page59 (1/1)

She had to leave Lake Coi and organise for hi Thank God she’d kept his business card And thank God she hadn’t said anything to Sergio about the movie offer This way, she had the perfect excuse to fly to New York ASAP It was a pity that she couldn’t exit the villa before Sergio arrived ho what she no, seemed an al insuret to be a Broadway star without developing a lot of character, not to mention a hide as thick as an elephant

Bella hoped she was as good an actress as Charlie kept telling her she was, because she was going to need all her acting skills in the co hours In a perverse kind of way she would alio that she had to leave toht not love her but he sure as hell enjoyedlove to her

Though of course it wasn’tlove, was it? It was just sex Jere sexually obsessed with her Another depressing thought Still, it wasn’t the first time a man had become sexually obsessed with her In the past, such obsessions had quickly waned, once they’d discovered she was a bore in bed This ti in bed She’d responded and behaved like the woio obviously believed she was; the bed partner ofand everything in pursuit of physical pleasure

Maybe he didn’t believe she was pro of her true character by now—but the truth was he had thought exactly that in the beginning But he’d still seduced her, oh, so cleverly, had still had her every which way a man could have a wos that didn’t bear thinking about And all the while he’d been planning to marry another woman and keep her on the side as, yeshis mistress

So much for your silly dreams, Bella So much for love

Suddenly, she could not wait for Sergio to get ho the next day Couldn’t wait to pretend that it was of no concern to her They were just ships passing in the night Just friends with benefits And when he suggested co over to visit her—and he would, she just kneould—she would tell him very casually that it would be best if they called it a day

It’s been a lovely interlude, Sergio darling, she could hear herself say But now I have to get back to my real life I’m sure you understand

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

SERGIO WASN’T AT all prepared for Bella’s announceht that she had to fly to New York the following day He stared at her with sinking spirits as she explained that she’d accepted the lead role in a el in New York, and had been suled to find the words to congratulate her, knowing immediately that all his plans to make Bella his wife had just been seriously derailed

The evening—which so far had been quite good fun—suddenly lost all its lustre

‘Well, that’s wonderful!’ Jeremy exclaiio?’

It was no use He simply could not pretend to be happy for her when he wasn’t

‘I thought you didn’t want to go into the rumpily

‘I never actually said that And this isn’t any old el in New York’

‘Fair enough But why do you have to rush off like this? Surely you can stay another week or two Tell the powers that be that you’re still suffering from a serious case of burnout and need some more time off’

‘But that would be a lie, Sergio darling The last couple of weeks I’ve spent here have worked wonders I’y than I knohat to do with, so I have no legitiet back to work Trust me when I say when an excellent opportunity like this coent like Josh says juh’

Sergio just stared at her, unable to find the right words Never in his life had he experienced such confusion He’d always knohat to say when things got tricky, or sticky Always had a clear head under pressure

Bella’s imminent departure, however, had thrown him for six