wanted his life back. But I wasn’t willing to risk my relationship with Nicole by taking the rap for any of the idiotic things he did in the future.
“That sounds a little ominous,” Nicole observed.
The waltz ended, and I took her hand to lead her off the dance floor. “It’s not,” I assured her. “There’s actually a lot of things we need to discuss. Like you deciding that you want to stay here in England with me instead of going back to the States.”
Fuck! Now why in the hell had I brought that up right now?
I found a quiet corner and pulled her into it. I needed to explain, and I didn’t want to scare the shit out of her. I took her hand. “I want you to stay, Nicole. We can sign the agreement with Lancaster, and you could work on developing more business here in the UK.” I didn’t say it out loud because I already knew she’d protest, but let’s face it, there was no end to the business I could send her way. I had a hell of a lot of connections both in the UK and Europe.
Her eyes went wide as she leaned her back against the wall. “You actually want me to stay?”
I nodded. “I do.”
“But my whole life is back in the United States. I know you aren’t asking me to stay forever, but I can’t be away from ACM for much longer.”
Oh, hell yes, I was asking her to stay forever. That was exactly what I wanted, but I wasn’t quite sure I should blurt that out right now. She already looked confused as hell. Did I really want to give her a chance to turn forever down flat? “Then stay another month or two,” I suggested. “I don’t want you to go right now.”
Or ever! Definitely not ever.
I continued, “Kylie is doing a great job operating your domestic business. Stay and work on expanding here.”
I’d settle for temporary if it would eventually get me to forever. I needed more time, and a clean slate to work with after I told her about Dylan.
If she could get over the fact that I hadn’t told her the entire truth about the orgy and naked picture, I’d do everything in my power to make damn sure she fell in love with me.
My gut ached as I watched the expression on her face. There was a lot of uncertainty in those beautiful blue eyes, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it.
“I don’t think I can actually open an office in London. It’s too expensive.”
I had a plethora of commercial property in the city I’d gladly hand over, but I answered carefully, “You can figure that out later. You can do a temporary office upstairs at the house, and stay with me.”
Her eyes grew wide. “You want me to actually stay at your gigantic palace? Convert one of your upstairs bedrooms into an office?”
“Of course. I just said I wanted you to stay.”
I didn’t give a damn what she did to my house. She could blow up the whole damn thing as long as she left us a room with a bed.
“Damian…I-I don’t—”
I put a finger to her mouth to keep her from answering. “Don’t answer right now. Think about it, Nicole. We’ll talk after this ridiculous gala is over.”
In the meantime, I needed to find a way to stop her from saying no like she nearly did just a second ago.
She nodded slowly. “Okay. I’ll think about it. Right now, I really need to pee.”
I glanced toward the powder room my mother had set up for the guests. “There’s a line for the loo down here. Do you want me to take you upstairs?”
She smiled. “I know where it is. I think you should find your mother and let her know you’re here.”
“I should,” I agreed. “I’ll see you back down here in a few minutes.”
“Damian?”
My head came up sharply, and my eyes locked with hers.
She continued, “I don’t want you to think that I don’t want to stay…” She paused. “Never mind. We’ll discuss it later.”
I wanted to call her beautiful ass back as I watched her depart from the ballroom. Her unfinished comment made me edgy, concerned that her words might have been a prelude to a really large no decision.
I shook my head as I looked around for my mum.
Letting Nicole say no to staying here wasn’t an option.
Well, unless she had no objection to me going back to the