shole Blake did to you, that's pretty understandable. But you aren't in love with me.”

He did not continue. Did not say the next natural sentence, And I'm not in love with you either. And I'm not in love with you either.

Because Sean was many things, but he wasn't an outright liar. Saying that would, he believed, be lying not only to her but also to himself. Though he'd never completely understood the emotion, he knew what he was feeling for Annie was unlike anything he'd ever felt before. He wanted to be with her, wanted to make those dreams of hers come true, wanted all the things he'd been running away from for so long.

But when it came right down to it, she was just too d.a.m.n good for him.

This way was best. It would end now, they'd both save face. They'd put their relations.h.i.+p back on a level they could both handle-that it had been a wild and wonderful fling, not soon forgotten, but nothing to write love songs and vows about. He'd walk out of her life, and she'd find someone else who fit into it much better than Sean Murphy ever could.

She finally rose to her feet, her throat visibly working as she swallowed down whatever emotion had risen up inside her. Her tone hard, she said, ”I can separate s.e.x from love.”

It had worked. He'd hurt her, challenged her, and she'd reacted as he'd hoped she would. So why his throat felt as though he'd swallowed a mouthful of gla.s.s, he had no idea.

”But there's something you should know.”

Seeing a sudden stiffening in her spine, he waited, wondering if he'd been congratulating himself-and mourning at the same time-a bit too soon.

”Despite what you think you know about me, I'm not easily shocked. And what you just told me...well, I don't like it, but I certainly can't hate you for things you did long before I ever met you.”

”Don't you get it? Those things say a lot about who I am.”

”Who you were, were,” she clarified.

”Semantics.”