All the pieces fell suddenly into place.Of course. That’s why she was here. She certainly hadn’t come here to rekindle their old flame. He didn’t know why it hurt so much. But it did.
“I don’t do ladies’ tours.” Max tried to catch the waitress’s eye, needing to look at anyone but this woman who had once meant so much to him.
“That’s not what I’m asking for,” Eden snapped. She took a deep breath, pushing a loose lock of auburn hair behind her ear, and Max almost closed his eyes. He knew how stubborn she was. She wouldn’t back down until he said yes or she wore herself out.
“Max.” Her voice was low, pleading. “Will you at least hear me out?”
He did not want to hear her out. He didn’t want to remember anything but the sting of her turning away from him; of the days that followed, waiting for a letter that never came; of Cairo and all the places in the world he’d traveled that weren’t far enough away to forget her. He rubbed his temple where a headache was beginning to set in.
“Fine,” he said. “You’ve got ten minutes.”
He hasn’t said no. Not yet, anyway.
Eden couldn’t read Max’s pale blue eyes; time had taught him to guard them well. Seeing him again made her heart ache, the pain as familiar as it was unwanted.
He was no longer the gorgeous young man she’d once known. However, she found this older version even more appealing. He was still handsome as sin, and the old attraction surged within her, making her long to run her fingertips across his rugged features and explore all the ways that time had changed him. A touch of gray threaded his golden hair at the temples, and his face was tanned and lined. He was broader now, his body lean with muscle. He certainly didn’t look as though he’d given himself completely over to drink.
She realized she was staring and jerked her gaze back to his.
He said nothing, only waited for her to plead her case—as if he’d let her fill the silence if it killed them both. She wanted to fill it with all the lost years, all the tears she’d cried, and questions left unanswered, but that wasn’t why she’d come here.
“I want to put together an expedition to Cairo,” she told him evenly, finally finding her voice. “A real expedition. I have a particular site in the Western Desert I want to explore. I’ll tell you more if you agree. I assume you can find us porters and diggers?”
“What does your husband think about that?” His eyes held hers, and in them, she finally saw it. The anger. The pain. He wasn’t as indifferent as he wanted to appear.
“My husband died two years ago,” she said evenly, surprised he hadn’t heard, given all the scandal surrounding that brothel fire.
His hand twitched on the table, almost as if he wanted to reach for her. But he didn’t. Instead, he clenched it, then took another drink. “I’m sorry,” he said at last. “I’ve been out of the country. I didn’t know.”
“It’s all right,” she said stiffly. “He died under... rather embarrassing circumstances.”
“Do you have children?” he asked hesitantly, surprising her.
“It wasn’t that kind of marriage.” She shook her head, heat staining her cheeks. Their gazes held for a moment, and she could see the questions in his eyes. Would he be glad to know he was still the only one who’d ever touched her?
“What about you, Mr. Thorne?” Daphne asked, speaking for the first time. “Are you married? Do you have any children?”
Eden could have hugged her friend. She desperately wanted to know the answers to those questions as well, but she never would have had the courage to ask.
Max shifted his gaze to Daphne, obviously wondering why she was there. “No,” he answered at last. “There was only one woman I ever wanted to marry.” The roughness of his voice made her realize he hadn’t forgotten, not at all.
She’d convinced herself that he’d easily moved on from her. In fact, she’d been so angry about it for so long that she wasn’t quite certain how to process the possibility that he’d missed her, too.
Eden took a breath. She hadn’t come to fight. She hadn’t come to remember, either, but it was impossible not to, not when he was right in front of her.
“I haven’t been able to find a guide willing to accompany me to Egypt,” she said, getting back to the subject at hand. “None who would work with a woman. I’ve been trying for over a year, and the only ones who’ve approached me have had shady reputations. They probably would have robbed me blind and then abandoned me in the desert. No one reputable wants to lead the expedition.” She sighed. “I should have known that no matter how hard I work, no one will ever take me seriously.”
“So you thought to try your luck with me.” Max’s voice was oddly flat. Had he hoped she’d come for some other reason? Was he disappointed that she hadn’t?
“Lucas suggested that I find you.” Eden tried not to let her frustration show. “Trust me, this was a last resort.”
“I should have known.” Max gave a soft huff of laughter, but the amusement didn’t reach his eyes, and she realized she’d somehow insulted him. She shouldn’t have said he was her last resort. If she’d known he did this kind of work, he would have been her first choice.
The pub felt small around her, loud and foreign and less familiar than anywhere she’d ever been. But there he was, so solid and real she couldn’t breathe.Please say yes. With him by her side, she knew she could successfully reach her dig site.
“What made you think I’d do it?” Max’s words were a question and an accusation all at once.
Eden straightened. “I didn’t,” she answered truthfully. “In fact, I’d be very surprised if you did.”
