Miriam practically purred. She moved closer. And then she turned toward Eden, who was noticeably uncomfortable. Miriam’s expression wasn’t all that clear from this angle, but he remembered her personality well enough to imagine how she looked. She was wearing the frozen, triumphant smile people wore when they thought they’d defeated a rival. She turned to him.
Ah, confessions were expected. She wanted to know about Eden. The truth about his condition was at stake here, but that wasn’t going to happen.
Skirt the issue, Fulton, he ordered himself. Not a problem. He had always been a master at throwing up a smoke screen when faced with uncomfortable truths.
“It’s good that you stopped by when you did,” Jeremy said. “You were just in time to see Eden.”
“Oh? Is Eden leaving?” Miriam asked. “I have to say that I’m surprised to find her here, when you’ve been so distant to your friends lately. Not that I exactly remember you and Eden being close friends when we were younger. In fact, I must be losing my touch, since I seem to have lost track of what Eden has been up to. Maybe that’s because she was never a part of my set. You and I ran with a much different crowd. Still, you say she’s been…oh…visiting you?”
Jeremy felt Eden tense. There had been something nasty in Miriam’s voice, as if she thought Eden had dropped by to sleep with Jeremy…for money. For a second he considered ordering Miriam out the door and shutting it in her face. Eden didn’t deserve ugly insinuations. But there were more effective ways to deal with nastiness.
“You must have been mistaken about my old friends, Miriam. I hung out with a lot of people you were unaware of, and Eden’s family lived right down the block. She’s Ash’s cousin, you know, and Ashley and I dated a long time.” Which wasn’t exactly true by normal standards, but by his, three months had been a long time. The fact that his relationship with Ashley had quickly turned from a typical, heated teen event to a platonic friendship wasn’t something Miriam would have known. Platonic and friendship weren’t words in her vocabulary. “The Byars are good people,” he continued.
And then he heard the most delicious laughter he had ever heard. It wasn’t coming from Miriam’s direction, either.
Instead, Eden stepped closer to him, close enough that her body was brushing his. She placed a hand on his arm, and heat shot right through him.
“Miriam,” she said. “If you want to know something, I’m right here, but…oh my, you didn’t really think that Jeremy and I—” She laughed again as if genuinely amused, but her hand trembled where it touched him. “How embarrassing and awkward. The truth about why I’m here is that my cousin Ashley once had a relationship with Jeremy, they’re still really good friends and Jeremy mentioned to her that he had a mountain of paperwork and personal correspondence piling up that needed doing this summer, too much for his secretary. Since I was visiting Ashley, and my job teaching school was out for the summer, Ashley asked if I might help out for a few weeks. Why not? Who wouldn’t want to help an old friend?
“And see, it’s a good thing I did, because now I’ve gotten to see you, too. It’s been a long time, but I remember that you were always laughing.”
Miriam had always been laughing at others, Jeremy realized as Eden’s grip on his arm tightened. He wasn’t sure she even realized that she was touching him.
Turning slightly, he faced Eden, but from the corner of his eye he could see that Miriam’s smile was even colder.
“Well, I do try,” Miriam said faintly.
“You do,” Jeremy said. She tried a lot of things, most of them unsavory. In the past few minutes she had clearly tried to insult Eden. That wasn’t going to happen if he could help it.
“Now, is there something Eden and I can do for you, Miriam?” he asked. He covered Eden’s hand with his own and felt her jerk, as if she had finally realized that she was touching him, but he gently and firmly held her in place. “Another cup of sugar, perhaps? Yes, Donald did tell me that you’ve stopped by several times. You must really love to bake.”
“Oh. Sugar. Yes. I do love to stir things around,” Miriam said, the faintness gone from her voice. “But no, today I was just walking by and thought I’d stop and say hello, be neighborly. And I’m so very glad I did. Otherwise I wouldn’t have run into Eden. You make a dutiful little file clerk, dear,” she said. “Now, you better get back to sorting those papers. Bye, Jeremy. I’ll stop by another time. Not for sugar, though.” She stepped back through the door and it clicked closed behind her.
When she had gone, silence set in. Jeremy realized that Eden’s hand was still beneath his, warm and soft. “I’m sorry about that,” he said, releasing her.
“For holding my hand?”
No, not that, he realized. “For letting Miriam in to try and insult you.”
Eden shrugged. “I’m all right.”
“It wasn’t the first time she did that, was it?”
“The last time I saw her, she was laughing because she recognized the shoes I was wearing were a pair she had disliked and discarded.”
Anger slipped through him like a hot knife. “How did you respond to that?”
“I didn’t. I never did. I walked away.”
Her body was tense. He could feel it. A part of him wanted to move closer and offer comfort, but she wouldn’t welcome that. “You didn’t walk away today.”
And then she laughed again. Softly. So very softly. It was a sound that made a man…want her. Badly. “I didn’t, because of the situation. I was playing a part, but I really wanted nothing more than to shut the door in her face.”
“I would have loved to have witnessed that.” Especially since it mirrored his thoughts.
“Thank goodness I was never very good at following my inclinations,” she said. Which made Jeremy raise an eyebrow.
Eden blushed, and he assumed they were both thinking about that long-ago kiss. “Sugar?” she asked, changing the subject.
Jeremy grimaced. “Miriam’s husband hunting.”
“And you’re husband number two?”
“Number three. Or I would be.” And wasn’t that an uncomfortable subject? Time to change it. “Thank you for stepping in today. I couldn’t tell who she was, at first.”
“The change in light,” she said. She’d obviously done her homework. “Miriam is one of those who doesn’t know, does she? If she did…the husband thing?”
“She’d be gone in a flash. Miriam doesn’t like weakness.”
“I don’t think she’d be gone. You’re not weak. I’ve seen you pump iron. And run. And swim.” And suddenly the room got very warm. If he’d been wearing a tie, Jeremy would have been tugging on it. He looked down on the top of Eden’s head and realized that she had turned away. She was embarrassed at her own comment. And he didn’t want her to be. She’d saved his reputation back there. He owed her. A little distraction was in order.
“Believe me, Miriam wouldn’t want a man who couldn’t see well enough to tell her that her eyes were ‘cerulean pools of blue,’” he teased. “She doesn’t wear defective goods on her arm, and she’d be climbing over people to get out the door if she knew. Maybe I should just tell her I’m going blind.” He grinned. “Maybe you did me a disservice by helping me hide what she would see as my affliction. You may have doomed me. I might have to fork over more cups of sugar.”
His teasing had the desired effect. “Maybe she’ll ask for a ring and your fortune as well the next time,” she said with a smile in her voice.
“In that case,” he said, his voice dropping low, “I hope you’ll be around to help me run her off again.”
Silence followed. She was studying him closely. The tension level had gone up in the room as well as that blasted temperature. “Of course,” she said tightly. “I would help. It’s my job. I’m your employee.” And with that, she slipped out of the room.
For an entire day she stayed in the library and didn’t show up to watch him work out. He should have been pleased. So why wasn’t he?
CHAPT
ER FIVE
EDEN was back at her post, watching him, and Jeremy was going slowly nuts. He was aware of her physically every minute, especially since that incident with Miriam. He remembered Eden’s solemn gray eyes and felt them perusing him. It was almost more than any red-blooded male could reasonably be asked to take, and he had a sudden strong urge to fire Eden, to call Ashley up and tell her it wasn’t working.
But that would be a lie.
Eden had thrown herself into the job. She’d been giving him daily progress reports, and it was obvious she’d done her homework. She was growing more knowledgeable about the latest technology and techniques and the most-recent research. One day, when he had been especially busy with a business client, she had even taken a call from Barry, the private investigator, and now the man had taken to asking for her when he called. Jeremy considered the possibility that Eden’s professional manner might account for Barry’s fascination, but he suspected that the P.I.’s obsession had more to do with Eden’s sexy voice and that husky laugh that made a man start wondering where the nearest bed might be.
“If that’s the case I’ll have to have a talk with him,” Jeremy muttered. And tell him what? Not to talk to Eden? As if he had any reason to arrange the woman’s life. He didn’t, so he wouldn’t say anything to Barry. For now. As long as the man treated her with respect and kept his distance….
Where on earth had she gotten that voice, anyway? Had she always had it? Jeremy suspected that she had. He just hadn’t noticed. But he was darn well noticing now. He increased his pace as he moved into a butterfly stroke and broke the surface, only to find Eden scribbling furiously on her clipboard.
Against his will, something deep and dark ran through him and he knew he should ignore it. It was that deep, dark stuff that had always gotten him into trouble in life. It was that rebellious side that had led him to become a sperm donor…because he’d had an argument with his aunt and he knew she had a thing about not sharing the family genes without her stamp of approval. The woman had raised him out of a sense of duty while despising him every minute. He was too big a reminder of his father, and his father had reminded her of things that absolutely no one wanted to remember.
And I lashed out at her however I could, he remembered. He had never allowed himself to show his feelings. He’d pretended not to care when she criticized him or compared him to his weak father. But he’d caused trouble wherever he went.
Now, here he was, contemplating trouble again, because heaven knew he shouldn’t go near Eden.
“Eden, stop writing,” he commanded, resting his arms on the side of the pool.
Startled, she looked up. Was she wearing glasses? Normally she didn’t. But yes, the glasses rested on the end of her nose. They made him notice her narrow, pretty face.
“Why?”
He hesitated, then blew out a frustrated breath. “You’ve done enough. How much can there be to write about how a man swims?”
For a minute she appeared flustered. He thought she was going to refuse to answer. Without thought, he placed his hands on the side of the pool and in one swift, strong movement swung himself onto the poolside tiles. He strode toward her, water sluicing down his body.
Eden stood up and, thinking he might have frightened her, he stopped. At least his forward movement stopped. In every other way, mind and body, he was racing ahead.
“What do you write there?” he asked, motioning toward the paper.
She fidgeted with her shirt, the movement drawing Jeremy’s attention down the length of her body to her legs. He stifled a groan. “Do you want me to read it to you?” she asked.
“You don’t have to do that, but I’d like you to tell me. You know I can’t read it myself without visual aids, so I have to trust you to tell me the truth.”
Ah, she raised her chin. He’d made her angry. “I wouldn’t lie,” she said. “At least not about the important stuff.”
He grinned. “I think I know that. What’s it say?”
“I don’t want to tell you.”
Jeremy blinked. “Why not?”
She looked to the side. “There’s nothing on the paper.”
“Excuse me?” he said, his mind struggling to process that information.
“There’s nothing in writing. I’ve just been watching you.”
“I’ve seen you scribbling.”
“I know it looked like that. I guess that was a lie in a way. I was pretending to write.”
“Why?” The word came out fast and hard.
“It was…uncomfortable just looking at you and I thought you might be uncomfortable, too, but I really did need to observe you so that I could relay my impressions to the parents.”
“Why no writing?”
“Writing is a distraction when you’re observing. While I’m writing I might miss something important.”
Eden stood there, facing him, clearly uncomfortable—he could swear she was blushing—but not backing away even a little bit. Her courage under such circumstances slayed him.
“So…what would you tell the parents?”
She took a deep breath and ducked her head, then she stared straight at him. “I would tell them that the man who fathered their child pushes himself all the time, every day, and he accomplishes a lot. He has bright markers to locate the sides of the pool and while his vision may be weakening, he’s still able to make his way around a pool better than most people can. He even dove off the board today…”
Her voice trailed away.
“Yes, that was a stupid thing to do,” he said, providing the words she hadn’t said.
She tilted her head. “You managed it.”
“Barely. I couldn’t tell for sure if I was going to walk off the end of the board or not. Only the fact that I’ve used this board so many times when I was clear-sighted allowed me to do it. I had a good idea of how many steps I needed to take, and when I got to the end I could feel it. You might have noticed that I dove rather wide to make sure I didn’t hit my head on a board that was more or less invisible to me.”
“I didn’t notice. I don’t know how to dive. You’re talking to a very poor swimmer.”
He chuckled. “So…based on what you’ve observed, would you tell the parents that their children can swim?”
“Of course not! I would tell them that they might be able to swim.”
“You wouldn’t have known that, without all these observations?”
She took a deep breath. “I don’t know. It was just…every day you seemed to push yourself more, harder. It seemed as if I needed to know that.”
“All right, I can understand that. But I have to tell you, I’ve pretty much brought out all my swimming tricks.” He grinned. “It doesn’t get more exciting or eventful than this.”
She laughed that pretty, low laugh of hers. “All right. You want me to get lost, don’t you?”
No. “I just…don’t think you need to babysit me anymore.”
Now her eyes widened and she took a step forward. “I’m not! I wasn’t! Believe me, if you were in trouble swimming, I would be the last person you would want trying to save you. We’d both end up drowning. And you swim better than any normal man I know.”
He froze at her words. “Well…that’s good to know. I think.”
He expected her to apologize, to at least look chagrined, but she didn’t do either of those things. Instead she crossed her arms. “Don’t you dare get indignant on me, Jeremy. We both know you were never a normal man. Not now. Not back when I used to see you in the halls at school.”
He raised a brow. “Is that a compliment? Are you trying to tell me that I’m better than normal?” He tried very hard to hide his amusement when she suddenly looked shy.
“Well, I hardly think Miriam DeAngeles would be coming around if she thought you were merely normal,” Eden managed to say.
Now, Jeremy couldn’t keep from smiling. “I’ve embarrassed you, haven’t I?” he asked.
“I’ve embarrassed myself, I think,” s
he said, turning toward him, then glancing away.
He reached out and gently tucked one finger beneath her chin so that she was facing him. “Better than normal, Eden? Don’t be embarrassed,” he whispered. “I’ve been called a lot of things, some very good, some not so great, some downright terrible, but that’s the nicest thing a woman has ever said to me,” he told her, and then he dropped what was meant to be a light kiss on her startled lips. Her mouth was soft and warm and pliant and…Jeremy almost groaned as he lifted his head. He turned to go. “No more observations,” he told her, his voice rougher than he would have liked. “I’m only a man, and you’re an amazingly desirable woman. I don’t want to be tempted to kiss you again.”
For a minute he could hear her sputtering. “I don’t want to kiss you again, either, Jeremy,” she said.
He shook his head. “I didn’t say I didn’t want to kiss you. I do…far too much, far too often. Having you here watching me intensifies that desire, but following through and actually touching you isn’t smart for either of us. I don’t want to get involved with anyone, and neither do you. I don’t do family and I don’t want children. That’s not going to change, so, no more of this. You have all that you need, right?”
She hesitated. “Yes, I’ve always had all that I need,” she finally said, and her tone was so resolute and brave that his heart broke for her. She could say that as often as she wanted. She might even convince herself it was true, but he remembered a very few things about her. One was that she hadn’t had what a young girl, any young girl, rich or poor, should have. The temptation to take her in his arms and claim her lips again, completely and thoroughly this time, was almost overpowering.
But he just couldn’t do that to her. He didn’t trust himself. She deserved so much better than a summer affair, and that was absolutely all he had to offer.
A few days later Jeremy sat behind his desk and tried not to look as if he was staring at Barry Leedman, who was studying Eden with more interest than Eden’s question about how much time he spent doing surveillance should have necessitated.
Her Millionaire, His Miracle Page 5