Page 73 of Riding High

‘Then do it.’He rubbed circles on her back with his big hand.‘I won’t let you down, sweetheart, I promise.’

But she believed in her heart of hearts, deep down in her soul, that he would.Because he’d have to choose and she wouldn’t be his first choice.And it would eviscerate her.

‘Jed,’ she pleaded.What she most needed from him was time.‘Ican’t.Not yet.Please don’t push me on this.’

‘How can I not?’he demanded, his fingers on her jaw lifting his head.‘How can I, as a man crazy for a woman, not want to offer her help, or at the very least, understanding?How can I be me if I don’t offer to stand between you and whatever is hurting you?I canhelpyou, Eden.’

Sure, because that’s how the world worked.Disappointment and anger sliced through her.She slapped his hand away and stepped back.‘You think you can, but it doesn’t work like that!You can’t change a situation.You can’t undo the choices others made, the choices I had to make.’

He frowned.‘No, but I can try and understand them.Help you work through them.’

‘God, you make me sound like such a loser,’ she snapped, angry at the situation, angry at him for being so completely wonderful, everything she wanted in a man.Furious because the police had boxed her into a corner and silenced her, robbing her of her chance to explain.But if and when she did, the radioactive shit would hit the fan.‘It’s not like you are Mr Chatty about what you are feeling either, Jed!’

He folded his arms and widened his feet.‘Are you talking about Henry?’he asked.‘Because we are going to try and come to an understanding next week.’

That was a little bit of good news.But sadly, it changed nothing between them.

‘I think we are making progress,’ his expression darkened.‘But I can’t say the same for you.’

Her heart thumped, banging against her ribs hard enough to bruise.‘We’re only having an affair, Jed.’She pointed out.Oh, it was way past an affair for her, but she’d use anything and everything in her arsenal to get him to back off.

‘That’s not only hurtful, Eden; it’s also untrue,’ Jed told her, his expression grim.‘I call bullshit.’

Of course, he did.

She pressed her fingers to her forehead.‘Can we not go back to how we were before the party?’she pleaded.

‘No!We can’t just sweep your distrust of me, your inability to talk to me under the bed, like it’s an inconvenient detail.It’s a major stumbling block to us moving forward.’

What?‘You want us to move forward?’What did that mean?

He looked up at the ceiling and hauled in a deep breath, obviously agitated.‘Jesus Christ, I feel like I am talking to myself or that you’ve lost your ability to listen.’He bent his knees so that their eyes were level, and the heat and frustration in his seared her skin.‘I like you.More than I’ve liked any woman, ever.I could fall for you, but that’s not going to happen unless you can trust me, unless we can be honest with each other.And you’re not being honest with me, are you?’

She shook her head.They were long past the point of her denying it.

‘Are you married?In a relationship?’he asked.

She shook her head again.

‘In trouble with the law?’

She took a moment to think about that.They’d investigated and cleared her.‘No.’

‘You took a long time to answer a simple question.’He linked his hands behind his head and moved to stand by the window, his expression distant.‘I don’t like this, Eden.’

Neither did she.

Her phone buzzed, and they both turned to look at the screen.Tara’s name flashed up and Eden released a frustrated gasp.She lunged for the phone, but Jed, possessing longer arms, got to it first.He picked it up.‘Why is Tara Bancroft calling you?’he asked, his frown deepening.

She didn’t know how to answer him, couldn’t form any words to explain.Every synapse she possessed was on the verge of shorting out.The phone mercifully stopped its strident jangling, but the walls of the room had moved six feet in.

There was only one reason why Tara was calling her now after weeks of silence.She’d definitively linked her to the police investigation and had to suspect she was the police’s informant.There was no one else who could give them so much information about the foundation.

‘How do you know Tara, Eden?’Jed asked, his question a sharp snap.

The moment she’d been dreading had arrived, and it was time to deal with the revelations and then the fallout.Was there an exit ramp she’d missed?Could she still try to bluff her way out of this?

Her shoulders slumped.No, the police had interviewed the Bancrofts; they had to know they were suspects.That ship had sailed.She’d just be delaying the inevitable.And she was so tired of the pretence that she was running short of the mental energy she needed to watch her words.And of sneaking around.Tara’s call was, frankly, a relief.Now all she needed were the right words and the courage to tell Jed the truth.