he could do? Moron. But being this close to her without having the right to touch her, without having the right to demand answers for why Anderson, of all people—surely this was the definition of madness.
“No one said you were.” Monotone. Her gaze never drifted from the smudge on the shiny panel in front of her. “Would it have made this easier if I’d said please?”
“No,” he fairly growled and cursed himself for admitting that much. And for letting her get to him when she was so obviously unaffected by the bristly vibe between them that was so palpable it was nearly a third presence in the elevator.
He’d ended things between them. Didn’t she want to know why? Didn’t she care what had prompted his crappy breakup text message? She’d been the one to suggest that he go back to Iraq for his final tour with no promises between them, and eight months later Abu Al-Khaseeb had happened, forever altering him. He’d pounced on that out, figuring she’d at least understand. Figuring it would give her an opportunity to move on with the least amount of baggage from his inability to come home whole.
Didn’t matter. He had a mess with his company to fix, and that had to stay forefront. The secrets in his black box would stay there where they belonged.
Her office was small but clearly functional. Papers covered her desk, and a corded phone peeked out from the mess. Three sets of snorkeling equipment lay in a haphazard heap in the lone visitor’s chair. His fingers itched to organize the chaos. “Housekeeper’s day off?”
Audra shut the door with a click. “What do you want, Charlie?”
Apparently they were going to jump right into it with no hi, how-are-yous. He turned to face her since she hadn’t bothered to come into the room. “Where should I start?”
Calmly, she stared him down, hands trapped behind her back against the door. “We don’t have to do this. I’m not helping Jared develop Ilhota Rosa into a resort.”
“I’m aware. What I want to know is why not? Seems like the woman screwing Anderson would have every reason to stay in his good graces.”
His tone could use work. So could his leading argument. But God, his chest hurt with the effort to bite back the questions, the urge to tell her how his throat still burned when he imagined her with his former friend.
She didn’t even flinch. “If you came here to have a rational adult discussion, dragging my personal life into the mix is not the way to do it. I’ll let it slide once, but I won’t hesitate to kick you out if you do it again.”
Personal life. Once, he’d been invited into the very center of her personal life. Did she not have the same exact memories of their two weeks together that he had? They’d connected, had the most amazing experiences together, and that was out of bed. In bed… he’d gotten so lost in her that he’d never been able to fight his way free of the web she’d spun around him.
God, what a paradox. He’d trusted her, let her under his skin, allowed himself to imagine a future with her during their sporadic Skype conversations once he’d returned to the front. Then he’d let her go so she could find someone who could make her happy. And now he was pissed that she’d done that?
Yes. He was still so unable to believe that she’d hopped into bed with the one person who should have been considered off-limits. And he was living a stone’s throw from them both now that he’d returned to Duchess Island, which she’d known was his plan.
Hell, she’d been the one to encourage him to follow his dream of moving to the Caribbean and starting his own company. It had been her idea.
Anger spiked through his gut, black and fierce. How did he shove that back in the box? It was times like this that being the Saint sucked, because he didn’t feel like doing the right thing. He wanted her to bleed on the inside as much as he was. And she wasn’t.
He crossed his arms over the seething morass of temper and… other stuff in his chest he had no intention of honoring. Get over yourself. This conversation was not about the catch-22 he’d created. It was about saving his company.
“By all means. Let’s be adults, Dr. Reed. I was expecting you to follow Anderson’s script and deny Ilhota Rosa’s status as a