A Beauty Uncovered (Secrets of Eden 2)

He was a fool. Stupid for believing that she might be the one woman who would love him just the way he was. Frustrated, he grabbed the pink rose from the vase and crushed the petals in his hand. A thorn stabbed him, muddying his skin with a smear of blood, but he didn’t care. It didn’t hurt nearly as much as the truth.

A moment later, Sam came through the door with her cell phone in her hand. She stopped in her tracks the moment Brody looked up from her screen. He wasn’t sure if it was the expression on his face or her own guilty conscience, but her eyes widened with fear.

“Beautiful inside and out, you said. What a load of crap.” Brody threw the rose against the wall where it left a wet, bloodstained smear on the wallpaper.

Sam jumped at the violent slam of the flower on the wall, but she didn’t move. Or defend herself. How could she? They both knew she was guilty.

“I really thought you were the one. The one woman who could see past my scars and love me anyway. One who would want me for more than my money. I must’ve been blinded by your beauty. It was hard to see the truth when you were naked and seducing me.”

“Hold on right there,” she said, sudden anger flushing her cheeks red. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Brody looked down at the screen and read aloud. “‘Doctor Jensen’s groundbreaking treatments can provide patients with significant improvements to their cosmetic appearance and functional activities of everyday life.’ Is that what you want, Sam? You want to fix me so I’ll go to your parties and your dinners?”

Her bottom lip quivered as she fought to hold back tears. “Yes, but that’s not why I was—”

“You’re fired.”

“What? Brody, please. It’s not what you think.”

“I think it is, Sam. I would’ve given you everything. I would’ve treated you like a cherished treasure for your entire life. All you had to do was accept me. I thought you had.”

“I do accept you! You just don’t accept yourself!” Sam slammed her phone down onto her desk. “You are a miserable hermit. You have spent your whole life hiding from the world because you’re too afraid to face your fears. I looked on those web pages because I was hoping that one of those doctors might be able to help you. Not because I thought you needed fixing, but because you do.”

Sam’s words were like a slap in the face. He nearly flinched from the sting of it. “You’re calling me a coward? After everything I’ve faced in my life you have the nerve to tell me I’m hiding away because I’m scared? There’s nothing any person on the street could do to me, Sam, that would be more horrible than what has already been done.”

“Then why don’t you come outside with me and prove it.” Sam marched over to the office door and held it open for him. “Go down into your own damn lobby and say hello to your front desk security for the first time.”

How dare she challenge him? Who the hell did she think she was? If he wanted to go to the lobby he would. He didn’t want to. And he certainly wasn’t going to do it only to prove something to her. She didn’t know anything about him. She was his secretary and a temporary one at that. His hands curled into tight fists at his sides.

Finally, he turned away from her. He grabbed her coat, phone and purse and followed her to the door. He threw both of them through the doorway into the elevator lobby, following it with the gift box he’d put on her desk. He didn’t want it around to remind him of her. Her purse opened and the contents scattered across the marble floor. “I said you’re fired, Miss Davis.”

When Sam turned away from him to lunge for her things, he snatched her ID card off of her shirt collar. The door shut as she bent down to scoop up her purse, and she realized too late that now she was trapped. Without her ID, she couldn’t come through the door or go down the elevator.

Her face flushed a flaming red as she clutched her coat and purse to her chest. She pounded on the glass with her fist. “You can’t just leave me in here!”

Her words were muffled, but he could still hear the angry edge of desperation in her voice. “I won’t,” he said confidently. “I’ll have the head of security come escort you out of the building momentarily.”

“And is he going to make your copies? Or bring you your lunch? Or pick up your dry cleaning? Agnes won’t be back for another week. You’re helpless without an assistant.”

“I’d rather have no assistant than have you in this office another minute.”