The CEO's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 14

　　It was Friday.

　　Evelyn was fuming as she sat in the sitting room, watching as the clock slowly inched its way to seven o’clock.

　　Roman had left her stranded here when he knew bloody well that it was a nightmare to find on a map. She had given him the benefit of a doubt because maybe for a change he'd experienced the same problems the rest of the mere mortals like herself faced when businesses closed for the weekend. Maybe he’d had to wait for the towing company to open back up for business.

　　But now it was bloody Friday.

　　A whole week had gone by since the day he picked her up in town and then used her body’s responses to him to show her he was the boss.

　　It had broken her heart to tell her mother that she wasn’t going around on Sunday after all as she had promised. She’d tried everything she could not to break her word. She’d even trekked to her nearest neighbours, but they had completely ignored her. Completely rubbish neighbours. There hadn't even been any curtains twitching even though there were several cars on the driveway. They’d ignored her on purpose. Like assholes. Assholes like Roman.

　　She stood up to walk to the kitchen, peeking into the dining room one last time to make sure everything was set. Roman would be here on the dot as he always was so she made sure everything was timed perfectly before she went back to the lounge and finished her glass of wine.

　　She had no butterflies in her stomach today because every day that Roman had left her stranded here had made her understand the type of man she was dealing with. She was hard-pressed to remember why she loved him in the first place. He had ignored all of her calls and messages. Did her feelings really not matter to this man? Had he not thought of her even once over the week to wonder how she was coping without any transport? What if she’d had an emergency?

　　Seven on the dot, the doorbell rang.

　　She stood up and straightened her dress. It was one of the ones in her wardrobe that Roman must have spent a fortune on, though she had no idea why since they never went out. The soft black material hugged every curve of her body perfectly, and it stopped at her calves. The neckline revealed a lot of her cleavage. It would draw his attention because Roman loved her tits.

　　She braced herself and plastered a smile on her face.

　　When she opened the door, the man himself stood on the other side, dressed in a designer suit as always. It was blue today, and perfectly brought out the starling intensity of his dark blue eyes. She told her stupid heart to stop beating so hard. She wouldn’t stay with him just because he was handsome and knew how to make love to her.

　　“Roman,” she said with her usual breathlessness.

　　It was irritating that she didn’t have to fake that part.

　　Roman’s gaze studied her outfit before it came back to hers.

　　“Am I early?” he asked.

　　She stood aside as she allowed him in.

　　“No, of course not,” she smiled. “I’m sorry I’m not ready but I think we need to talk.”

　　She saw wariness on his face as he started to remove his coat.

　　“I know what you want to talk about, but I was busy all week,” he said as he came to stand in front of her. “Let’s not waste any more time.”

　　That was it? No real explanation? No apology? Of course not. A man like Roman wouldn’t feel like he had to explain anything to anyone and she doubted an apology had ever passed his lips. She had never felt so insignificant in her life. It felt like her heart was being stabbed with millions of needles at the evidence that the man she’d thought so much of thought so little of her.

　　Thankfully she heard the timer in the kitchen faintly going off so she turned away from him.

　　“We still need to talk. Why don’t you head into the dining room, I’ve made dinner.”

　　She didn’t look back as she said that because she knew how angry that would make him. The last time she had tried this, she had been heartbroken by his reaction. This time she was depending on it.

　　Instead of going into the dining room as she had asked, Roman came into the kitchen as well.

　　“What are you doing, Evelyn?”

　　She placed the starters on a tray and looked up at him. She had expected to see the coldness return in his gaze but for some reason, he looked more curious than angry.

　　“Oh, I’m sorry. Should I serve drinks first? It’s been so long since I’ve been on a date I’ve forgotten how these things work.”

　　The coldness still didn’t come.

　　“It’s a date, is it?” he asked calmly.

　　“Well, I suppose it is,” she said innocently as she carried the tray past him and into the dining room.

　　The same candles from last time burned on the table and she’d picked some flowers from the garden. She’d set their places opposite each other so she could give him an uninterrupted view of her acting. Only it wasn’t going to be much of an act, because she was going to tell him the truth.

　　Once she put his food down, she smiled up at him shyly.

　　“I hope you like it,” she said.

　　Roman stood in the doorway for a moment before he walked over and pulled a chair out. She was surprised. She had expected him to protest the moment she had called this a date. After all, dates were not allowed. But all he did was look at her expectantly until she realised he was waiting for her to sit first.

　　Then the butterflies came back in full force. This was essentially their first date. She had to remind herself it wasn’t real when she looked up at his face and saw how intently he was watching her. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking from his expression.

　　She picked her cutlery up and started eating and Roman did the same.

　　“I must admit, this isn’t what I was expecting tonight,” Roman said as he poured them both a drink.

　　“What were you expecting?”

　　“Fireworks, I suppose. But this game is just as intriguing.”

　　He was admitting he had known she would be angry, and in the same breath telling her that he didn’t care.

　　“You think I’m playing a game?”

　　She hoped she managed to keep the anger out of her voice.

　　Roman gave her a small smile as he pushed his empty plate away.

　　“That was very nice. Thank you, Evelyn,” he said without answering her question.

　　She took the plates back into the kitchen and took a moment to calm herself as she prepared the main course. It didn’t take her long to take it back to the table where Roman’s gaze immediately settled on her face again.

　　It was halfway through the meal when she decided she couldn’t take any more. She didn’t want to spend another minute in his company.

　　“I do need to talk to you, Roman.”

　　Roman set his cutlery down and met her gaze. Again, she had no idea what he was thinking.

　　“And what is it that you want to say to me?”

　　“We’ve been together almost fourteen months,” she started. “I’m sure you already know this, I’m sure you’ve seen it, but I need to get it out even if it upsets you.”

　　Still no expression on his face.

　　“You asked me why I left and I think you should know. I’m in love with you, Roman.”