Michael

It had taken every ounce of willpower I had not to bring Eden back and finish what I’d started.

The only result that would have been satisfactory was me bending Eden over my desk and fucking her until neither of us could move. That realization hit me with stunning clarity, and that clarity froze me in place.

As quickly as I thought it, I knew that was the missing piece, the reason she so easily got to me.

On the surface, it didn’t make sense. Eden was…Eden. I liked meekness, women who were content to be seen and not heard. And that wasn’t Eden, not at all.

Even as I argued with myself, I knew the truth. I wanted her. I just didn’t know what I would do about it.

I’d been at the hotel for less than thirty minutes, but I left, knowing that if I saw Eden again, there was no way I’d be able to keep my control.

Still, we had matters to discuss, so as I drove, I dialed the number I knew by heart. I winced with irritation at how that number and everything else about Eden was always at the top of my mind and then pushed that thought aside and focused on the road.

Eden answered on the third ring. “M. Lounge and Hotel. This is the assistant general manager speaking.”

She sounded so calm, not at all affected by that kiss as I had been.

“What the fuck was Kevin doing at my hotel, Eden?”

She sighed, sounding incredibly put-upon, something that would be amusing if it wasn’t directed at me.

When she finally spoke, she sounded calm, patient, like an adult correcting an unruly child. “I’d really fucking appreciate it if you wouldn’t fucking swear at me, Mr. Murphy.”

Her words caused the most unexpected response.

I smiled, came dangerously close to laughing.

Ordinarily, I would have thought it cowardly to call her, but I was glad I had taken that approach. If she’d seen me smile, knew how close I was to laughing, it might make her think I wasn’t serious. I was.

“Fine,” I said, conceding the point. “What was Kevin doing in my hotel, Eden?”

“We’ve had a shortage of security personnel, and Kevin has the best contacts in the city. He’s going to provide us contractors until we can work out a permanent solution,” she said.

That smile from moments ago was now a distant memory. After that brief moment, Eden was doing that thing I hated, using that stiff, professional tone that made it seem like I was a stranger to be managed, not the man she would have let fuck her senseless.

It drove me nuts, made me want to demand the intimacy that we’d shared before. I wouldn’t let it show, though. Eden seemed to be having no trouble keeping her emotions under wraps.

I would do the same, no matter how hard it was.

“You know how I feel about him,” I said, reminding myself Eden had provoked this but still trying to mimic the calm that seemed to come so easily to her.

“If I didn’t before today, you certainly made it clear. And it’s my hunch the feeling is mutual,” she replied.

Eden’s voice told me she thought Kevin was justified in his dislike, suggested that she took his side, something that threatened to further set me off.

“I don’t fuc—I don’t care how he feels. I don’t want him in my hotel,” I said, somehow managing to hold onto my control.

“Fine,” Eden said on a sigh, “I’ll make sure Kevin doesn’t come to the hotel unless it’s absolutely necessary. Of course it probably doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kevin called his guys back.”

“And upset you?” I said, my voice darkening. “No chance.”

I was so tempted to probe, ask what their relationship was, but I didn’t. I didn’t want to care, but that wasn’t what stopped me. No, the fear of what she might say stilled my tongue.

“Is there anything else, Mr. Murphy?” she asked.

“No.”

I hung up the phone without saying good-bye. I’d hear about that, and in fact looked forward to Eden raising the topic of phone etiquette the next time I saw her. Or maybe she’d be direct, tell me that I was being a rude asshole.

I didn’t know which, never knew how Eden would come at me. That was a part of the thrill.

Also, I realized I was in even deeper shit than I’d thought. Wanting to fuck her was one thing. Being desperate to talk to her was another thing altogether.

I parked my car, got out in front of the warehouse that had been converted to condos, ran up three flights of stairs, and pounded on the metal door.

“What the fuck!”

I heard Sean clearly through the door, laughed, knowing I’d woken him up. “Open the door, Sean!” I yelled.

A moment later, I heard the locks disengage. Sean opened the door a crack, just enough for me to see the sun glint off his beard and the silver .45 he held.

“Move, asshole,” I said, pushing my way in.

He stepped aside to allow me entry and then closed and locked the door. “You were going to shoot me?” I asked, turning to stare at him.

“I should. Why are you here so early?” he grumbled as he ambled across the open loft area to his platform bed. He put the gun on the nightstand and slid his glasses onto his face.

“It’s nine thirty. That’s not early,” I said.

As a spoke, I walked to his neatly organized closet area and threw some workout clothes at him.

“Change,” I said, lifting my own gym bag. “We’re going for a run.”

* * *

Michael

“So, that was awesome,” Sean said drolly when we returned to his apartment after a five-mile run.

“Glad you thought so. I was worried, especially since I had to practically carry your ass that last mile,” I replied as I tossed him a bottle of water from the fridge and grabbed one for myself.

“I just didn’t want you to feel bad. But, as awesome as that was, why the hell was I running at the crack of dawn?” Sean said.

“It wasn’t dawn. And does it matter?” I asked.

Sean downed half his water in two quick gulps and then looked at me.

“I know I’m the most charming, most handsome, most intelligent of your brothers, but my peerless company is not the reason you dragged me out of my peaceful slumber to go running with you,” he said.

“I’m just glad you were alone,” I said.

“An oversight I intend to correct later this evening. But seriously, Michael, what’s going on? Is it Mom?” he said.

His entire demeanor changed with the utterance of that single word. I knew she wasn’t Sean’s favorite topic. He had his own unresolved issues around her, so I shook my head quickly. “No. It’s not,” I said.

Sean’s relief was palpable, but in the next breath, he looked at me, again curious. “So what then?” he asked.

“I didn’t want to run by myself. I didn’t expect that to lead to a fucking inquisition,” I snapped.

Sean grinned. “It’s Eden. She’s on your ass again, huh?”

“Fuck off, Sean,” I said, throwing my empty bottle at him.

He swatted it away effortlessly, grinning even bigger now.

“It’s her. Tell me all about it,” he said.

“Think what you want. I’m out of here,” I said, heading toward the door.

“You’re running away. That’s definitely Eden. Come by the pub tonight and we’ll talk it over,” he said.

“Bye, Sean.”

I slammed the metal door, still heard his laugh behind it.