“I never thought you’d trade on my feelings. Use my vulnerabilities against me.” His eyes blazed. “I told you before. I might use weaknesses, but I’d never use fears against someone else.”
Guilt slammed into her. She had handled this all wrong. “That wasn’t my intention at all. I would never—”
“What’s this Ryan’s stake, anyway? Why does he care?”
“He’s a vascular surgeon. A doctor.”
“And how long have you known him?”
“I handled his divorce last winter.”
* * *
Eric clenched his fingers into fists. Was it possible he’d been played? The deal with Atlantic Bionics had been in development for months, and he’d known there was opposition. The truth was, the manufacturing arm wasn’t enough to support the research-and-development side, and as a result both were going to go down. It was no big secret that he was the head of EPC Industries. He didn’t want to believe he’d been totally suckered, but he had to ask anyway.
“Was this all part of a master plan, Molly? Because it all seems a little too coincidental to me.”
“You think I was a plant?” Her mouth gaped open. “You really think I could...that I would...”
“I don’t really know anything about you, do I?” he growled, feeling not only foolish, but also incredibly disappointed. “We’ve known each other for exactly ten days. Unless, of course, you’ve done your research.”
Her nostrils flared. “You know what? You can say a lot about me but I’m no corporate plant. I had no idea that this was a project of yours or even what your company name was until this morning. Until just now, when he texted. Yeah, it’s a hell of a coincidence, but I swear on my brother’s grave that I did not come on this trip to... For God’s sake. To gain information or try to get you to stop some deal.”
“Until now.”
“Well, it’s important.”
Frustration bubbled over. Yes, he believed her. She would never swear on her brother’s grave otherwise. Besides, she had a horrible poker face and right now she was angry and hurt at his accusation. There were no tears; that wasn’t her style. But her eyes were icy fire as they fell upon him and she did this weird rubbing thing with her lips when she got frustrated. An hour ago they’d been planning one last romantic outing. In the space of three minutes everything seemed to collapse like a house of cards.
“If it’s that important,” he said, a bit quieter, “then you should go home and do your research. Don’t just go by what this Ryan guy tells you. And you’re not a corporate lawyer, Molly. You specialize in family law. Let me tell you they’re not the same.”
“I know how to do research,” she snapped.
“Hey, don’t get snippy with me. After ten days together, the first thing you do is ask me for a favor. And we’re not talking can-you-pick-up-some-antacids-at-the-store kind of favor. You’re asking me to throw away a whole business deal because you got a text message that said it should happen. Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?”
He looked out the window. “Know what bothers me the most? I actually thought you were different. That it wasn’t about my money or my status or what I could do for you. Thanks for proving me wrong before I leave tonight. Now I can fly home with a clean conscience.”
She faced him then, her eyes wide and hurt. “Know what? Maybe the timing sucks. Maybe the circumstances are messed up. But let’s be honest. This is a perfect excuse for you to push me away because you’re scared of your feelings. It was fine when we were on the trip, but now that it’s time to part and we have to deal with the real world? Yeah. You said yourself you don’t do emotional intimacy well, so let’s call a spade a spade. Because I’m coming from a good place here, and you’re making me out to be something I’m not.”
“Me, scared? That’s funny, coming from you.”
The look of pain that shot across her face filled him with regret. He should say he was sorry, because he was. She was right. He was afraid. Of his feelings. Of letting old patterns sneak back into his life. She’d opened up a whole new world for him, and instead of thanking her, he was punishing her for it.
She didn’t reply, which surprised him, and he didn’t look over at her, either. He didn’t trust himself to say what was in his heart. The pilot diplomatically flew on as if an argument hadn’t just taken place behind him. Eric looked down and saw the city come back into view. In a few minutes they would be landing. He wasn’t even going to go back to the hotel with her; he had no idea what he’d say. He was going to head straight to the airport and have his bags delivered to him. The sooner he got home, the better.
This past week he’d been as “emotionally available” as he’d ever been in his life. He didn’t let people in. Hell, he hadn’t even let Murielle in, and they’d been married. Now he finally had and look what happened.
What a fool he’d been.
&nb
sp; He heard sniffling behind him and closed his eyes. She was crying. He hadn’t exactly been gentle with his last words to her, but he was hurt, too, dammit. Last night he’d looked at her and said he was falling in love with her. Now he just felt stupid and raw. He wanted to pull her into his arms and say this had all been a mistake, but something held him back. Maybe she was right. Maybe he was just a coward.
The plane landed with a few bumps on the waves and then a smooth glide into the dock. Molly put her hand on his arm. “Please, can’t we talk about this? I know I’ve messed things up.”
He couldn’t stand to see her beg. “The last ten days we’ve ignored reality,” he said, looking at her finally, “and now we can’t ignore it anymore. This is my life. And that’s yours. We were just fooling ourselves. We should just leave it at that.” Before he screwed it up worse. And hurt her more than she was already hurting. His gut churned as he realized he’d done that his whole life—he’d driven away his mom, his brothers... Murielle. All because he really had no idea how to love anyone.
Now he cared about her too much to let this go on and make it worse.