Free Masked Desires by Elizabeth Coldwell Page B

feelings I was trying hard to keep buried.
    The climb up to my apartment seemed to take twice as long as usual. I hadn’t bothered to put on my stockings when I’d dressed, and my shoes were rubbing sore spots on the backs of my heels. As soon as I was through the door, I got changed, pulling on a comfortable robe. When I’d had breakfast, I intended to take a long bath, easing the slight soreness between my legs and washing the last traces of Eddie from my skin. In other circumstances, I would have wanted to keep any reminder of him, and the way he’d made me feel as his cock ploughed into my snug depths, for as long as possible. But it was all over now. Best to let the memories go.
    I’d just torn a piece from the cinnamon roll and popped it into my mouth when my cell phone rang. Swallowing it down, wiping my fingers so as not to cover the phone in sticky frosting, I answered with a brisk, ‘Hey, Delia, thanks for ringing me back …’
    ‘This isn’t Delia.’ Eddie’s voice interrupted. If I’d bothered to look at the display, I’d have known that wasn’t the case. Hell, if I’d seen it was Eddie calling I’d have let it ring unanswered. I didn’t want to speak to him, but I didn’t have the heart to put the phone down on him.
    ‘Hi Eddie. How are you?’
    ‘Fine. Hoping I might get invited up.’
    ‘Why? Where are you?’ I’d assumed he was calling from the Mallory, but the hooting of a car horn on the other end of the phone told me that wasn’t the case. A hooting that, I realised, sounded very like the one I could hear through the open window of my living room.
    ‘Take a look out the window,’ he instructed me. When I did, it was to see his familiar figure standing on the sidewalk directly below me. He waved, just to make sure I’d realised it was him.
    ‘What are you doing here?’
    ‘We need to talk, Summer. And I thought I could stand here and discuss things with you, or maybe we could do it the civilised way, and you could invite me up.’ When I didn’t immediately answer, he continued, ‘You ran out on me this morning, and I didn’t know why. Then I had the most interesting chat with my darling stepsister …’
    Oh God, he’d seen Heather. What had she said to him? My fingers gripped the phone so tightly my knuckles had gone white. ‘OK, I’ll let you in.’
    I went over to press the door buzzer, still not sure I was doing the right thing. A minute later, Eddie knocked at the door. Taking a deep breath, praying this wouldn’t turn ugly, I answered it.
    ‘Summer.’ Despite everything, the sight of him stopped me in my tracks. Like me, he’d left the Mallory dressed in the same outfit as the night before, and I couldn’t help but think how handsome he looked in his tuxedo, hair rumpled and an expression on his face that mixed hurt with resolve. The way he regarded me made me all too aware that I wore nothing but the loosely belted robe.
    ‘Eddie.’ I clutched the robe a little tighter to myself. ‘I’m sorry I left without saying goodbye, but I had to. I couldn’t stay, not after what happened between us.’
    He took a pace closer. ‘You see, this is what I don’t understand. What happened last night was that I had some of the greatest sex of my life, and I’m pretty sure you’d say the same. I made a connection to you like I’ve never made with anyone else, felt things I’ve never …’ He sighed, running a hand through his hair. ‘And then you just up and leave without a word, like it didn’t mean anything.’
    Shaking my head, I grasped the sofa arm for support, gathering my strength for what I was about to say. ‘Eddie, it meant more to me than you could ever know. But you’d said it was only going to be one night, just to make Heather think we were a real couple, and I couldn’t do anything that would let myself believe we had more of a future than that.’ Something he’d said about my leaving without a word struck home. ‘But I didn’t just