“I was only doing my best.” She sighed, pools of heat prickling her cheeks. “Our lives are poles apart, Rory. You’re jetting off to America for goodness knows how long, but my life’s here in London. It would never work.”
“We could give it a try. You could come with me.”
“What?”
“Come with me to America. Just think how fantastic that would be. I know we could make it work.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said, outraged by his arrogance. “I have a business to run. I can’t simply pack my bags and go to the other side of the world on a whim.”
Rory dropped his head, gazing up at the ceiling, a sigh escaping his lips.
“So it’s true,” he said resignedly. “You’re not a romantic at heart.”
“It’s not about being a romantic. It’s about being realistic.” And however tempting Rory’s suggestion was, she knew she could never in a hundred years do something like that. Spontaneity wasn’t her strong point and if she were being honest with herself, what Rory was suggesting scared her completely witless. “It’s all very well you saying these things now, but what happens five years down the line when you meet and fall in love with a beautiful actress on set? Or you give in to the drink again and go back to your old ways?”
“Molly, that’s never going to happen. I’m in love with you. For today and forever. It’s all I’ve ever wanted and now that I’ve found you, I’m hardly likely to throw it all away on a whim. And as for the drinking, I’ve told you, there’s no way I’m going back there. But honestly, Molls, there are no guarantees. None of us can predict what’s going to happen in the future. When you fall in love, it’s a risk you have to take. I’m definitely prepared to take that risk for you. I only hope you can find it in your heart to do the same for me.”
“Oh, Rory!” It was everything she’d ever wanted too, but the hurt she carried from the past hovered over her shoulder. She needed to get away, to try to make sense of what Rory was telling her.
She dashed off to the bedroom, quickly gathering up her clothes and stuffing them in her bag before facing him again.
“I think it’s best if I leave now, before…” Before she said something she might regret. Or worse still, before she did something she may regret by giving into the heady temptation assaulting both her mind and her body. Before her life changed forever.
She took a deep breath, glancing at her watch. “Have a good trip, Rory.”
Rory’s brow furrowed, displeasure flickering across his features.
“Fair enough. All I ask is that you think about what I’ve said. I should be going too,” he said, a resigned tone to his voice. “I need to drop Bella off. “
Molly sighed inwardly, disappointed at his casual abandonment of the moment. A light had gone off in his eyes and he made no further attempt at persuading her otherwise. It was game over as far as he was concerned. On to bigger and brighter things.
“I’ll give you a call.” He didn’t even try to kiss her this time. The tenderness and longing that had been so evident in his features earlier had been replaced with a mask of impassivity.
“Sure,” she said, not believing him for one moment, knowing that this was a final goodbye, that their paths were unlikely to cross ever again. She sucked on her lips, determined not to let Rory see her gathering tears. “Have a good time, won’t you?” The words almost caught in her throat.
Molly’s stomach clenched with anxiety and longing. Even before she walked out the door, she knew she’d made the wrong decision.
Chapter Ten
“Are you all right?” Pippa wandered into the office with a steaming mug of tea, placing it carefully on Molly’s desk.
“Fine, perfectly fine, thank you, yes.” She continued tapping away on her keyboard, realizing as she said the words that she was probably overdoing it a tad. “Why do you ask?”
“Well, it’s just that you’ve been very quiet, distracted, away with the fairies for a while now.”
“Really? Nope, there’s nothing wrong at all,” said Molly, far too casually.
“Oh, come on, you can’t fool me, Molly. You haven’t been your normal self these last few weeks, you’ve seemed a bit, I dunno, low. Downbeat? Downcast? Ever since, in fact, our high-profile celebrity client, Mr. Campbell, did his vanishing trick. I knew he’d be trouble, that one.”
Three weeks and four days ago to be precise. Three weeks and four days without seeing his big, wide smile or hearing his warm, seductive voice at the end of the phone. Three weeks and four days when Molly couldn’t get Rory out of her mind. She’d received one single solitary email from him thanking her for her help and wishing her well for the future, but it had been noticeably short and to the point without even a single kiss after his name. A communication between two people involved in a business deal. That was all. Nothing more. Now there was no other conceivable reason to expect to hear from him, not after that last time, but a very small part of her couldn’t help hoping that she still might.
“Well, it’s nothing to do with Rory, I can assure you of that,” she said, rather too vehemently. “And he hasn’t done a vanishing trick. He’s gone to America on business. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.”
“Mmm. Do you know what we need?” said Pippa, plonking herself down in the chair opposite Molly, dumping the day’s post on her desk. “Another wedding to look forward to. It’s been a while since the last one and we could do with adding some new photos to the board up there. Is there anything in the offing?”
Molly, grateful for the distraction, ran a pen down her book of appointments that contained all her current clients, dates arranged and forthcoming events.
“Nothing as yet, but I’m hopeful for a couple of our clients. You can never tell though with these things. You can put two people together who you think will be the perfect match, but if they’re missing that vital spark of chemistry, then it’s never going to work.”
She smiled wryly, remembering Rory telling her the very same thing, wondering when he’d become such an expert on these matters.
“But you’re right, Pippa. Perhaps we need to have a new push for our existing clients. We haven’t had a group event for a while. How about we organize a theater night or a wine-tasting event? What do you think?”
Although she would never admit it to anyone, Molly had really struggled these last few weeks. From the very first day she’d set up the bureau, she’d always woken up of a morning feeling energized and optimistic about the day ahead, but just recently her enthusiasm had deserted her. And she wasn’t about to let on to Pippa, but she was right, it had started the moment Rory had left for America.
All because he’d taken up far too much of her head space and she’d allowed her personal feelings to get in the way of running her business properly. She’d been seduced and charmed by a client and although the image of him holding her in his arms and kissing her passionately would stay with her forever, shame and embarrassment that she’d allowed it to happen in the first place haunted her. The sooner she got Rory out of her head and her mind back to concentrating on what she should be doing, the better.
“Leave it with me,” said Pippa, her face lighting up at the challenge. “I’ll come up with some different options and the costs involved and we can go from there. Um”—she looked at Molly carefully—“what sorts of numbers should I cater for? I wasn’t sure if Rory was still on the membership list?”
Molly put down her pen, glancing up at Pippa, who was looking at her expectantly. She knew her friend was fishing for gossip.
“Oh, did I not mention it?” she said, casting her eyes back down, feeling uncomfortable under Pippa’s searching gaze. “Rory’s decided to surrender his membership.”
“Oh really!” Pippa exclaimed, her eyes widening. “I did wonder as you haven’t mentioned him in a while. I thought something must have happened. Did you have a row or…?”
“No, of course not!” Molly snapped impatiently. “Rory’s just incredibly busy at the moment and he came to the conclusion that it wasn’t the right time for him to do this. He has too many other commitments demanding his attention. I think he probably made the right decision.”
Pippa nodded slowly.
“Well, that makes absolute sense now. There was something about him in the paper today, but I didn’t like to mention it before in case…” She scrabbled about in the pile of post she’d left on Molly’s desk to pull out the newspaper from the bottom. “Didn’t I say it was a bit odd that he’d joined us the first place? You have to admit Rory Campbell could probably have any woman in the world that he wanted.”
Molly sighed inwardly, acknowledging that truth even though it hurt her to do so. He could have anyone in the world and yet he’d kissed her. As though he’d really meant it. As though no other woman in the world existed. It had certainly felt that way to Molly. And stupidly she’d allowed herself to believe that it had meant something special to him as well. What a fool! The data on the spreadsheet in front of her blurred into a muddled mess as tears filled her eyes.
“Probably,” she said curtly, blinking furiously. “Still, Rory is no concern of ours anymore. I’m sure he’s more than capable of sorting his own love life out.”
“Yes, yes, of course,” said Pippa, clearly finding it hard to keep a lid on her excitement. She rifled through the paper, pulling the pages open with a flourish. “Well, it certainly looks as though our Mr. Campbell is wasting no time in moving on. Look who he’s hanging out with these days.” She pushed the paper over for Molly to see.
Her whole world collided in a train wreck in front of her eyes. It was definitely Rory, looking as effortlessly gorgeous and sexy as she remembered him. Her stomach went into freefall, her heart picking up speed in her chest until it was galloping out of control. She peered closer, trying to make sense of the image. It was the same man who’d kissed her so passionately only a few weeks ago, but in all other respects he looked like a stranger. In black tailored trousers, black open-necked shirt and gray cashmere blazer, he looked every inch the movie star he was. Belonging to another world. A world Molly had no place in. Looking over his shoulder, a wide grin on his face, he held his arm around the waist of his companion as she looked up at him adoringly.
“Emma D’Santi,” swooned Pippa. “Didn’t I just say he could have any woman in the world? And that’s only what he’s gone and done. They make a fabulous couple, don’t you think? It would have made your job a whole lot easier if she’d turned up in the office too. Can you imagine?”
Molly nodded mutely. She could imagine only too well. She was grateful she was sitting down or else she was convinced her legs would have given way beneath her. The newspaper seemed to share Pippa’s excitement, judging by the headline,
Campbell and D’Santi, the world’s most glamorous couple set to star together in Hollywood’s next big blockbuster.
“Just think how cute their children would be,” said Pippa, who was clearly getting carried away by the whole thing. “Maybe we could ask Rory to give us some sort of recommendation. We could have their photo up in the reception area. The perfect couple!”
“Would you just stop it!” snapped Molly. “It’s absolutely nothing to do with us. Besides,” she said, hurt tugging in her chest. “They’re old friends. Rory mentioned they grew up together.”
“Really? Wow! And to think that they’re both now huge movie stars. It’s almost like a movie of its own. So romantic.”
Molly shook her head dismissively.
“We have much better things to be doing than gossiping about Rory’s love life.”
Blind fury raged around her body, fury at Pippa for voicing every single emotion that she was thinking.
Molly had known instinctively when Rory spoke about Emma that she’d been so much more to him than just a friend. She’d heard it in his voice and seen it in those intense, dark eyes as they’d flickered momentarily with hurt and pain. Was the beautiful woman in the photo in front of her the reason why Rory had such problems with commitment? Had he been hankering over his lost first love for all this time?
Perhaps Molly should take credit for this latest development after all. Maybe talking about Emma to Molly had set things straight in his mind and that’s why he’d gone to America, not for his career but to reclaim his childhood sweetheart.
The thought lodged a cold shard of regret in her stomach.
Whatever the reason, Molly was in no doubt as to where it left her. Exactly where she’d been before Rory had walked into her offices all those months ago, but now she was nursing a huge sense of loss and disappointment she had no right to feel.
She scrunched up the paper roughly and dumped it in the bin. If only getting rid of all those tormenting emotions swarming inside her head could be so easy.
* * * *
A few days later, Molly was at her desk, reviewing an application form from a new client when there was a tap on the office door. Pippa poked her head round the corner, a tentative grin on her face.
“You have a visitor!” she mouthed, her face saying a thousand things her words couldn’t convey.
Molly’s heart leaped. People didn’t turn up at the office unexpectedly. Rory was the only person to have done that in the last few months. Her skin grew warm as her pulse quickened.
“Oh, hi!” she said, looking up from where she’d been straightening the paperwork on her desk.
“Well, don’t sound so pleased to see me!” Molly’s sister, Natalie, breezed through the door as Molly quickly tried to cover up her crushing disappointment.
“Don’t be silly. Of course, I’m pleased to see you. I’m just surprised, that’s all. What are you doing here? You should have called to let me know you were in London.”
Natalie hugged her sister before slipping off her coat and hanging it over the back of a chair, as if she intended to stay a while.
“Oh, it was a spur of the moment thing. Gary and I split up last weekend so I thought a bit of retail therapy to drown my sorrows might do me good.”
“Sorry to hear that,” said Molly, struggling to recall whether or not she’d even known about Gary. “You’re looking well on it though, if that’s any consolation.”