over the gardens her father tended whenever he had time. They were lovely and well organized, exactly how she wanted her life to be. But Damon had come in and nothing was the same. She was distracted during classes, starting to question the logic she tried to teach her students because Damon had made a comment during one of their conversations. His grasp of the financial world was so complete, so amazing and she wanted to relay that information, his techniques to her students, but his mind was capable of holding so many more details than she was used to and she couldn’t quite convey his strategy to all of them. And her students weren’t getting the basic concepts now due to her inability to teach.
Not only her classes were suffering but her creative side was as well. Initially, Damon’s challenging personality had added a dimension to her story line. But now, she could barely write. It was as if the technical side of her brain was so overwhelmed with his advice that she couldn’t even give energy to the creative side. And that was a terrible thing. She’d always considered that she had the best of both worlds; being able to invest and use her logic and then stepping back and being creative with her writing. Both worlds were perfect and brought together, they made her whole.
Now, she didn’t feel complete. She felt fractured and confused. She wanted to hide out and cover her ears. She wanted to punch him while at the same time, kiss him and beg him to make love to her, to complete what he’d started so many times but, because of her stubbornness and fear, she wouldn’t let him finish.
She sighed in the cool morning air and pulled her robe more tightly around her waist. She wasn’t going to find answers out here. She needed to confront him perhaps. Maybe demand that he leave her alone. Perhaps she could get her father to pay him back the money he’d donated to the recreation center? Or maybe she could pull the funds out of her trust fund. She hadn’t been allowed to touch it until she was twenty five but she’d surpassed that milestone several months ago. She’d always vowed not to touch that money, wanting to earn her own funds and not rely on anyone else. But perhaps this was an emergency? Damon didn’t seem to be getting the message and she was losing the threads of her previously organized life because of the confusion she felt when he was around.
Two days later, Damon watched as the woman he was going to marry walked across the room towards him. He could see the wariness in her eyes and cursed himself for moving too fast. He was just used to women who were more experienced and understood the rules. But the rules were different now. Eva wouldn’t be his mistress. She would be his wife and he needed to treat her differently than the others.
Of course, he had been treating her differently, which was probably the issue. If he’d been treating her as he’d meant to, as someone who was an important asset and or a valuable employee, she might not be so afraid of him. Unfortunately, from the moment she’d pushed him away, or maybe it was from the moment he’d kissed her for the first time, he wasn’t sure which, he’d treated her differently simply because she was different. Women wanted one thing from him and he wanted one thing from them. Eva was the one who wasn’t following by the rules. Damn her! She didn’t fit.
But he couldn’t get rid of her. For some reason, he wanted her and no other woman. He’d have to figure this out, regroup and re-plan. He was excellent at strategy so he needed to step back and figure out what she wanted most, then give it to her. All relationships were based on needs, he had learned early on in his business experience. Give someone what they wanted and he could get what he wanted. Make sure everything was a win-win, to follow the old cliché.
He stood up as she approached the table and he ignored the way she tensed as he did so, holding her chair for her.
“You look lovely,” he said, honestly admiring her cream silk suit that wasn’t too tight but wasn’t a sack either. She’d compromised on a happy medium today. He wasn’t sure he liked the deviation from the figure molding