Chapter One

“Cat, while I’m away, if you need anything, just call my secretary Joanna.” 

Katherine rolled her eyes as she watched Eric from her position in her bed, the same bed they had just shared and not for sleeping. Eric was getting dressed to embark on another business trip. 

With less than an hour before his flight to London was due to depart from Sydney Airport, one might expect Eric to appear hurried. Yet, he was the epitome of calm. Even if he arrived a mere 15 minutes before takeoff, there would be no issue. After all, the jet was his, and he was its sole passenger. Unless Claudia was travelling with him, Cat refrained from asking. It was a topic she evaded entirely with Eric.

Whenever she mentioned Claudia, he would adopt a stony expression. She couldn’t help but feel wary about the other woman. Eric’s PA, Claudia, saw him more often than Cat did, and so did Jo. However, Cat’s feelings towards Jo were not the same as those she harboured for Claudia. She trusted her intuition; it was clear to Cat that Claudia had feelings for Eric.

As with many recent business trips, this one emerged unexpectedly. The occurrences had become so frequent that Cat rarely saw Eric, save for fleeting moments.

Cat knew she could no longer delay the inevitable. Her heart sank at the thought. She had intended to speak with him when he had first arrived at her townhouse, to end things. However, when he arrived, a single touch from him made every intention of the conversation they needed to have vanish from her mind.

She watched as Eric adjusted his tailored pants. The clothes fit his handsome figure perfectly, as they ought to, being tailor made and one of his suits cost more than she made in a week. Her attention returned to his face as she admired the way the August sun filtered through the blinds, casting a healthy glow on his stunning, muscular physique. 

God! His tanned body was truly impressive, capable of rivalling that of any male model. Starting with his head of thick, luscious black hair, which was still damp from the shared shower before they ended up in bed together once again. With his defined lines and strong angles, that were only accentuated in the light. Eric possessed a picture-perfect face that the camera absolutely adored.

His nose, flawlessly straight, showed no signs of ever being broken in his youth, unlike many young men who often got into fights or played sports. She considered his eyes to be his most remarkable feature. All she desired was to gaze into his eyes endlessly. They possessed a beautiful blend of blue and grey. 

Whenever he smiled or laughed, she caught a fleeting glimpse of his boyish features, which added a touch of charm to his demeanour. Which wasn’t often.

She pulled herself up on the bed and settled against the sturdy bedhead, finding a comfortable position. Cat tugged the sheet, ensuring it covered her breasts, securely holding it in place with her arms. She couldn’t help but feel disadvantaged as she lay in bed, unable to confront him standing up.

Even with how she was feeling she couldn’t help the heating of her blood as she watched him dress, covering up the hair low on his belly, she remembered the times she had loved to play with the hair while he was asleep, teasing him slowly awake and then into full arousal.

Cat turned her gaze away from him as he buttoned his shirt, her attention now on her fingers fidgeting with the white sheets, struggling to hold back tears. She pondered, why had she allowed this to happen again?

Earlier, she had decided that they wouldn’t hastily jump into bed together the moment they were alone. Cat silently laughed. Who was she kidding? They didn’t need a flat surface, anywhere would do. When the urgency struck them.

But they needed to have a conversation, and she had been so confident that she could put an end to the overwhelming desire and simply communicate. No, not just communicate or talk, but to bring an end to their relationship. She had to end it.

Whatever existed between them, Cat had attempted to express her emotions. She knew she needed to be strong. The situation could not continue in this manner any longer! All they had left was sex for a few hours when he had the time to spare. It wasn’t like they had a mutually giving relationship from the start. Things had been better in the beginning, hadn’t they? Or was she just fooling herself? She had been incredibly foolish to fall in love with him, knowing that there was no future.

Despite Eric’s lack of feelings and his warning for her not to develop any romantic attachment because she wasn’t part of his future, how cruel was that? Anyone would wonder after hearing that. Why she had still given herself to him? Insanity maybe! No, she couldn’t say that, really. All she could say was her feelings for Eric had overwhelmed her, to the point that she would damn the consequences because she needed him urgently.

The deal was they would share each other exclusively until the lust wore itself out. Eric had a habit of not keeping women around for more than six months, that was until he met her. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe he was bored.

After eight months, it seemed he had indeed grown bored with her. That was the only explanation, wasn’t it? Yet, that didn’t account for the urgency and desire he exhibited whenever he saw her. Then again, Eric was a highly sexed male and after not having sex during the times he was away, maybe it was just getting rid of sexual tension. 

Oh! Cat despised the idea... Was she merely a means to fullfill his needs? What they had had was a mutually satisfying connection between two individuals who enjoyed each other’s company while they were content. However, she couldn’t deny the truth to herself any longer - she wasn’t happy. She had fallen in love. A one-sided love. In her hopeful imagination, like many in her situation, she clung to the possibility that if she could become everything Eric desired, he would eventually acknowledge his love for her and realise he couldn’t bear to be without her.

Initially, she believed that being with Eric would be enough to bring her happiness. She ought to have heeded the advice her foster mother had always given her. Don’t expect to change a man; it will only break your heart. She believed you needed to accept people, as they truly are warts and all.

She so wished he loved her, Cat realised this was just a pipedream. It was tearing her apart. It was so hard to be in love with someone that didn’t return your feelings, well didn’t know about her feelings to start with. She had kept it to herself, fearing that he might eject her from his life so swiftly that the door would hit her on the ass on the way out. 

So she had kept her feelings to herself. She really had been kidding herself for eight months that things would be alright. What a joke that was... things hadn’t got better. If anything, they had only become worse. How had things gone so dreadfully wrong?

“Cat! Have you been listening to a word I’ve said?” Eric demanded, pulling her out of her internal thoughts. 

“Yes!” She inhaled deeply. Disagreeing with Eric was never straightforward. He had a knack for leaving you feeling tangled. Or maybe that was just her.

“Eric, I’m well aware of who your secretary is. Lately, I’ve been seeing and speaking with her more than with you, and I attended her wedding last month—do you recall? You were invited to that same wedding but had to cancel last minute because of a complication in London.” Cat said, with a hint of irritation.

Eric frowned at her abrupt change of mood. 

“But that’s just it, you beautiful stupid man. This is how I have been feeling and, like the good arm candy that I am, I have said nothing to you.” But this was said silently inside her head, not ready to voice it all just yet. Hoping that maybe she was more than just arm candy.... huh! now she really was living a fairytale. 

If Eric had felt anything for her at all in the eight months they had been together, he would have said something by now and he wouldn’t be spending less time with her. He would try to spend more time, wouldn’t he?

If only Eric trusted his very capable staff to do their jobs handling any problems that arise.

Eric insisted on the highest standards and expected his staff to put in long, gruelling hours. Despite the competence of his staff, Eric was the one who had to be there to solve every problem or issue.

As Eric’s company Logan holdings Inc. had expanded, he had obtained and trained some of the best people in the world. They had to be the best in their field. Eric wouldn’t accept anything less.

Because of the high demand for their time, Eric paid them well to keep them loyal. He had employees willing and more than able to take responsibility for major operations. He still had not delegated some of his workload. One company, a computer software designer, had been expanding rapidly in the last four months, so Eric was spending more time at work and less time with her. 

She had not seen him at all last week. If he hadn’t been at the office until late at night, you could find him dining with clients or other important people within his business network. This was important to his future and his ongoing business concerns. 

When she saw him before that, it was for a brief time in bed before he would leave to go back to work. He no longer stayed the night like he would have done in the beginning. Even today had been a stolen few hours before he had to leave in between work and going to the airport. 

There was a time when they would talk until the early hours of the morning on the weekends when they both didn’t have to get up to work the next day. They had even taken the odd walk in the park on a beautiful day or relaxed over dinner, music, and wine.

Those times appear to be gone forever. Eric finished dressing. He rounded the bed to her side, sat down facing her, his powerful thigh pushed against her softer one, heating her blood... until she shifted away. 

“So what brought on this sudden bad attitude?” Eric asked watchfully, reaching out to pick up her long red hair laying on the sheet that she was clutching against her breasts. This action sent even more heat to her centre. 

How easy was she? They had already made love… No, call it for what it is, had sex! Twice already. Here she was already getting hot all over again with him playing with just her hair! Cat furiously glared at him. He was treating her like some naughty child. She pulled away from his hand. She pushed even more against the bedhead, holding the white sheet tighter to her breasts. How can this genius man be so stupid? How can he be so blind?

But this wasn’t a business deal. This was personal, Cat thought to herself before saying in an even tone. “I really don’t think you want to hear what I have to say. You never do, because it’s against what you want to hear, so in your eyes, not really important, so you don’t listen... I really want you to go. You’ll be late for your flight.”

“Cat...”