INNOCENCE AND ARROGANCE

by Kimberley Reeves

  “This is private property,” he said, eyeing Buster warily. “Didn’t you see the signs at the public beach that said you were entering private property?”

  “I’m sorry,” she gave him a warm smile. “I guess I just assumed everyone along this stretch had seen me at one point or another this past week. I’m Mina Harmon. I just moved in about four houses down from you.”

  The young man looked back in the direction she’d come from. “I know who lives four houses down, and it’s certainly not you.”

  Beside her, Buster was working himself into protective mode which was clearly making the man nervous. “Settle,” she told him. Buster refrained from issuing any more growls, but he was far from relaxed. “I guess I didn’t make myself very clear. I moved in down that way,” she pointed towards her house. “I was just coming from my…employer’s house. He’s been helping me move.”

  “Who’s your employer?” He asked, not looking entirely convinced her story was on the up and up.

  “Scott Travis.”

  “Ah, now that I think of it, I believe I have seen you walking by with him. My name’s Kent Damon.” He stuck out his hand but quickly withdrew it when Buster growled warningly.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Damon, Buster’s very protective of me.”

  “I don’t blame him,” he grinned. “If I was walking with a pretty lady like you, I’d probably growl if someone got too close too. And please, call me Kent.”

  “It was nice meeting you, Kent,” she said, turning to go.

  “Wait… Mina, would you mind if I walked with you? Maybe Buster won’t be so ready to chew my leg off it he sees how harmless I am.”

  “No, I don’t mind. I haven’t really had a chance to meet any of my neighbors, other than to wave from the shore when we pass by, that is.”

  Kent stuck his hands in his pockets as they started to walk, a gesture Mina thought was more to keep Buster from biting him than anything else.

  “You said Scott was helping you move? Does that mean you’re single?”

  Mina didn’t know if it was just a casual question or if it meant he was interested in her, but she wasn’t quite sure how to answer because she didn’t know if Scott wanted it to get around they were involved. Finally, she simply told him she was single but dating someone regularly.

  “So why wasn’t your boyfriend helping you move instead of Scott?”

  “He…he’s out of town right now. My lease was up at the other house I’d been living at so I had to have all my things out of there this weekend. What about you, Kent, are you married?”

  “Nope, not even a girlfriend at the moment. I just moved here not too long ago myself and don’t know a whole lot of people. I transferred from our corporate office in New York a few months ago.”

  “I’ve only been here six months myself,” she told him. “I moved here from Washington, hoping to get a better job so I could help my brothers pay for college.”

  “I’d have to guess if you’re working for Scott Travis, you’re making pretty good money.”

  Mina laughed. “To tell the truth, I’m not sure what my salary is. When Scott hired me, he told me the salary I’d requested was too low for the job I was applying for and said he was going to pay me more than I’d asked for.”

  “What’s your position there?”

  “Account Executive to the President.”

  Kent flashed her a broad smile. “So you’re Scott’s personal assistant?”

  “Yes, and I love it. It’s a great job and he’s been wonderful to work with.” She stopped in front of her house. “Well, this is it. Thank you for the company, I’ve enjoyed talking with you.”

  Kent looked up the house. “This is where you live?”

  Mina glanced at him curiously. By the tone of his voice, it sounded as if he thought something was strange about it.

  “Yes. Is there some deep, dark secret I should know about the place?”

  “Not that I know of. I guess I just assumed you bought it, but you must be renting.”

  “Unfortunately, yes. I couldn’t even begin to afford a place like this even if Scott doubled my salary.”

  “Well, you’re lucky to have gotten it. The place wasn’t on the market very long and it was going for a very low price. I even considered buying it myself, but Scott snatched it up so fast I didn’t stand a chance.”

  Mina felt a dark suspicion beginning to take root. “I thought you said you’d only been here a few months.”

  “That’s right.”

  “So, the house just went on the market recently?”

  “Yeah, I think the previous owners owed back taxes or something. I believe the house was on the market for less than two weeks, so Scott must have paid cash if he was able to move you in so soon.”

  Mina’s breathe caught in her throat. “How…how much were they asking for it?”

  “Oh, I think it was about two hundred and fifty thousand, if I remember right. He got a hell of a deal, that’s for sure.”

  “Probably because of all the repairs it needed,” she said faintly.

  “Repairs? I looked the house over pretty good when it first came up on the block and didn’t notice anything major. What kind of work did you have to do?”

  She shook her head. “Like you said, nothing major. It was nice meeting you, Kent. Thanks again for keeping me company.”

  “It was absolutely my pleasure, Mina. I hope I see around.”

  She gave him a feeble wave then trudged slowly up the stairs. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars? Mina sat down on the sofa that had been pushed against the wall in the dining room. She was shaking from head to foot, trying desperately to put it all together. Scott had not only paid for the greater portion of her new clothes, he’d bought a house full of new furniture for her as well as the house itself. Why would he do that when he’d barely known her at the time?

  Mina rubbed her temples for a moment, drawing in slow, even breathes of air. Then her mind grabbed onto a memory and she recalled what he’d told her the morning before. The truth is, I’ve wanted to make love to you since that first night we went to dinner together. Mina’s shoulders slumped. It seemed so painfully obvious to her now. She recalled the way Scott had looked around him the first night he came to her door, as if he was sure he had the wrong address. Of course he’d find her place beneath him because he lived in a house worth at least three quarters of a million dollars.

  Scott had simply wanted to have an affair with her. Maybe it was just pure luck the beach house had come up for sale at that particular time, but he’d gone to a lot of trouble to make sure he would have to be around for the repairs. Mina almost laughed, thinking how he must have actually created the damage so she’d need help fixing it up. He wanted a mistress, nothing more, and he wanted her set up in style. She shook her head sadly when she thought of how easily she’d fallen into his trap. The big question now was what he would do with her when he got bored and moved onto one of those leggy blondes his brother had mentioned?

  He’d told Nick and Adam she was different from the other women and Mina had foolishly taken it as a compliment. What he really meant was that he found himself amused with her for no other reason than that she wasn’t tall and thin and blonde. She rocked back and forth, trying to ease the pain that was winding its way around her heart. What should she do now? She just couldn’t go back home and tell the boys she’d failed and that it would take even longer for her to help them with their college tuition.

  Chris and George had worked and saved for a year to help her get to California. She just couldn’t let them down. Mina was hurt, angry, confused, and her emotions were in an even bigger turmoil than normal because she was so close to starting her monthly cycle. The worst part of all was that in spite of what she’d discovered, she still loved Scott with all her heart.

  Chapter 9

  Scott walked into Mina’s house expecting to find her busy putting things away. Instead, he found her huddled in the corner of the sofa looking as if
she was going to burst into tears any second. He put down the bag containing their lunch and rushed to her side.

  “Mina, honey, what’s wrong?”

  She looked up at him pitifully. “I…,” her lip started trembling. What could she say? “I don’t want to talk about it,” she cried, burying her face in her hands.

  He leaned down and scooped her in his arms then sat down himself, settling her on his lap. He didn’t say anything; he simply held her close and let her cry it out. There were a few things Scott had learned from having sisters, and one of those was that for one week a month, women became an emotional wreck. The other thing he knew was that under no circumstances did you ever suggest their emotional outbursts were due to being on their cycle. When she finally stopped crying and lifted her teary emerald eyes to him, Scott wiped away the tears then leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” He asked gently. Mina shook her head. “Is there anything I can do to make it better?”

  “No,” she said in a hoarse whisper. “I think I just need to be alone for awhile.”

  He felt a little stab of pain in his chest. He didn’t want to leave her alone when she was so upset and he was hurt that she wanted him to leave.

  “Are you sure, honey? There’s so much to do here.”

  “I’m sure.”

  He nodded solemnly then drew her to him for a kiss and immediately felt the hesitancy in her to return it. He stood up and set her on her feet. If she needed a little time to get her emotions in check he’d just have to find something to do for a few hours.

  “Okay, sweetheart, if that’s what you want. Just…call me on my cell phone when you want me to come back, okay?”

  Mina nodded and told him to take the food with him so it wouldn’t spoil then watched him walk out the door. As soon as he was gone, she wanted to call him back but forced herself to remain where she was until he’d driven away. She glanced around at the mess and decided the best thing she could do at the moment was to stay busy. Mina went to the bedroom first and had to hold back the tears when she saw the new bed he’d gotten just for them. She hadn’t even noticed they’d moved her old bed over to the spare bedroom until she went looking for it.

  They had the frame put together but the box springs and mattress were leaning against the wall, probably to make it easier to move the bed around to where she wanted it. Mina considered her options and decided to center it on the wall opposite the door. She hated having her bed up against a wall and this way, there would still be plenty of room to walk around it to the French doors leading out to the deck. She tugged and pushed and pulled until she had it just where she wanted it then struggled for quite some time to get the box springs and mattress in place.

  She spent the better part of three hours putting all the bedroom furniture in place then hanging her clothes or placing them in the dresser drawers, and was quite pleased with it when she was done. The bathroom came next and when she was satisfied that everything was in its place, she stopped to catch her breath. It didn’t take her two minutes to figure out what a big mistake that was so she tackled the spare bedroom.

  Still determined to keep her mind off Scott, she wandered into the dining room and arranged the table and chairs were she wanted them but couldn’t budge the china cabinet and had to leave it where it was. She moved around the house, randomly picking boxes to unpack since she couldn’t do anything with the living room until the floors were refinished. It wasn’t until she heard Buster bumbling around on the deck that she realized it had gotten dark outside.

  Mina let him in and got about two seconds of attention from him before Buster padded off to investigate the house. She checked the time on the alarm clock in her bedroom and was surprised to see it was after eight. Suddenly feeling tired to the bone, she dropped down onto the edge of the bed. She didn’t know whether to be happy Scott had respected her wish to be left alone until she called, or upset that he hadn’t bothered to call or come over when she’d been out of contact for so long.

  It was childish to cry over it when she was the one who’d told him to leave, but it didn’t stop her from doing it anyway. She knew part of it was because her cycle had finally started and she was always pretty emotional during the first few days, but it didn’t explain the heavy ache in her heart or the feeling of hopelessness that was doing its best to consume her.

  Mina kicked off her shoes and crawled to the head of the bed, burying her face in the pillow. She cried so hard and for so long, her whole body shook from the wrenching sobs that tore through her. It felt as if her heart was being ripped out and she was helpless to do anything about it. As much as she loved Scott, she just couldn’t see continuing the relationship knowing it would go no further than where it was right now. It just wasn’t fair. She’d been so deliriously happy that morning when she woke up in his arms and now she felt as if she was falling down an endless dark hole with no way to stop herself.

  Mina’s overwrought emotions and physical fatigue finally overtook her and she fell into a restless sleep. She woke sometime later and lay staring at the clock for a few minutes before her eyes were able to focus enough to tell her it was close to ten o’clock. She’d become so accustomed to the feel of Scott’s body next to her, that it took her a few minutes to realize he’d tucked himself behind her and had one arm wrapped firmly around her waist. For a moment, she let herself enjoy the warmth of him before reminding herself why he was even with her at all. Mina wasn’t even sure he was awake himself until he shifted away from her.

  Scott moved back just far enough so he could pull Mina onto her back. His heart nearly broke when he saw how red and swollen her eyes were, and even worse than that, was the deep sorrow he saw hovering in them. He brushed her hair lovingly away from her face then leaned down and kissed her.

  “I want to know what’s really bothering you, Mina, and I don’t want to hear any excuses about it being a female thing. Whatever it is goes beyond that.”

  Mina looked into his eyes and saw the genuine concern, but she didn’t feel like she could trust herself anymore. Maybe she was just seeing it because that’s what she wanted to see.

  “I can’t,” she said despondently. “It’s just something I need to work out on my own.”

  “Something’s chewing you up inside, honey. Why won’t you let me help you through this?”

  She shook her head slowly. How could he help her when he was the cause of it?

  “I can’t,” she repeated. “Please, Scott, just give me some time to think about it, to consider my options.”

  His brows drew together. “I’m not sure I like the sound of that.” When she remained obstinately quiet, he heaved a sigh of resignation. “Okay, I won’t push it for now, but I’m here if you need me.”

  He didn’t like feeling so helpless and he didn’t like the idea that he couldn’t make it right for her, that whatever was hurting her could be fixed if she’d only tell him what it was. He caressed her cheek for a moment, relieved that she seemed to find some semblance of comfort in his touch.

  “Do you want to spend the night here or come back to my place?”

  “Here,” she said without hesitation.

  “Okay, honey. I’ll run home and get a change of clothes. Are you hungry? Did you eat anything tonight?”

  “I’m not hungry, but…I think it would be best if you didn’t come back.”

  Scott just stared at her for a moment, feeling a harsh wrenching in his gut that she wanted to distance herself both mentally and physically from him.

  “No,” he finally said.

  Mina blinked. “No? What do you mean, no?”

  “I mean I’m not going to do it, Mina. I’m not going to let you push me away. So you have two choices. You can come back to my place and spend the night, or I’ll spend the night here with you.”

  “Why?” She asked flatly. “We can’t do anything, I started my cycle today.”

  Scott’s head jerked back as if he’d been s
lapped. “Is that what you think, that I only want to be with you if I can have sex?” He sat up in bed, suddenly so angry he could barely contain himself. “If that’s all I wanted, I can think of half a dozen women just off the top of my head who’d be more than willing to invite me over for the night.”

  Mina drew in a sharp, painful breath. “I’m sure you could,” she said unevenly. “So why are you still here? Why don’t you go make a few phone calls and see whose bed you can warm tonight?”

  Scott’s eyes flashed dangerously. “What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you trying to make yourself believe I don’t care about you? Haven’t I taken care of you, tried to do everything I could to make your life more comfortable?”

  Mina shot up so fast it startled him. She scrambled off the bed then stood and faced him, her eyes blazing, hands clenched into fists.