Page 74 of Mr. Scandalous

The hot water sluiced over his body. He wished it could wash away the strange feelings swishing inside of him. Feelings perilously close to love.

He couldn’t be in love with Eden. No way, no how. He didn’t fall in love. He was Alec Ramsey, CEO ofSex and theSingle Guy.His whole life, his entire career, his very reputation was founded on the premise that he remain a freedom-loving bachelor. So why was it that every time he closed his eyes, he kept seeing Eden wearing his ring? Why, despite every effort to stop the mental pictures, did he visualize her pregnant with his baby? Why dammit, did he keep imagining a house in Connecticut with that white picket fence?

The persistent imagery scared him straight to his marrow.

It’s just the hot sex, dude. You’ve never experienced such great bedroom antics with anyone else and you’ve mistaken it for love. That’s all it is. Don’t freak. Don’t read anything more into this.

Right. Stunningly great sex, not love. That was the ticket. He was panicking for nothing.

Besides, Eden had made it clear enough she wasn’t interested in anything but a short-term fling. He’d gotten what he’d wanted. A wickedly wonderful affair with a naughty woman.

But while the affair had brought the physical release he’d sought, it had not given him what he’d needed most—renewed faith in his carefree single lifestyle.

In fact, his time with Eden had only compounded his restless dissatisfaction and stoked his desire for something more meaningful than parties and good times and a bevy of beautiful women on his arm.

It was her burn scars, he analyzed. That’s what made her different from the others. That’s why he felt such tenderness for her. Her vulnerability touched him in a way no one else ever had. Sympathy was what he was feeling for her. Sympathy and admiration and respect.

Not love.

As long as he kept reminding himself of that, he’d be okay.

Right?

* * *

“These past four weekshave been really special to me,” Eden said as Alec guided his Ferrari down the ribbon of highway, headed for Manhattan on Sunday afternoon. “I just thought you should know that.”

He glanced over at her, and his gut torqued. She looked so beautiful sitting there in a cream-colored sweater and black leather pants, her head tilted in that endearing way of hers, a smile crossing her face.

This past month had been damned special for him, too, but he wasn’t about to admit it. If he named the emotion knotting his chest, he feared deepening the intimacy between them and laying himself open to the pain of loneliness that he’d spent a lifetime struggling to deny.

Nope, best to ignore the feelings warring inside him and pretend everything was fine. He had a busy fife. Activities crowded his plate. The magazine kept him hopping. He had loads of friends. What did he have to be lonely about?

“You helped me a lot, whether you know it or not,” she continued.

“Helped you?” He glued his eyes to the road. For no good reason, his pulse hammered in his ears. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Oh, yes, you did,” she murmured. The sound of her soft, honied voice curled around him like an electric blanket switched on high—warm and inviting. “You restored my self-esteem.”

“Who? Me?”

“I’ve got a confession.”

His body tensed and he clenched his jaw. What was she going to say?

“Eden…” He felt bad for sounding rude, but he was hoping to head off true confessions. “This is the last time we’ll see each other. There’s no need to reveal any secrets we might have kept from each other.”

“It’s just something I thought you should know.” She sounded hurt.

Ah, dammit. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her. Hell, that’s why he’d chosen her for this affair, because in the beginning she’d been as adamant as he that this was just about sex and nothing else.

He had the strangest urge to turn on the radio or start talking about quantum physics or even stick his fingers in his ears and hum so loudly he couldn’t hear her.

Instead, he pressed down on the gas, eager to get back to the city as soon as possible. The sooner they went their separate ways the sooner he could shake off this odd melancholy dogging him.

What in the hell are you so afraid of, Ramsey?

She turned her face away from him and her shoulders slumped. He felt like a complete and utter jerk.

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