Page 3 of Eclipse Bay

“You didn’t think I’d actually read it in a book, did you?”

“Everyone knows you do most of your reading at Virgil Nash’s porn shop.” Lord, she sounded prissy. “I doubt that you’d find a quote like that in any of the books or magazines he stocks.”

Rafe was silent for a beat, as if her comment had surprised him. But he recovered immediately. “Right. Mostly I just look at the pictures, anyhow.”

“I believe it.”

“I’ll bet the jerk reads a lot.”

Quite suddenly she’d had enough. It was time to level this playing field. Rafe Madison had four years and a lifetime of experience on her, but she was a Harte. She could hold her own against a Madison.

“If you didn’t come here to play some voyeuristic games,” she said coldly, “what are you doing at Eclipse Arch at this time of night?”

“Same thing you are,” he said very smoothly. “My date and I had a little disagreement, and she kicked me out of her car.”

Hannah was astonished. “Kaitlin Sadler threw you out of her car because you wouldn’t have sex with her?”

“We didn’t argue about having sex,” he said with devastating honesty. “We argued about the fact that she’s dating other guys.”

“I see.” It was no secret that Kaitlin had been seeing other men. “I hear she wants to marry someone who can take her away from Eclipse Bay.”

“You heard right. Obviously I’m not in a position to do that, what with my failure to achieve my full potential and all.”

“Obviously.”

“Hell, I don’t even have a steady job.”

“I don’t suppose Kaitlin would consider flipping veggie burgers at Snow’s Café a position with a lot of guaranteed upward mobility,” Hannah mused.

“No, she doesn’t. She made that real clear.”

Hannah was appalled to realize that she felt an insidious little tendril of sympathy for him. “You’ve got to admit that you certainly can’t afford to keep her in the style to which she wants to become accustomed.”

“I know. But I thought we had an understanding that while we were seeing each other, neither of us would fool around with anyone else.”

“Kaitlin, I take it, didn’t share that understanding?”

“Nope. She said she didn’t want to be tied down to me. Made it clear that her first priority was finding a rich husband. Naturally, I was crushed to learn that I was nothing more than a plaything for her.”

“Yeah. Crushed.”

“Hey, Madisons have feelings too.”

“Really?” she murmured. “I’ve never heard that.”

“The family likes to keep it quiet.”

“I’m not surprised. Sort of ruins the image.”

“Yeah. You know, you’d be surprised how irritating it is to date a woman who is actively hunting elsewhere for a wealthy husband.”

“Kaitlin’s definitely active,” Hannah said neutrally. “Everyone in town knows it.”

Rafe smiled thinly. “As of tonight she can be active with someone else.”

“I suppose she was upset when you told her you didn’t want to continue in the role of, uh, plaything?”

“She was pissed as hell.”

---