Free Man with a past by Jayne Ann Krentz

You can cash the check on Monday. It won’t bounce.“
    „Where do you think you’re going?“ he snarled as she picked up her checkbook and headed for the door.
    „Home.“
    „What makes you think you can walk out like this?“ He was right behind her.
    „Common sense.“ She was almost at the door.
    „You know full well you can’t end everything between us just by walking out that door!“
    „What are you going to do? Tie me up and lock me away here in your fortress?“ She reached for the doorknob, aware that her hand was shaking. She wasn’t at all certain but that Cole might just do something that crazy. She had to escape from his prison of a home.
    „Kelsey, listen to me,“ he began.
    „Anytime you feel like talking, really talking, I might just decide to listen. In the meantime I’ve got better – “
    She got no further as his hand clamped down on her shoulder and he spun her around.
    „You want a relationship based on total communication? Well, I want one based on total trust.“
    „You can’t have one without the other,“ she cried.
    He seemed to be making an effort to control his temper. „Kelsey, we’re both talking in terms of extremes, and that’s not the way it has to be. We need to calm down and start over.“
    „An excellent idea,“ she agreed very politely.
    He searched her face with suspicion. „We need to start over,“ he repeated cautiously, „but that doesn’t mean we can forget what happened last night.“
    „Don’t worry,“ she told him with great depth of feeling. „I will never forget what happened last night.“
    „Don’t twist my words, Kelsey,“ he warned. „Last night I made you mine, and there’s no going back to a time when you didn’t belong to me. That part of the situation remains carved in stone, understand?“
    „I hear every arrogant word you’re saying.“
    Something very much like anguish seemed to appear in the normally unreadable gray eyes, startling Kelsey.
    Whatever the emotion was it disappeared almost at once, and she succeeded in convincing herself it hadn’t been there at all. Cole’s fingers bit deeply into the persimmon sweater.
    „Kelsey, believe me, there are reasons for the rules I’ve made for myself. It will be better for both of us if you’ll just trust me.“
    „When was the last time you trusted anyone, Cole?“ she asked sadly. Before he could respond, she slipped out from under his hand and walked through the door.
    Cole stood on the threshold, hands clenched at his sides as he watched her open the heavy iron gate. Her tawny hair danced around her shoulders as she swept out of the garden. He remembered the feminine strength and the softness in her that had been his last night, and he swore under his breath.
    She was upset this morning because she’d accidentally come across those financial records of Roger’s. Why the devil had the man put them on his computer, Cole wondered in disgust. Perhaps if Kelsey hadn’t found mat file she would have been in a much different mood this morning.
    Or perhaps not, he conceded, slamming the front door of his home and heading back to his unfinished coffee.
    Kelsey was a cautious little thing, inquisitive and careful.
    But last night he had proven to both of them that she was capable of abandoning herself in his arms. It was a start.
    In bed, at least, he could overcome her wary, prudent approach to their love affair. Given time he could teach her to trust him.
    Cole’s eyes fell on the check for three thousand dollars, lying on the table. Irritated, he picked it up and tore it into several very small pieces.
    Monday he’d call a local travel agency and get himself booked on Kelsey’s cruise. A week’s vacation at sea might be the perfect way to reestablish the foundation of the affair he intended to have with Kelsey Murdock.
    At least on a ship she wouldn’t be able to run far.

4
    „I want you to know, how much I appreciate your dropping these analysis runs off at Valentine’s