His cousin’s question was still ringing in his ears, and Drew still didn’t have an answer. More than once over the last few days, he had even gone through his little black book to make a few calls, but he had hung up the phone before anyone answered. The bottom line was that after making love with Eden, he didn’t want to be with anyone else. Why did he feel that way? He refused to accept Harold’s explanation that he’d fallen in love. That was utter nonsense.
Then he frowned. Why did he think that way when his father had loved his mother deeply? And he knew that Harold and Lester loved their wives. Why did he assume he was different?
“Because I am,” he said aloud as if trying to make the point to himself. But then, hadn’t his dad warned him that one day he would meet someone special, and she would become his entire life, like Walleen had become his? For better or for worse? Of course, at the time, Drew hadn’t believed it.
Yet, he had to admit there was not a day that passed that he still didn’t go to bed thinking about Eden, reliving memories of the time he had spent with her at Mountain-Scape Lake Lodge and in New York. Their time together had been special. He would even go so far as to say he enjoyed the time she had been in his truck riding down the interstate with him. Whether she had been asleep or awake, talking or quiet, he had appreciated her presence. Somehow, her scent had been comforting.
He got up to get rid of his beer bottle, and as he passed through his living room on his way to the kitchen, he saw the magazines scattered on his counter. They all featured Eden on the cover or had articles inside written about her. Although he hadn’t seen her in four months, and they had ended their weekly Sunday night chats, she still managed to invade his thoughts. Even when he was at work. He would stop in the middle of reviewing an important file to lean back in the chair and recall a special moment they had spent together at the lodge. Like the times they’d gone riding around the mountains on mountain bikes. Or their long walks. Or when they would curl up in bed to watch movies, alternating between chick-flicks for her and thrillers for him.
Then there were the days he’d spent with her in New York, attending plays, concerts, museums, and just walking around Times Square, holding hands. They had gotten along so well, and when he’d made plans for them, she’d been easy to please. Hewould have to say those days at the lodge had been the best time of his life. So had the time he’d spent with her in New York. He hadn’t been around a woman for so long since Valerie. But his time with Eden had been different in ways he still didn’t fully understand.
During the seven months they were together in New York, she always wore the necklace he had given her. He’d even noticed her wearing it during a couple of television interviews. When one reporter asked her about it, she said it had been a gift from a very special person. Was she still wearing the necklace, or had she stopped, as a way to forget about him?
On his way back to the patio, he paused and picked up a couple of the magazines. Settling in the patio chair, he studied the cover of Vogue for the umpteenth time. His gaze scanned every inch of her features but zeroed in on that smile. He had one up on any man who looked at the magazine and got turned on by that smile. He had gotten to see that smile personally several times. And she hadn’t been coaxed by a photographer to produce it. An even brighter smile had been reserved just for him after making love.
While staring at the cover, he could imagine having a little girl with the same eye color as Eden’s–a beautiful green. She would be the mother, and he would be the father, and-
What the hell! How could he be thinking of being a father when he didn’t even want kids? And then to imagine Eden as the little girl’s mother… What in the world was wrong with him? As he continued to study the magazine cover, suddenly, an emotion stronger than anything he had ever felt before tore through him. He felt it, from throughout his body, but especially in one place -where his heart was located.
And in that moment, he knew what it meant. As much as he had tried to fight it, hadn’t wanted it, and hadn’t thought it couldhappen to him, he had fallen in love with Eden. There was no other reason for him to feel this torment.
Placing the magazines aside, he drew in a deep breath. How had such a thing happened? How had a twenty-one-year-old woman destroyed everything he thought he was? He’d vowed that he’d never fall victim to that emotion. Yet he had. He loved Eden. Harold had been right.
Now it all made sense. That was the reason the thought of sleeping with anyone else was a total turn-off for him, and why he thought of Eden constantly, wondering what she was doing and who she was with. He was the one who’d ended things between them, so he had no right to know those things. Yet the thought of her sharing a bed with another man would often eat away at him.
They were not in a relationship and hadn’t been since that night in New York when he had gone to see her. His words had hurt her. He had seen the pain in her eyes right before he had walked out of her hotel room. For all he knew, she might be involved with someone else now.
If she had taken up with another guy, that was too friggin’ bad. He loved her, and she loved him. She had whispered as much that night. It didn’t matter that she likely hadn’t intended for him to hear those words. He had and would hold her to them. Now more than anything, he needed to go to Eden and tell her how he felt, hoping she’d believe him, and give him another chance.
**
“Are you saying Dad tried to destroy Drew’s company, Sophie?”
“Yes, Mr. Tyson orchestrated a campaign to stop corporations from doing business with him. However, the attempt failed.”
“How?” Eden knew that whatever malicious task her father set his mind to do, he was usually successful.
“From what I heard, this wealthy investor, who has more money than all the people in our family’s little circle combined, visited your father, stated he was a friend of the Steele family, and would not stand by while Mr. Tyson tried to destroy Steele Trucking Company. The man threatened to do a hostile takeover of your father’s corporation in seventy-two hours if he didn’t put an end to his retribution campaign. Once your dad saw the man meant business, he put a halt to his shenanigans immediately. Not only did he do that, but he also convinced a few corporations to do business with Drew Steele’s company.”
“I am glad someone stood up to Dad. Otherwise, he would have destroyed Drew’s business, all because he helped me.”
“You still haven’t heard from him?”
“No, and I don’t expect to. I knew the type of man Drew was, but I fell in love with him anyway. But the funny thing is, I don’t regret loving him, although I will never let him get close to my heart again. I had been hoping we were developing something solid and strong between us. I wasn’t demanding, Sophie. I was willing to take things slow.”
“Your birthday is this weekend. How do you plan to celebrate turning twenty-two?”
“Renard is taking me out to dinner.”
“And what are your plans for the holidays?”
“I haven’t thought about the holidays really. Renard was here for Thanksgiving, so I wasn’t alone. In fact, we had fun. We went to dinner and walked around, looking at all the holiday lights being hung.”
“Is Renard still there in Paris?”
“Yes. For now. He’s doing one of those holiday cruises that start Christmas Eve and end the day after New Year’s. He’s trying to talk me into coming along.”
“Maybe you should.”
