Chapter Two

Julian knew he made a mistake the moment his lips touched Eve’s. He’d only done it to provoke her. To remind her of all the reasons she chose to avoid him. Yet feeling her in his arms again, tasting that unique, intoxicating flavor that no one on earth could ever duplicate was a delight he couldn’t back away from. No matter how much he told himself he should.

With a low groan in the back of his throat, he tightened his arm around her waist and thrust the fingers of his other hand through her hair, savoring the feel of its soft, elegant strands sliding against his skin. He moved his lips across her mouth, devouring its softness, desperate to feel the passion he knew she still held inside. “Kiss me, Eve,” he murmured softly, angling his head until his mouth fully aligned with hers, “Like you used to.” Like you mean it, he amended silently.

He heard her whimper. Felt her lips tremble against his own. And then, all at once, the dream he’d spent over twenty years reliving came to life, drowning him in a passion he never thought to truly feel again.

Soft, warm hands, which had only moments ago been trapped against his chest, now lifted to frame his face, pulling him closer, tighter, as if she feared he might actually try and break away. He smiled against her mouth and took advantage of her parted lips by thrusting his tongue inside, exploring, searching, seducing her into a deeper, more intimate response.

And when she finally gave in, when she finally slipped her own velvety tongue into the chamber of his mouth, he wasted no time in capturing it with his lips, suckling until the tremble in her limbs became a swell in her blood. And he relished it all. Every tremble. Every quake. Every shiver that danced along her spine.

But then, before he had time to fully appreciate the gift she had bestowed on him, she bolted from his arms, gasping for breath after breath, with eyes as wide as his Bentley and as accusing as his ex-wife was cold. “Damn you, “ she whispered heatedly, her eyes blazing with unshed fury, “You tricked me.”

“Eve—“ he started, his own breathing ragged, his voice sounding foreign, “I’m…” he paused, shook his head, “I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

“What did you mean then?” she spat out, her hand slightly shaking as she lifted it to her lips, “You kissed me, Julian!”

He swallowed against the horror he heard in her voice, fought to regain some sense of thought. He desperately wanted to assuage the anger and the guilt he saw burning in her eyes. But he knew he couldn’t. Not when she’d kissed him back with the same fervent passion with which he’d kissed her.

Julian blinked, his eyes widened. “Eve,” he whispered, his eyes locking onto hers and somehow closing the distance she’d placed between them even though neither of them had moved from their spot since she’d broken away, “You didn’t… You kissed me back.”

Her eyelids fell against her cheek, blocking his view of a window he desperately wanted—needed—to see inside. “Only because you tricked me,” she said, opened her eyes again, and pinning him with a familiar glare. “You used my concern to steal a kiss.”

“No, I—“

“Yes, you did!” she accused, her anger now parallel to the death glare in her eyes, “You tricked me into feeling sorry for you and the second I let my guard down, you took advantage. And here I thought,” she stopped suddenly, shook her head, “How could I have been so stupid? To let myself actually think you needed my help? You don’t need me. You only wanted to use me. Use me for your own personal entertainment.”

“That’s not true,” he argued, hurt that she thought so little of him, so little of them, “I didn’t trick you into kissing me, Eve. You kissed me all on your own.”

“Only because you—“ She broke off and unexpected tears gathered at the corner of her eyes. ”This isn’t right. I can’t…I can’t do this. I can’t…” she shook her head, took another step back away from him, “I have to go…I have to…Damn you, Julian,” she whispered, anger and fear swarming her tone, “Why couldn’t you just…”

“Just what?” he asked when her voice trailed off, “Let you go? I tried that remember? You wouldn’t leave.”

Which was the only reason he’d kissed her in the first place, he told himself sternly. The only reason he’d…

Yeah, right, he thought lifting a hand to run it over his face. Who was he trying to fool? It damn sure wasn’t Eve. And it sure as hell wasn’t himself. He’d kissed her because he wanted to kiss her, not because he’d been trying to get rid of her. “I’m sorry,” he said, meeting her eyes with what he hoped was an apologetic gaze, “I shouldn’t have…I shouldn’t have kissed you like that.”

“You shouldn’t have kissed me at all,” she returned hotly, “Just like I shouldn’t have—“

She stopped and drew in a shaky breath. He wanted to reach out and comfort her, but he knew she wouldn’t let him. Just as he knew she’d never let him kiss her again. Not even if he was the last man on earth.

“You should go,” he whispered, feeling the familiar resentment start to rise within him, “Before someone comes along and sees you…like this, with me.”

If her eyes had been wide before, they were even wider now. “You don’t think someone—“

“No,” he said, holding up a hand, shaking his head, “I don’t think anyone saw us. If they had, we would’ve felt—if not heard—the aftershock.” He gave her a rueful smile then closed his eyes, unable to take the recriminations he saw in hers. “I’m sorry, Eve. The last thing I ever wanted to do is hurt you again and I…” he stopped, opened his eyes to look at her, “I can’t seem to stop doing it.”

“Julian—“

“Go home, Eve,” he said, thrusting his hands back into his pockets and turning to once again face the turbulent water that surrounded the wharf, “Go home to your family. To your husband and your two beautiful daughters. Go home and forget you ever saw me here tonight. Better yet,” he said, turning to meet her eyes one last time, “go home and forget you ever met me. Forget you ever…cared about me.”

Before I forget all the reasons why we can never be together, all the reasons why you can never love me the way that I love you.
 
 
 

* * *

Eve unlocked the front door of the house she’d lived in for the last twenty years and stepped inside, her mind still focused on what happened with Julian thirty minutes before. She knew she was at least partly to blame for that kiss they’d shared. After all, she could’ve turned away the second she realized what he was about to do. Or at the very least, the second his lips had touched her own. But she hadn’t. And she had no one to blame but herself.

Exhaling a frustrated sigh, Eve pulled her keys out of the lock and shut the door, tossed her purse onto the entryway table before heading into the living room and collapsing onto the couch. Her eyes slid shut the moment her back hit the soft overstuffed cushions and once again, her mind began to replay the scene with Julian on the wharf.

She wanted to blame her malfunctioning brain on her lack of sleep last night, but she knew she couldn’t. She’d wanted that kiss as much as Julian wanted to give it to her. And it didn’t matter that she knew it was wrong. That she knew it went against everything she’d come to believe in. Everything she’d sworn to be. He brought life to her darkened sky and no matter how hard she tried to remind herself his kiss came with strings she couldn’t possibly agree to fulfill, she still wanted it. Was still desperate for it.

Even after all these years, Julian could still get under her skin and inside her head better than anyone else on earth. And that included T.C..

T.C.

What was she going to do? He’d be home in less than an hour and with the way her stomach was knotting just thinking of seeing him, she knew there was no way she could actually face him. Not when she couldn’t get the image of Julian’s unshaven face and the feel of his hard, demanding lips out of her head.

He loved her so much, she thought lifting a hand to her tainted lips, and he would be so hurt if he ever found out what she’d done with Julian. Not just today, but all those years ago as well. She’d managed to keep her past hidden while they’d been dating and it had stayed that way for over twenty years now. But she knew it wouldn’t stay hidden forever. Secrets always had a way of coming out. And hers were long overdue.

But that didn’t meant she wouldn’t do everything in her power to keep them from being revealed. Even if it meant going to bed with the devil himself.