The Reef

with a cripple. What makes you think I want to take you on as well?”
    The cut was so quick, so sharp, she barely felt it. “You don’t mean that. You’re still upset.”
    “Upset doesn’t cover it. If you and your by-the-book family hadn’t gotten in the way, I wouldn’t be standing here empty-handed. Ray just had to go through channels. How the hell do you think VanDyke got on to us?”
    Color leeched from her cheeks. “You can’t blame him.”
    “Hell I can’t.” He tucked his hands into his pockets. “Me and Buck, we ran a different kind of operation. But you had the dough. Now we’ve got nothing. All I have left after months of work is a gimpy uncle.”
    “That’s a horrible thing to say.”
    “Plain fact,” he corrected and ignored the coating of disgust in his throat. “I’ll get him set up somewhere. I owe him that. But you and me, Red, that’s a different can of worms. Passing the time for a few weeks, a little entertainment on the side to break the monotony is one thing. And it’s been fun. But you hanging around my neck now that the deal’s in the toilet—that cramps my style.”
    She felt as if someone had hollowed her out in one vicious scoop. He was looking at her with a faint grin on his mouth, cool amusement in his eyes. “You’re in love with me,” she insisted.
    “You’re dreaming again. Hey, you want to weave a little romantic fantasy with me in the starring role, fine. But don’t expect to sail off into the sunset.”
    It had to be worse, he decided. He had to be worse. Words alone wouldn’t shake her loose, wouldn’t save her from him. Even as his own actions revolted him, he cupped his hands over her hips, drew her intimately close.
    “I didn’t mind playing the game, honey. Hell, I enjoyed every minute of it. As lousy as things turned out, why don’t we try to cheer each other up. End things with a real bang.”
    He clamped his mouth over hers, hard. He wanted nothing soft or sweet in the kiss. It was greedy, demanding and just a little mean. Even as she started to struggle, he slipped a hand under her blouse, closed it over her breast.
    “Don’t.” This was wrong, she thought frantically. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. It couldn’t be like this. “You’re hurting me.”
    “Come on, baby.” Christ, her skin was like satin. He wanted to stroke it, savor it, seduce it. Instead he bruised it, knowing whatever marks he left there would fade much sooner than the ones he was leaving on himself. “You know we both want it.”
    “No.” Sobbing, she shoved and clawed herself free. In defense, she hugged her arms tight. “Don’t touch me.”
    “Just a tease after all.” He forced himself to meet her haunted eyes. “All talk, no action, Tate?”
    She could barely see him for the tears spilling out of her eyes. “You don’t care about me at all.”
    “Sure I do.” He heaved a sigh. “What’s it going to take to get you in the sack? You want poetry? I can dig some up. Too shy to do it on the beach? Fine. I’ve got a room your old man’s paying for.”
    “None of us meant anything to you.”
    “Hey. I pulled my weight.”
    “I loved you. We all cared.”
    Already past tense, he thought. It wasn’t so hard to kill love. “Big fucking deal. Partnership’s dissolved. You and your parents go back to your nice, tidy lives. I go on with mine. Now, do you want to go bounce on the mattress awhile, or do I go find somebody else?”
    Part of her mind wondered that she could still stand, still speak, when he had torn out her heart. “I never want to see you again. I want you to stay away from me and my parents. I don’t want them to have to know what a bastard you are.”
    “No problem. Run on home, kid. I got places to go.”
    She told herself she wouldn’t, that she would walk, head high. But after a few steps, she did just that. She fled, with her tattered heart bleeding.
    When she was gone, Matthew sat down in the sand, lay his aching head on his knees. He figured he’d just completed the first heroic act of his life, by saving hers.
    And he decided as the ache pulsed through him, that he wasn’t cut out to be a hero.

C HAPTER 10
    “I CAN ’ T IMAGINE where Matthew could be.“ Marla spoke in undertones, fretting as she paced the hospital corridor. ”It’s not like him to miss his visit to Buck. And especially today, when they’re transferring Buck to a regular room."
    Tate shrugged. Even that hurt, she discovered. She’d spent a