Unexpectedly Expecting the Sheik's Baby - Elizabeth Lennox Page 0,55

do this, Nasir,” she murmured with a breathless quality to her voice that she hated.

He only smiled, watching her reaction closely. “Don’t do what?” he asked, rubbing his thumb over her ring. “Congratulations on your engagement. When is the wedding?”

Cassy swallowed. She hated this! She hated lying! Especially to him! But it was necessary. “It doesn’t matter. You got what you wanted and then left me. I was dismissed. So how about if I just say, ‘you are dismissed’ back to you, and you can go on your merry way?”

She jerked her wrist away and moved back, unconcerned that she’d messed up the leather chairs that had been placed carefully at each place around the table. It was more important that she get away.

“What are you talking about? When did I dismiss you?” he demanded harshly.

Cassy wrapped her arms around herself and turned away, hiding her face. “That last morning. You were gone when I woke up.”

His eyes narrowed and he realized that… she was hurt? But, he’d left a note for her! He’d told her that he would meet her in London or she could stay at the house! She was the one who had left. She’d left and ignored his request! Damn her, what game was she playing now?

Slicing his hand through the air, as if that would stop her rejection, he glared at her. “No Cassandra! I had business to attend to. You should understand that. You of all people should have understood.”

She turned around to face him, taking a deep breath. “Yes. I understand.”

His eyes narrowed and he moved closer, daring her to step away. He suddenly realized that she was trembling. With anger? Or something else? He wasn’t sure but he wasn’t leaving until he knew what was going on! “Explain exactly what you understand,” he commanded.

Her chin went up a notch. “You wanted sex from me. You got it. When you grew bored, you moved on. I understand.” Her voice cracked, telling him clearly that she truly didn’t understand. She didn’t understand anything!

He wouldn’t deny that he’d wanted sex. Hell, he wanted her even now! He’d wanted this damn woman every day and every night since she’d run away. Why the hell did she think he was here now?

Even his presence here angered him. He felt like she was pulling him in. He was always in control, always the one to end things. Until Cassy. Damn her! “Yes. And it was good. Great! I want to make love to you again. That isn’t a crime.”

She ignored the way her body reacted to his words. She wasn’t going there! No way! “The sex was fine,” she finally admitted, turning away and rubbing her forehead. Nasir had to go and she suspected that the only way she could get him out of her life was to be honest with him.

“The sex was more than fine, Cassandra! Don’t you dare try to convince me that anything we did together was simply ‘fine’ because we both know better.”

Unfortunately, honesty was hard. Especially with a man as powerful and intriguing as Nasir. She frowned at him, refusing to let him pull her down again. “I know,” she finally replied and turned away again, gripping the back of one of the leather chairs. “I didn’t like the way you dismissed me.”

He saw the hurt in the way she held herself so stiffly. He also noticed the tears glistening in her eyes and his anger abruptly dissipated. This was the soft, gentle woman he remembered from Zurich. Nasir stepped closer, taking her hands and pulling her around so he could see her face. Trying to see in her eyes what she was feeling, to understand what she was telling him. He gentled his tone. “How did I do that, little one?” he asked.

Cassy shook her head, hating the weakness that was seeping into her body with his gentle tone. She couldn’t let him do this to her. It had been too hard to get over him the last time. “Don’t call me that! I’m not little, I’m not skinny, and your tone implies that I’m your woman. I’m not!”

“You were,” he asserted firmly.

She sniffed, shaking her head. “Not anymore.”

“Because I left to attend to business?”

She shook her head, jerking her hand away so she could wipe the tears from her cheeks. They only showed her weakness and she needed to be strong, now more than ever. “No, Nasir. Because you left without a word. I woke up and you were gone.