Page 21 of Exposed

“What do you see?” she asked with a nod toward the circle.

He frowned, his expression less than chipper. She was guessing that he hadn’t slept well either. “A bunch of stupid suckers who should demand their money back for all this psychobabble crap?”

She snorted. Even with the awkwardness between them, he could still make her laugh. But that didn’t fix anything between them. His behavior last night had hit far too close to what she’d experienced with Devon for her comfort. She’d thought Eric had understood how important this story was to her, had agreed with her goals and her plans on how to reach them. Apparently not. The fact he’d expected her to give it all up because he said so, hurt her more than she wanted to say.

She was going to have to make it clear that she was staying. Now was the time. “We’ve only got a few days left, and I haven’t figure out what’s going on yet. But I’m surer than ever that something’s up. All my instincts are on high alert.”

Eric peered up at the sky, his expression flat. “Should I be looking for some kind of bat signal or something?”

Beth gave him an annoyed slap on his taut abs, which made him chuckle. She led the way to the last pair of seats in the circle. She barely listened to the session because she was so busy tryingto figure out how she was going to finish the job she came here to do. She had just two days left and no ground-breaking story to show for it. Panic welled up inside her before she tamped it down. Her boss at the paper would be furious. Her reputation would be toast. Her expense account would be revoked and her goal of being a nationally recognized reporter would be over.

No. She would not let that happen. Forty-eight hours wasn’t a long time, but it had to be enough.

“Any questions?” Robert Hart asked at the end of their session.

She might not know what Hart had said for the past hour, but she did remember the brochure they’d gotten the day they’d arrived at the retreat. Acting on pure impulse and a bit of desperation, she raised her hand.

Robert Hart gave her a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Yes, Beth?”

“My husband and I would like to book a private therapy session, if any are still available,” she said. “The brochure mentioned that was an option, for an extra fee, of course.”

“Ah, yes.” Hart gestured toward one of the staff members standing off to the side recording the session and they brought over his tablet. He pulled up his calendar then glanced back at Beth. “Certainly. As it happens, I have an opening this afternoon at three. Will that work for both of you?”

Next to her, Eric had gone tense. He leaned over to whisper in Beth’s ear. “What are you doing, sweetheart?”

She smiled at him. “Saving our marriage.” She turned to Hart. “We’ll take it. Thank you.”

14

At three o’clock sharp, Eric found himself sitting in the office of Robert Hart. The décor in here looked like aFantasy Islandreject, all palm fronds and parrots and Hawaiian print upholstery. Then again, maybe Eric was being overly critical because he was feeling a tad bit cranky. Having the woman you were trying to protect thwart you at every turn, tended to do that to a guy.

Beth sat beside him, acting the part of doting wife to perfection. She’d changed into navy shorts and a white sleeveless top that made his fingertips itch to touch her smooth, tanned skin. He tapped his fist against the side of his thigh instead, to distract himself while they waited for Hart to start this bogus session.

Also playing into his bad mood was the fact that Eric had spent the last couple of hours trying to figure out the best way to get off the island and discovering it wasn’t as easy as he’d imagined. Flights only came in and out of the tiny airport there at the beginning and end of retreats, unless there was a medical emergency of some sort that the local hospital couldn’t handle. Then special transport had to be arranged via the mainland.

None of it made Eric feel any less stressed. Or any more cordial.

“Right. Let’s get started then, shall we? Why don’t you each tell me why you think you’re here today?” Robert Hart said from across his big carved mahogany desk. He sounded so pompous that it was a literal strain for Eric to keep from rolling his eyes. He was used to taking crap from his trainers and commanders, but he sure didn’t need to take any from this guy.

“My husband and I want to work out the problems between us. We want to get past our trust issues and move forward.” Beth flashed him a smile that silently asked him to play along. “Don’t we, honey?”

But Eric didn’t feel like playing along, not when she was in danger and they were stuck on an island. He was a gurgling mass of turmoil inside and he didn’t like to be pushed. And right now, Beth was shoving all of his buttons so hard he feared he might break. He grunted in response.

Hart narrowed his gaze on Eric, his expression unreadable. “Not feeling cooperative? That’s interesting. I’d think you’d have plenty to discuss with a therapist.” The guy picked up a file on his desk and began searching through the documents inside. “Beyond your workaholic tendencies, what about your time as a Navy SEAL? Or the fact your father’s in prison?”

Eric’s brain had frozen somewhere around the time Hart had mentioned him being in the SEALs. He’d been careful when bringing that up to Beth around here, but maybe not careful enough. Dammit. Add in the stuff the guy had managed to find out about his past and his family and he was livid. He sat forward, ignoring Beth’s shocked stare, and slammed a hand down on the desk. “How did you discover all that?”

“Everything’s available on the Internet, if you know where to look.” Hart’s small smile looked more sinister by the second, at least to Eric. “We pride ourselves on doing research on all of our guests prior to their arrival at our LoveFix Retreats, Mr. Harvey. Sometimes, as you did, our guests use false names to put distance between themselves and the problems of their pasts, but without all the information, we can’t help you fix what’s broken.”

What was going to be broken was this guy’s face in a second if Eric didn’t get out of there. Having his privacy violated like that made him feel raw and vulnerable. On the heels of his argument with Beth the night before, things were going downhill fast where his emotions were concerned. He should’ve known better than to let himself fall for her, to open himself up to her like he had. It never ended well. Never. Not for him.

“I’m done here,” Eric said, pushing to his feet. “Sweetheart, c’mon. Let’s go. Hart, we want out of here on the next plane back home.”

Hart sat back in his chair and clasped his hands on the desk atop the folder with Eric’s information in it. “I’m sorry you aren’t satisfied with your stay here on the island. Unfortunately, there are no outbound flights until Sunday. You’ll have to stay until then.”

Yanking open the office door harder than necessary, Eric all but dragged Beth outside behind him, which was no small feat, considering how she was digging her heels in the whole way. He led her down a path into a small tropical garden away from the rest of the couples milling about.

“Let. Me. Go!” She wrenched free of him and rubbed her wrist. “What was that about? The whole reason I made an appointmentwas so we could push him and try to learn something. Why the hell would you drag me out like that?”

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