A Christmas Night to Remember(15)
‘So you are determined to continue with this ridiculous farce?’ he said mildly, after he had finished his salmon.
Melody looked at him squarely, blessing the strength that had come from somewhere and was keeping her trembling inside under wraps. ‘You mean the separation? Of course.’
‘Of course?’ he drawled lazily, his mood having taken a lightning change of direction. ‘I wouldn’t have said there was any “of course” about it. But what am I? A mere man.’
Melody eyed him warily. No one could accuse Zeke James of being a mere anything.
He stared back at her, his uneven mouth lifted in the appealing curve she knew so well. Why did he have to be so—so everything? she asked herself with silent despair. Why couldn’t she have fallen in love with a nice Mr Average—someone she found attractive but who didn’t have the rest of the female race champing at the bit? Someone she could have felt was truly hers?
But she hadn’t. Bottom line. And maybe it wouldn’t have made any difference to how she was feeling if she had. Maybe she would still feel she had to go it alone even if her man had been a nondescript nine-to-fiver with as much sex appeal as the average gnat. But she didn’t think so.
Zeke refilled their glasses as the waiter whisked their empty plates away. Christmas carols were playing softly in the background, and outside the restaurant windows the small courtyard the room overlooked had been transformed into a winter wonderland, the one tree it contained proudly displaying its new clothing of glittering white. The flakes of snow, as thick and luscious as in a child’s painting, were still falling fast, and already an inch or so carpeted the ground.
Without really thinking about what she was saying, she turned to Zeke. ‘The snow’s settling fast. As soon as you’ve eaten you ought to think about leaving.’
The hour’s drive to their big sprawling manor house on the outskirts of Reading would take double the time in this weather, and the Ferrari—beautiful though it undoubtedly was—wasn’t ideal for Arctic conditions. He could easily get stranded in the middle of nowhere.
Zeke’s smile was little more than a quizzical ruffle. ‘Can’t wait to get rid of me?’ he murmured.
He was at his most sexy in this mocking mood, but Melody refused to be charmed. ‘That and the fact you could well find yourself stuck in the middle of a snow-drift somewhere. The wind’s getting up—or hadn’t you noticed?’
‘I’d noticed.’
Melody shrugged. ‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’
‘Considering you’ve done nothing but warn me about things since first thing this morning, I wouldn’t dream of it.’
He was still smiling, but she hadn’t imagined the edge to his voice and it did nothing to reassure her he had decided to accept defeat. She felt a wave of intense weariness sweep over her for a moment. She didn’t want to have to fight him. She felt so emotionally bruised and battered she just craved peace of mind, and she wouldn’t achieve that until she was far, far away from Zeke. Once she had got herself together and organised a few essentials she intended to disappear for a few months. She wouldn’t take a penny of his fortune to support herself—she had worked for her living in bars and restaurants before, and she could do it again, and she’d already thought about setting herself up as a dance teacher in the future.
The waiter appeared again with their main course, but suddenly her appetite was gone and she had to force herself to eat. It didn’t help that Zeke was watching her like a hawk with its prey, his eyes boring into her as though he was trying to dissect her brain. Which he probably was, she reflected darkly. He would be looking for a chink in her armour—it was the nature of the beast.
‘You’re struggling.’ As Melody glanced at him, Zeke motioned with his fork at her own plate. ‘Tired?’
She nodded. The effort of leaving the hospital and not least this confrontation with Zeke, which she had been hoping to avoid until she was stronger, had taken more out of her than she would have thought possible. The doctors had predicted that she would experience bouts of extreme exhaustion in the early days of her release, but she hadn’t expected to feel so completely wiped out. All she wanted to do was to crawl into bed.
‘Want to skip dessert for now?’ he asked softly.
She didn’t know quite what he meant by ‘for now’, but was too weary to take him up on it. She had eaten more at one sitting than at any time over the past weeks, and the champagne had done its bit to drug her too. Dessert was beyond her. She nodded again. She could lay her head down and sleep right now.