She hesitated. “My dad. My ex-husband. I can’t seem to do anything right. It’s...defeating.”
“If they don’t respect you, why do you care what they think?” He ached to comfort her.
“It’s that easy?” she asked.
He nodded. “If it’s not, it should be.”
She smiled, shaking her head. “Well. I work for my father. And my ex-husband works for him, as well.”
Archer frowned. “You’re kidding me. Why?”
“Which?” she asked. “Why do I work for my father? Or why does my ex work for my father?”
He nodded, trying to understand her predicament. “Both.”
“It’s complicated,” she said, clearly uncomfortable. “I have responsibilities.” She glanced at the open door to her suite.
He watched her, noting the crease that formed between her brows and the way her mouth pulled down at the corners. “Uncomplicate it. Work for me. I’m an asshole. You know it. But I’d make sure you could care for your family.”
She looked at him. “You’re not. Trust me. I know what an asshole is. How words can cut you to ribbons and steal your confidence.”
Her sadness infuriated him. “That’s not right, Eden.”
She shrugged, but he saw the helplessness she was scrambling to hide.
He couldn’t take it. How his hands ended up on her shoulders, pulling her close, he didn’t know. But the feel of her, soft in his arms, seemed to wipe reason from his brain. He should let her go. He should show her how professional he was, how sincere he was about helping her. Instead of touching her cheek and tipping her face back. Not to kiss her, but to see her. To study her. The curve of her face and huge eyes... He swallowed, stunned and reeling and not sure what the hell was happening.
But she was moving into him, closer. Her hand rested lightly on his chest as she reached up on tiptoe...and kissed him.
Her lips—warm, soft, sweet—pressed against his. His bones seemed to melt, bonding them together. Her breath wafted across his cheek, her scent filling his nostrils, his lungs. He needed more. All of her, desperately. His fingers slid through the silk of her hair as her hands gripped his shirtfront. His lips parted hers, the heat of her mouth stirring his body to life. Damn but the touch of her tongue on his... He moaned, deep in his throat.
She swayed against him, her breath catching as she clung to him. Too tempting, too yielding. Too perfect.
All
that mattered was this: kissing her, tangling his hands in her hair, holding her close, feeling her pressed tight against him. Any thoughts of control and space and danger were replaced by want—need. The slide of her arms twining around his neck, her hands gripping his head, her mouth moving frantically with his. He’d do whatever he had to do to keep her right where she was...
But the front door opened and he heard his father’s rumble of a laugh.
Eden was gone, the door to her suite closing before he’d time to recognize she was no longer in his grasp.
“I had a good time,” a woman said. “I haven’t danced like that in years. And congratulations on the good news.”
“I confess I suspected that’s what tonight was about. Hunter and Josie have been trying to have a baby for a while, so this is good news,” his father said.
Hunter and Josie were expecting? Archer smiled, happy for his big brother.
“I’m mighty glad you went with me, Clara. I mean it. Now we just need to figure out how to get Eden to stay for a little while longer.”
His father. And Clara.
“We do?” Clara’s voice.
“I think this place is good for her. And...I’d like to spend more time with you,” his father said. “If you’re agreeable to the idea?”
There was a slight pause. Archer held his breath, waiting.
“I am.” Clara sounded nervous, giddy.