The Ties That Bind

coolly. "If you didn't get into that clinch with Kenyon because you were too naive to avoid him, then we have to assume you were in it because you were enjoying the situation."
    Shannon felt as though everything around her was starting to crack. Desperately she fought to hold on to the fracturing pieces. "Garth, you must know better than that. I would never betray you. I'm not your ex-wife. I'm not Christine."
    He went very still, his eyes frozen. When he spoke, the words were chips of ice. "You were very busy tonight, weren't you? Who told you about Christine?"
    Belatedly, Shannon wished she had kept her mouth shut. It was too late now. Wearily she replied. "Mrs. Hutchinson mentioned her." There was no need to bring up the fact that Kenyon had also mentioned Christine. Matters were bad enough as it was.
    "Ellen Hutchinson never could keep her mouth shut. Did she tell you all the grim details?"
    Shannon shook her head in quick denial. "She… she only mentioned that you had been married and that there had been a divorce."
    "She obviously told you more than that." Garth turned around to pour himself another drink. "Did she mention James Brice?"
    Feeling as if she were stepping into a quagmire, Shannon clasped her hands in front of her and answered in a soft voice, "Ellen said Christine had left you to marry someone named James. That was the end of it, Garth. That's all I know. I shouldn't have said anything. It's just that you're making it sound as if I was planning to run off with Kenyon or something, and it was so absurd that I couldn't think of any way to defend myself."
    Garth swung around again, pinning her with a savage look. "James Brice was my partner and I thought he was my friend. Christine was my wife. They were having an affair. The situation is as old as the hills, but I didn't even see it coming until it was all over. That was five years ago, Shannon, and I was not exactly a naive innocent myself at the time. I had already built up a successful, highly competitive business, and you don't do that around here unless you're capable of watching your own back while you go after someone else's throat. I had met my share of women who use their bodies as bargaining tools. And I had seen enough friends and partners turn on each other to know you couldn't trust very many people. I thought I was fairly street-wise, but Chris and Jim still managed to take me by surprise. And you tell me you can handle someone like Ed Kenyon? You don't know what the hell you're talking about. Your idea of sophistication is having a couple of friends who have decided to have a baby without getting married and going to feminist performances of The Taming of the Shrew. You're a babe in the woods here in my world."
    Shannon's eyes widened with sudden realization. "And you're afraid that if I spend too much time in this world, I'll learn my way around in it, aren't you? That's why you don't want me here. You want to keep me safely tucked away on the coast where you can enjoy me on occasional weekends."
    "I don't want you mixed up with the kind of people I deal with on a day-to-day basis," Garth said through gritted teeth.
    Shannon saw the pain that flashed in his eyes, and all her defensiveness dissolved beneath the overwhelming desire to reassure and comfort him. He had been brutalized by his world, and his instincts had been to keep her out of it. He had been trying to protect her and himself. Shannon smiled tremulously and went forward in a small, soft rush, wrapping her arms tightly around his rigid body. She nestled her head against his shoulder, willing him to relax.
    "Garth, I'm not Christine. Please trust me."
    He exhaled heavily, enfolding her in a harsh embrace and burying his face in her hair. "It's not a question of trust. I'm only trying to protect you."
    "I'm not that fragile. Or that weak." She lifted her head and met his eyes. "And my emotions aren't that superficial. I love you, Garth."
    He stared down at her for a long moment, as if a declaration of love had been the last thing he'd expected to hear. Then, with a low groan, he took her mouth.
    Shannon made no protest, though the kiss was ruthless in its intensity. She could feel the urgent need for reassurance behind it, and in that moment all she wanted to do was provide what Garth needed.
    "Shannon, sweet Shannon," he ground out against her mouth. His hands kneaded her slender back, working their way down to her waist. She could feel the strength of them through the