Reflected in You(6)

Angus got out of the car to give us privacy, leaving the engine and air- conditioning running.


I looked out the window and saw the Crossfire beside us.


"About the type thing - " Gideon's head fell back to rest against the seat.


He took a deep breath.


"Corinne was surprised by you.


You weren't what she'd expected."


My jaw tightened at the mention of Gideon's former fiancee.


Even knowing that their relationship had been about friendship and loneliness for him, not love, didn't stop the claws of envy from digging into me.


Jealousy was one of my virulent flaws.


"Because I'm blond?" "Because .


you don't look like her."


My breath caught.


I hadn't considered that Corinne had set the standard for him.


Even Magdalene Perez - one of Gideon's friends who wished she were more - had said she'd kept her dark hair long to emulate Corinne.


But I hadn't grasped the complexity of that observation.


My God .


if it was true, Corinne had tremendous power over Gideon, way more than I could bear.


My heart rate quickened and my stomach churned.


I hated her irrationally.


Hated that she'd had even a piece of him.


Hated every woman who'd known his touch .


his lust .


his amazing body.


I started sliding off him.


"Eva."


He stayed me by tightening his grip on my thighs.


"I don't know if she's right."


I looked down at where he held me, and the sight of my promise ring on the finger of his right hand - my brand of ownership - calmed me.


So did the look of confusion on his face when I met his gaze.


"You don't?" "If that's what it was, it wasn't conscious.


I wasn't looking for her in other women.


I didn't know I was looking for anything until I saw you."


My hands slid down his lapels as relief filled me.


Maybe he hadn't been consciously looking for her, but even if he had, I couldn't be more different from Corinne in appearance and temperament.


I was unique to him; a woman apart from his others in every way.


I wished that could be enough to kill my jealousy.


"Maybe it wasn't a preference so much as a pattern."


I smoothed his frown line with a fingertip.


"You should ask Dr.


Petersen when we see him tonight.


I wish I had more answers after all my years of therapy, but I don't.


There's a lot that's inexplicable between us, isn't there? I still have no idea what you see in me that's hooked you."


"It's what you see in me, angel," he said quietly, his features softening.


"That you can know what I have in me and still want me as much as I want you.


I go to sleep every night afraid I'll wake up and you'll be gone.


Or that I scared you away .


that I dreamed you  - ""No.


Gideon."


Jesus.


He broke my heart every day.


Shattered me.


"I know I don't tell you how I feel about you in the same way you tell me, but you have me.


You know that."


"Yes, I know you love me, Gideon."


Insanely.


Outrageously.


Obsessively.


Just like my feelings for him."I'm caught up with you, Eva."


With his head tilted back, Gideon pulled me down for the sweetest of kisses, his firm lips moving gently beneath mine.


"I'd kill for you," he whispered, "give up everything I own for you .


but I won't give you up.


Two days is my limit.


Don't ask for more than that; I can't give it to you."


I didn't take his words lightly.


His wealth insulated him, gave him the power and control that had been stolen from him at some point in his life.


He'd suffered brutality and violation, just as I had.


That he would consider it worthwhile to lose his peace of mind just to keep me meant more than the words I love you.


"I just need the two days, ace, and I'll make them worth your while."


The starkness of his gaze bled away, replaced by sexual heat.


"Oh? Planning on pacifying me with sex, angel?" "Yes," I admitted shamelessly.


"Lots of it.


After all, the tactic seems to work well for you."


His mouth curved, but his gaze had a sharpness that quickened my breath.


The dark look he gave me reminded me  - as if I could forget - that Gideon wasn't a man who could be managed or tamed.


"Ah, Eva," he purred, sprawled against the seat with the predatory insouciance of a sleek panther who'd neatly trapped a mouse in his den.