Chapter 51

• Ray bounced his knee up and down in pent-up frustration. His flight was delayed for two hours. That was two more hours he should have been with Alexis. Two more hours he should have spent kissing her but he was stuck in an airport lounge. There was a lady working there who'd made passes at him several times and he'd had it. One more pass was all it would take to make him do something he'd never done before. Tell her to go screw herself.
• He was anxious to get back but what worried him was how Alexis would react. He'd picked up his phone a million times to call her but stopped himself last minute. He thought giving her time to miss him was the right thing to do. He was wrong. Henry had called him and according to Marjorie, her friend had been sad but after a few days, she'd started being mad at him. He had been instructed to go back home bearing gifts, expensive ones at that if he wanted her to forgive him. For a second he'd thought Marjorie had been exaggerating like she always does but then he'd called Copeland who had rubbed it in his face about how his screw up was benefiting him. He should have known his partner would take that chance to move in on Alexis. Dammit, why hadn't he taken her with him?
• Because she would have been a distraction. His client Alberto was a famous Spanish designer who had needed his undivided attention. After being accused of rape, his company had been on the verge of going bankrupt because investors were pulling out. He could have deserted the man like everyone else, except Ray knew in his heart that Alberto wouldn't do something like that. So it had been his job to restore his public image. That kind of work needed his full attention but with Alexis there, he wouldn't have been able to concentrate. Even though she was miles away, he'd still thought about her but he'd been able to push her to the back of his mind. Now he realized his mistake.