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“You’re going out?” she asked without e it impossible to tell if she was relieved or disappointed

Her reh hi in his sleep? Was that why she’d left him for the bed down the hall?

“I’m needed at the office” He scowled at the briefcase he’d filled like a cri her would change anything There was no changing what she thought of hiht be “I didn’t ht” He watched her closely, trying to discern as going on

“It’s fine” Her lightness sounded forced “I needed to go to my own bed anyway”

He bit back a reflexive Why? Her insistence on sleeping apart from him annoyed hiave his woht, but even that first night when he’d been in a state of utter tur Clair was in his bed He’d looked in on her more than once, baffled by the spell she’d cast over him, but pleased with her presence

He was a possessiveto rationalize how out of sorts he was But this exaggerated reaction es She had a place in his life and it was a narrow one

“Invitations will be pouring in after last night I’ll call to let you knohere we’re going and what ti his driver to ring “I have accounts at all the boutiques on Tverskaya Ivan will coe a private guide if you’d like to tour the city”

Clair tried not to gape, but she was still trying to process her reaction to last night’s expulsion from his bed and all she could think was, So this is what a mistress does with her downtime

Logically she understood that a strong man like Aleksy would hate that he’d revealed any sort of vulnerability, so she tried not to let his plan to abandon her cut too deeply She’d spent hours last night coaching herself not to take any of what happened between them to heart This wasn’t personal; it was convenience Sex Good sex

She licked her lips, trying not to get off track, buther with insidious desire She suppressed the out sounded good, but she didn’t need anything after the spree in Paris She just wanted to clear her head and remember how to be herself

“Don’t bother anyone I’d rather see where my feet take me,” she decided