Page 59 of Taming a Heartbreaker

The sharpness of his tone had her gearing up for a fight. But she had to be careful what she said or he would toss her out and halt her plan. “I know you work hard, Matthew. In fact, you carry working hard to the extreme,” she said bluntly.

His gaze narrowed and she wondered if perhaps she’d pushed him too far. But she couldn’t help saying how she felt. The amount of time he’d spent away from her would always be a wound that wouldn’t heal.

He began moving toward her in that slow, precise walk that could make women drool. She wished she didn’t notice his sex appeal or just how potently masculine he was. She had to get a grip. Her objective was to make him regret ever taking her for granted, to give him a taste of his own medicine, so to speak. She intended to turn her back on him like he’d done to her.

Carmen swallowed when he came to a stop in front of her but she refused to back up—or down.

“You,” he said with deep emphasis, “are not staying here. I think things were pretty clear in the divorce settlement. You wanted to end our marriage and so you did. Under no circumstances will we stay under the same roof.”

Carmen saw the hardness in his features. This face that once looked at her with so much love was staring at her with a degree of animosity that tore at her heart.

“Then nothing is different, Matthew, since we seldom stayed under the same roof anyway. I’m not leaving. I was almost mobbed by the paparazzi getting here and they are probably hanging around like vultures waiting for me to leave. Your recent love life has caused quite a stir and they are trying to bait me into giving my opinion.”

“The media isn’t giving me any more slack than they’re giving you. And your affair with Bruno Casey isn’t helping matters, either. I’m sure if you return to California, he’ll be able to put you up for the summer in that place he owns off the bay.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him nothing was going on with Bruno, but she decided it was none of his business, especially in light of his ongoing affair with Candy. She refused to bring the other woman up since the last thing she wanted was for him to think that she cared. Which she didn’t.

“Bruno is shooting in Rome and this is where I want to be. I love it here. I’ve always loved it here and the only reason you didn’t agree to let me have this place during the divorce was because you knew how much I wanted it. For spite, you were intentionally difficult.”

“Think whatever you like. I’m leaving to catch the last of the polo matches. I want you gone when I return.”

“I’m not leaving, Matthew.”

His expression turned from stony to inexplicably weary. “I’m not going to waste my time arguing with you, Carmen.”

“Then don’t.”

They stood there staring at each other, anger bouncing off both of them. Then, without saying another word, Matthew turned and walked out. Carmen held her breath until she heard the front door slam shut behind him.

Matthew decided not to return to the Seven Oaks Farm for the match. Instead, he went for a drive to clear his head and cool his anger. Carmen was being difficult—she hadn’t behaved that way since the early days of their courtship.

He had pursued her with a single-minded determination he hadn’t known he was capable of, and she had put up a brick wall, refusing to let him get close. But he’d known the first moment he’d laid eyes on her that he not only wanted her to star in his movie but he wanted her in his bed and wouldn’t be satisfied until he got both.

She’d gotten the part in the movie, earning it fair and square. Getting her into his bed had proven to be difficult and before he got her there, he’d realized he had fallen in love with her. He wasn’t certain how it had happened, but it had. He’d loved her so deeply, he knew he wasn’t capable of ever loving another woman that way.

She’d stood before him in that church and promised to love him forever. So what if he worked long hours—didn’t “till death do us part” mean anything to her? And if he hadn’t worked so hard, he would not have earned the reputation of being one of the country’s up-and-coming film producers.

A throbbing warmth flowed through his chest, which was immediately followed by a rush of anger that was trying to consume him. He had wanted so much for them and she had done something so unforgivable it hurt him to think about it. He had been absolutely certain she was the one person who understood his drive to build something of his own, the one person who would never let him down. His father had let him down by not marrying his mother when she’d gotten pregnant, and then his mother had let him down when she married Charles Murray, the stepfather from hell. Carmen had restored his faith that there was someone out there who wouldn’t disappoint him. So much for that.

Matthew parked the car on the side of the road and just sat there, gazing at the beach. Walking into the bedroom and seeing her barely clothed had been too much. For a moment, lust had overshadowed his common sense and he could only think of how her breasts felt in his hands, how they tasted in his mouth.

With the sunlight streaming through the window, her nearly transparent robe had revealed the darkened triangle between her legs. It had taken all his strength not to cross the room, toss her on the bed and bury himself deep inside her body the way he used to after they’d argued and made up.

And they’d had to make up a lot since the amount of time he’d spent away from home had always been a bone of contention between them. But they’d always worked through it. What he’d tried so hard to figure out was, what had made the last time different? Why had she felt like throwing in the towel? She’d known his profession when she married him. As an actress, she of all people should have understood how things were on a set. Her filing for divorce had confused the hell out of him.

He remembered the night he hadn’t shown up in Spain as planned. It had been a week from hell on the set. Wayne Reddick, the main investor for the movie he’d been producing at the time, had unexpectedly shown up on location. He and Wayne had butted heads several times and the man’s impromptu visit had prompted him to cancel his plans to meet Carmen in Barcelona. The fate of his production, which had been behind schedule, was at stake and it had taken some serious talking for the man to agree to extend funds for the movie’s completion. He had tried calling Carmen to explain things, but she hadn’t answered the phone. The next thing he knew he was receiving divorce papers.

He tightened his hand on the steering wheel thinking that maybe he was handling the situation with his ex-wife all wrong. Since she was hell-bent on staying in the Hamptons, maybe he should just let her. It would give him the chance to extract some kind of revenge for the hell she’d put him through.

He glanced at his watch. A smile touched his lips when he pulled back onto the road and headed home, determined to return before she left. He needed to convince her that it was fine with him if she stayed, without making her suspicious of his motives.

He’d been an actor before becoming a director and producer. He would seduce her back into his bed and then make her leave. And he would go so far as to change the locks on the doors if he had to.

The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea and knew just how he could pull it off. When it came to seduction, he was at the top of his game.

Chapter Four

“You’re still here, Carmen.”

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