IT HAD been a reasonably successful week, Jeremy tried to tell himself as he shuffled papers at his desk. The private investigator had met with him and Eden and had reported that he had located a former employee of the sperm bank and hoped to be able to finagle a lead out of that. In addition, Jeremy’s business was going as well as it always had.
So, it wasn’t business that was bothering him right now. It wasn’t even his blindness, at least no more than usual.
It was Eden. All week she’d been there in the background like a mouse waiting for a bit of cheese to drop. She’d had her notebook held tightly against her chest like a shield, and she’d tried her best to fade into the background. No doubt she thought she’d succeeded.
Because I don’t see well was his first angry thought. But he knew it wasn’t that. She just thought…he suspected she’d always thought that she was an invisible person, the kind a man didn’t notice.
To his shame, he had to admit that she had been just that to him when they’d been growing up.
But she wasn’t now.
When he was in the gym lifting weights, his muscles straining to lift as much as he could, he’d sensed her eyes on him. Her light, distinct perfume had drifted to him, sending warmth through his body.
In the pool while he was taking his morning swim, the chlorine had covered her scent, but when he’d emerged from beneath the water, she’d been there leaning against the wall, pen in hand, scribbling.
She’s just trying to gather useful information, you jerk, he told himself, but that hadn’t helped. Aware that she was watching him as an object to be studied, anger rose within him.
And every time he ran, he was conscious of her, always. The sun was on his back, the wind was in his hair and Eden’s gaze followed him. He’d been used to women watching him all his life, but this was different. It was impersonal.
“A good thing,” he told himself, except when he glanced over at her as he passed, he’d been aware of the wind in her hair. For the first time, without the small details to distract him, he’d noticed the long, graceful curve of her neck, the fact that a man’s hand would fit perfectly there in order to pull her closer for a kiss, where perfect vision was unnecessary and only physical sensation mattered.
A curse escaped Jeremy. He had no business thinking of Eden that way. She wasn’t here for his pleasure. If he desired her, it was probably because she was the only woman in his life right now. His lust for her was immaterial. She was studying him only to discern how he functioned and what his limits were so she could convey that to the children’s parents.
But acknowledging that didn’t help his foul mood. No sense sitting here pretending to work when he wasn’t getting anything done. He swung away from his desk, put down the magnifier he hadn’t been using anyway and strode out of his office into the hallway just as the doorbell rang.
Instantly he realized that Donald was off getting the limo serviced and it was Mrs. Ruskin’s day off, so there was no one closer than he was to answer the door. He also became aware of Eden entering the hallway behind him. But she wasn’t a servant and she wasn’t required to greet visitors. No, Eden was the woman who had been treating him like a lab rat all week. If he asked her to open the door and greet whoever was there she would probably pull out that blasted notebook of hers and…
Jeremy frowned. He moved to the door and opened it. The change from the slight darkness of the house to the brilliance of sunshine worked its ugly magic, as he had grown to expect. His malfunctioning eyes took much longer to adjust than they had in the past. For seconds that felt like minutes, he simply stared at the person on the doorstep, trying to make out…something.
And then old habits kicked in. It was time to be outwardly charming. Anything else might be disastrous. Whoever the person was, he didn’t want them to realize he couldn’t see, and maybe, despite everything, he didn’t want Eden to see him like this yet, either. Telling her about his condition for the sake of the task at hand was one thing. Letting her see the worst of his emasculating weakness was another.
He moved forward, looking toward the unknown visitor. “Hello,” he said with a practiced smile. “May I help you?”
For half a second he realized that the person at the door could be carrying a machete or an Uzi and he wouldn’t have a clue. Yet, he was chatting amiably to what was, at least temporarily, a total stranger in order to salvage his pride. And from the momentary silence that ensued, he could tell that he must have made some sort of gaffe.
Suddenly the scent of Eden was much closer. “Miriam, how nice. Come on in. You know Jeremy, he always did like to tease. Acting as if he didn’t know you…”
Although she wasn’t facing him, Jeremy could hear the smile in Eden’s voice as she pretended that he had intentionally spoken to Miriam the way he would have to a stranger.
Miriam?
Jeremy wanted to beat his head against the wall as he realized to whom Eden was referring as his vision began to adjust to the light. Ignoring every protesting instinct in his body, he stepped aside to let Miriam DeAngeles in the door. She was no stranger, but not a friend either, despite the fact—or maybe because of the fact—that he and Miriam had been an item for about two months back in high school.
Recently divorced, back in town and looking for a new diversion, she had shown up once or twice lately to borrow a cup of sugar, she had said, although her house was half a mile away. No doubt she read the business section of the paper and knew that Fulton Enterprises was raking in buckets of money. Knowing the woman for what she was and always had been, Donald had made excuses, telling Miriam that Jeremy was working. But that had been last week. Today Donald wasn’t here, Eden was unaware of the whole scenario, and…I can’t very well announce to Eden that Miriam is here on a fishing expedition, Jeremy realized.
This was going to be awkward. He was standing here next to Eden, a woman he desired but shouldn’t. On his other side was a woman who wanted his lust but in whom he had no interest. Moreover, Miriam could be dangerous when crossed.
She was capable of dropping hints to the media if she discovered what few people knew, that the owner of the Fulton empire was going blind. He would be besieged. And while the truth would, inevitably, be discerned in time…he didn’t want to think about that. It was difficult enough living with the unknown and wondering how much of his world would be left when the dust settled. Facing a media onslaught? Being observed like a goldfish in a bowl? Being seen as defective or weak? No.
Yet he was the one who had let Miriam in. Bracing for damage control, he stepped forward.
“Hello, Miriam,” he said. “Sorry for putting you on. It’s good to see you.” Although it wasn’t. Miriam was interested in three things only, position, money and gossip, and a better position and more money would always be welcome.
As for gossip? He tried not to visibly react. Miriam was definitely going to wonder what Eden Byars was doing standing beside him welcoming guests almost like a wife.
He waited for the hit, the biting comment.
“Jeremy, hon, I just haven’t seen enough of you lately. None, really. That awful man of yours wouldn’t let me in. Still, I’m here now and you’re looking as edible as ever,” Miriam said, stroking a hand down the length of his sleeve, letting her fingers linger just two seconds too long. No mistaking her intent. Miriam was on the prowl. His vision was adjusting to the light, but Jeremy didn’t need vision for this.
What’s more, he knew what was expected, and giving Miriam what she wanted was probably the quickest way to deflect her rabid curiosity and get rid of her. “Miriam…thank you. You, of course, are looking beautiful, as always.” Which she was, at least on the outside, from what he could see.
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?