Reflected in You: A Crossfire Novel

too. Saw what I am . . . what I have inside me. You saw right through me.”
    And that was what had knocked me on my ass—literally. I’d looked into his eyes and realized how tightly reined he was, what a shadowed soul he had. I had seen power and hunger and control and demand. Somewhere inside me, I’d known he would take me over. It was a relief to know he’d felt the same upheaval over me.
    Gideon’s hands hugged my shoulder blades and pulled me closer, until our foreheads touched. “No one’s ever seen before, Eva. You’re the only one.”
    My throat tightened painfully. In so many ways, Gideon was a hard man, yet he could be so sweet to me. Almost childishly so, which I loved because it was pure and uncontrolled. If no one else bothered to look beyond his striking face and impressive bank account, they didn’t deserve to know him. “I had no idea. You were so . . . cool. I didn’t seem to affect you at all.”
    “Cool?” he scoffed. “I was on fire for you. I’ve been fucked up ever since.”
    “Gee. Thanks.”
    “You made me need you,” he rasped. “Now I can’t stand the thought of two days without you.”
    Holding his jaw in my hands, I kissed him tenderly, my lips coaxing and apologetic. “I love you, too,” I whispered against his beautiful mouth. “I can’t stand being away from you, either.”
    His returning kiss was greedy, devouring, and yet the way he held me close to him was gentle and reverent. As if I were precious. When he pulled back, we were both breathing hard.
    “I’m not even your type,” I teased, trying to lighten the mood before we went into work. Gideon’s preference for brunettes was well known and well documented.
    I felt the Bentley pull over and to a halt. Angus got out of the car to give us privacy, leaving the engine and air-conditioning running. I looked out the window and saw the Crossfire beside us.
    “About the type thing—” Gideon’s head fell back to rest against the seat. He took a deep breath. “Corinne was surprised by you. You weren’t what she’d expected.”
    My jaw tightened at the mention of Gideon’s former fiancée. Even knowing that their relationship had been about friendship and loneliness for him, not love, didn’t stop the claws of envy from digging into me. Jealousy was one of my virulent flaws. “Because I’m blond?”
    “Because . . . you don’t look like her.”
    My breath caught. I hadn’t considered that Corinne had set the standard for him. Even Magdalene Perez—one of Gideon’s friends who wished she were more—had said she’d kept her dark hair long to emulate Corinne. But I hadn’t grasped the complexity of that observation. My God . . . if it was true, Corinne had tremendous power over Gideon, way more than I could bear. My heart rate quickened and my stomach churned. I hated her irrationally. Hated that she’d had even a piece of him. Hated every woman who’d known his touch . . . his lust . . . his amazing body.
    I started sliding off him.
    “Eva.” He stayed me by tightening his grip on my thighs. “I don’t know if she’s right.”
    I looked down at where he held me, and the sight of my promise ring on the finger of his right hand—my brand of ownership—calmed me. So did the look of confusion on his face when I met his gaze. “You don’t?”
    “If that’s what it was, it wasn’t conscious. I wasn’t looking for her in other women. I didn’t know I was looking for anything until I saw you.”
    My hands slid down his lapels as relief filled me. Maybe he hadn’t been consciously looking for her, but even if he had, I couldn’t be more different from Corinne in appearance and temperament. I was unique to him; a woman apart from his others in every way. I wished that could be enough to kill my jealousy.
    “Maybe it wasn’t a preference so much as a pattern.” I smoothed his frown line with a fingertip. “You should ask Dr. Petersen when we see him tonight. I wish I had more answers after all my years of therapy, but I don’t. There’s a lot that’s inexplicable between us, isn’t there? I still have no idea what you see in me that’s hooked you.”
    “It’s what you see in me , angel,” he said quietly, his features softening. “That you can know what I have in me and still want me as much as I want you. I go to sleep every night afraid I’ll wake up and you’ll be gone. Or that I scared you away . . . that I dreamed you—”
    “No. Gideon.”