but it was the middle of the night in England. He knew she was moving. Why hadnât he called to give a little moral support?
Donât be angry,
she reasoned with herself as she headed toward the master bedroom, eager to shed her clothes and step into a hot shower.
You donât know. He might have been sent out on a story and had no chance to call.
Eliza was pulling her shirt over her head when she remembered.
Zippy.
Back on went the shirt, and she hurried barefoot downstairs and out the kitchen door to the backyard. It took her just a few minutes to find the stuffed chimpanzee in the grass behind the pool.
The kitchen door was left open the entire time.
Chapter 36
Oh, God! What had he done?
Mack listened to the soft breathing of the sleeping blonde lying beside him in room 509 of the newly refurbished Mandarin Oriental Hotel, his home until his KEY News service flat was ready.
He hated himself.
There was no excuse for it. Too bad if he was heartsick about leaving Eliza. Too bad if he was lonely. Too bad if he had downed one vodka martini after another at dinner with Marcy McGinnis and her pretty young assistant. The assistant whom Mack would now be seeing day after day at work. The assistant who had just turned over on her side and pulled the covers closer around her.
How could he have been so stupid?
Mack groggily remembered the resigned expression on his bureau chiefâs face as she excused herself and said her good-byes for the evening, leaving Mack and the blonde at the table at Harvey Nickâs. This was certainly not the first time that dinner in the posh âsee and be seenâ department-store restaurant had been the prelude to an indiscreet dalliance.
As his head throbbed, the old warning about dippingyour pen in the company ink passed through Mackâs mind. He had always made it a policy not to get involved with anyone where he worked. Eliza had been the notable and totally worthwhile exception.
He didnât even know this young woman. Was she trustworthy or would she be sharing the news of their encounter with her friends in the London office? Even if she only told one person, word would get around. It always did. And what if it got back to Eliza?
Mack slipped from the bed and felt his way in the dark to the bathroom. He closed the door behind him, switched on the light, turned on the faucet and doused his face with cold water. His bloodshot eyes stared back at him in the mirror. He loathed himself.
How could he have betrayed Eliza so easily and so quickly?
Chapter 37
Eliza awoke in the semidarkness, a thin ray of white light peering through from the hallway beyond her bedroom door. She had left the door slightly open so she could hear Janie.
âJanie?â
No reply.
What she heard instead was a rhythmic tapping noise and a rustling sound. She lay still in her bed, actually feeling the beating of her heart as instinctive-danger adrenaline coursed through her. Something or someone was in her room.
The soft knocking sound continued as Eliza tried to get a fix on its source. It seemed to be coming from the left side of the room.
She lay there a few minutes more, listening to the sound, trying to figure out what she should do. She considered running down the hall to wake Paul. No, she should face whatever it was herself. Knowing that Janie was asleep nearby galvanized her to reach over and turn on the lamp on the table next to the bed.
Her eyes adjusted quickly to the full light as they strained in the direction of the noise. She saw no one. Butthe sound continued and as she stared she noticed that the shade on the window was moving almost imperceptibly. It wasnât a breeze that was making the shade flutter. There was a small lump beneath the fabric.
Summoning up her courage, Eliza slowly rose from her bed, grabbed a shoe from the floor and walked deliberately toward the window. She took a deep breath as she lifted the shade and looked underneath.
For a split
Donât be angry,
she reasoned with herself as she headed toward the master bedroom, eager to shed her clothes and step into a hot shower.
You donât know. He might have been sent out on a story and had no chance to call.
Eliza was pulling her shirt over her head when she remembered.
Zippy.
Back on went the shirt, and she hurried barefoot downstairs and out the kitchen door to the backyard. It took her just a few minutes to find the stuffed chimpanzee in the grass behind the pool.
The kitchen door was left open the entire time.
Chapter 36
Oh, God! What had he done?
Mack listened to the soft breathing of the sleeping blonde lying beside him in room 509 of the newly refurbished Mandarin Oriental Hotel, his home until his KEY News service flat was ready.
He hated himself.
There was no excuse for it. Too bad if he was heartsick about leaving Eliza. Too bad if he was lonely. Too bad if he had downed one vodka martini after another at dinner with Marcy McGinnis and her pretty young assistant. The assistant whom Mack would now be seeing day after day at work. The assistant who had just turned over on her side and pulled the covers closer around her.
How could he have been so stupid?
Mack groggily remembered the resigned expression on his bureau chiefâs face as she excused herself and said her good-byes for the evening, leaving Mack and the blonde at the table at Harvey Nickâs. This was certainly not the first time that dinner in the posh âsee and be seenâ department-store restaurant had been the prelude to an indiscreet dalliance.
As his head throbbed, the old warning about dippingyour pen in the company ink passed through Mackâs mind. He had always made it a policy not to get involved with anyone where he worked. Eliza had been the notable and totally worthwhile exception.
He didnât even know this young woman. Was she trustworthy or would she be sharing the news of their encounter with her friends in the London office? Even if she only told one person, word would get around. It always did. And what if it got back to Eliza?
Mack slipped from the bed and felt his way in the dark to the bathroom. He closed the door behind him, switched on the light, turned on the faucet and doused his face with cold water. His bloodshot eyes stared back at him in the mirror. He loathed himself.
How could he have betrayed Eliza so easily and so quickly?
Chapter 37
Eliza awoke in the semidarkness, a thin ray of white light peering through from the hallway beyond her bedroom door. She had left the door slightly open so she could hear Janie.
âJanie?â
No reply.
What she heard instead was a rhythmic tapping noise and a rustling sound. She lay still in her bed, actually feeling the beating of her heart as instinctive-danger adrenaline coursed through her. Something or someone was in her room.
The soft knocking sound continued as Eliza tried to get a fix on its source. It seemed to be coming from the left side of the room.
She lay there a few minutes more, listening to the sound, trying to figure out what she should do. She considered running down the hall to wake Paul. No, she should face whatever it was herself. Knowing that Janie was asleep nearby galvanized her to reach over and turn on the lamp on the table next to the bed.
Her eyes adjusted quickly to the full light as they strained in the direction of the noise. She saw no one. Butthe sound continued and as she stared she noticed that the shade on the window was moving almost imperceptibly. It wasnât a breeze that was making the shade flutter. There was a small lump beneath the fabric.
Summoning up her courage, Eliza slowly rose from her bed, grabbed a shoe from the floor and walked deliberately toward the window. She took a deep breath as she lifted the shade and looked underneath.
For a split
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