LITMIR.BIZ

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gaze on his, doubt flickering across her expression. “No,” she said in a barely audible voice.

      “Then maybe it’s time to prove that to him. You can’t change the past, Eden. Stop whining about it and change the future.”

      “Why didn’t you just tell him I was here?”

      Marcus shrugged. “You asked me not to.”

      “You mean, the longer you hold out, the more he’ll pay,” she accused.

      Marcus shook his head. She was obviously spoiling for a fight and wouldn’t be satisfied until she got one. But he knew it was her father, not him, she had an issue with. “Jaysus, Eden,” he muttered, “not everyone in the world is motivated by greed. I’m through fighting with you. This is your problem with your father and I’m not going to get in the middle of it.” He climbed out of the cockpit and walked to the foredeck, anxious to put some space between them.

      Even angry with her, he still wanted to yank her into his arms and kiss her senseless. What would it take to prove that he cared, that he wouldn’t betray her as other men in her life had? He wanted their relationship to be open and uncomplicated, but as time went on, he seemed to get more tangled in the mess that was her past.

      “If you tell him I’m here,” Eden shouted, “then I’ll tell him exactly what we’ve been doing.”

      Marcus spun around and strode back to her, crawling back into the cockpit. Hell, he’d had enough. If she wanted a fight, then he’d give it to her. “Go ahead, Princess,” he said, standing toe-to-toe with her. “I don’t give a shit. Tell him how you felt the first time I made you come. Tell him how you murmured my name when I went down on you last night. Tell him how much you want me to fuck you. Because I know you do, Eden.”

      He saw her hand coming and blocked the slap before it could make contact, his fingers clamping around her wrist. They stood frozen, both of them breathing hard.

      “I don’t want you,” she murmured.

      “You do,” he said. “Just as much as I want you.”

      She shook her head, tears spilling out of her eyes. Marcus loosened his grip, suddenly angry with himself for pushing her so far. But he wanted her to see the truth. There was something happening between them, something that neither one of them wanted to define, and the hell if she was going to blame him for it.

      “I’ve been protecting you from the minute you arrived,” he said, “and I’m going to continue to do that for as long as you want me to. You can believe whatever you want about my motives, Eden—I don’t care. But don’t you dare try to sell the story that this wasn’t mutual between us.”

      She flexed her fingers and Marcus finally let her go. “Stay away from me,” she murmured. “Just leave me alone.”

      “No problem,” he replied. “And don’t tell me how to run my life.” “Somebody should,” he replied. “Because you’re doing a damn pitiful job of it on your own.”

      “And you think you have the magic key to happiness?” “At least I know where I’m going, Eden. I’ve got a plan.”

      “One of us needs to get off this boat,” Eden warned. “And I’m not leaving.”

      “Not to worry, I will,” he said. He stalked to the rear of the boat and climbed back down the ladder to the dinghy. With a flick of his wrist, he started the motor and steered out into the water, trying to calm his temper.

      Though he hadn’t known Eden long, this afternoon’s conversation with her father had been a revelation. She was a grown woman, beautiful and desirable, yet she was still a child, trapped in the past. She wasn’t angry at him—he was simply a convenient target. Marcus fought the temptation to glance back at the boat. Now that he’d walked away, all he could think about was going back, pulling her into his arms and kissing away all her fears.

      His thoughts wandered back to the previous night on the beach. How had they managed to go from unmitigated passion to uncontrolled anger in less than a day? If this was how it was going to be between them, life on board together would be intolerable.

      Marcus took a deep breath. He’d finished most of the crucial work. He could take the rest back to the shop and do it there, leaving Eden to her own devices. But they’d shared far too much for it to end so quickly.

      “How the hell did you think it would end?” Marcus muttered to himself. Would they just shake hands politely and then go their separate ways? Would she make up some silly reason for having to leave, then try to convince him that it was for the best? No, this was the way it was bound to happen, with anger and accusations.

      He glanced back at the boat and saw her standing in the cockpit, her arms braced on the boom, watching him. He’d give her time to cool off and then he’d go back and get his things. It was better this way, to end it quickly, to get out without too many scars. Before long, she’d be a distant memory—a very vivid but distant memory.

      EDEN PUNCHED IN THE code for the garage and waited for the doors to open. She glanced over her shoulder, watching for any sign of the caretaker. Thank God her father hadn’t changed the code for the security system on the house. She’d managed to get inside and grab some fresh clothes and the keys to several of her father’s cars without being detected.

      Sarah, the housekeeper, usually finished by early afternoon and, when the family wasn’t in residence, spent her evenings with her grandkids in Middleton. The caretaker for the estate normally worked on the grounds in the morning, but today he was mowing the west lawn, out of view of the driveway and the garages.

      She stepped inside and perused her choices for transportation—the vintage Thunderbird was far too flashy and the Ferrari had a stick shift that she didn’t know how to operate. Then there was the black Mercedes convertible. She wouldn’t seem entirely out of place in Newport in that car.

      She unlocked the door and tossed her bag into the passenger seat, then slipped behind the wheel. As she reached for the ignition, she glanced up at the rearview mirror, catching sight of her red-rimmed eyes.

      Drawing a deep breath, she gathered her resolve, trying to ignore the ache in her heart. She’d been wrong to get angry at Marcus. But he’d had no right to speak to her in that way. They had no claims on each other. They were barely friends—friends with benefits, nothing more.

      She didn’t need him—for protection or sex. In truth, she didn’t need anyone, not her parents, not her friends. From now on, the only person she would depend upon was herself. A ragged sob tore from her throat, and Eden forced back the tears that threatened to return.

      Why was she so upset? The man drove her crazy. And he was starting to interfere in her life, trying to make decisions for her, telling her what she should and shouldn’t do. What did he care if her life was messed up? It was her life, not his. Eden had always lived in the moment, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with that. People who planned their lives were … boring and unimaginative.

      But some of Marcus’s accusations had rung true. Eden was forced to confront the fact that she really had never set any goals for her life. She’d just expected that happiness would find her. But that hadn’t happened yet, and over the past several years she’d begun to wonder if it ever would.

      She’d been happy with Marcus, though. The short time they’d spent together on the boat had proved to her that happiness could be found. She just had to look a little harder for it.

      Odd how she hadn’t found it where she’d thought she would, with some handsome heir to a European fortune, a man who could take care of her and her money in the style to which she’d become accustomed. She’d found it with an ordinary guy from a regular family.

      Eden had never been one to dwell on the past or to regret her mistakes. But since she’d met Marcus, she’d begun to feel the first deep pangs of remorse. Maybe she hadn’t lived a life she could be proud of. She’d blown through most of her trust fund and would soon be forced to marry for money or

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