Free Beyond Eden by Kele Moon

rampant through her mind. Danny was handsome, wealthy and had the golden ability to make everything he did seem effortlessly cool. He had been easily the most popular boy in high school, one of those guys girls idolized like a rock star. He was supposed to be nothing more than fantasy material, not a man that women who lived in the real world had any chance of fucking, let alone landing for more than a one-night stand. The fact that he was suddenly realistically within arm’s reach, not just available, but desperate and hungry for her to the point of begging had Eve wondering, with no small amount of hope, if her luck was changing.

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    Eve’s car had to be the biggest piece of shit on four wheels. It was a miracle it was still running, though running was probably an overstatement. There were so many things wrong with it Paul felt like fixing it was the equivalent to putting a bandage on a dead man.
    But he stood there anyway, with the sun shining on his bare back, causing sweat to roll down the line of his spine as he worked under the hood. The car was a hazard. If Eve had to drive it, he’d attempt to make it as safe as possible.
    In truth, he was hiding from her because looking at Eve, who was every bit as radiant at twenty-eight as she was when she was eighteen, felt as if a knife were being driven into his heart. He had forgotten how much he loved her, how all encompassing his adoration of her was. Every word out of her mouth, every smile, every laugh that left her lips, it enchanted and enslaved him. Time and separation hadn’t loosened her hold on him, it just made it easier to hide.
    Why did she have to come back now?
    He had reached the point in his life where he felt as if he were going to achieve something worthwhile. He had a law degree, a job with a successful and reputable law firm and a fiancée he was ready to marry. His parents liked Trisha. His father thought she was the woman who could keep Paul in line. She was a military brat like him. Her
    father had retired a general in the Marine Corps. She came from a family that had wealth and esteem his father could appreciate.
    If he married Trisha, his father might forgive him for being a pansy lawyer instead of a Marine because a linebacker with too much enthusiasm had broken his knee.
    Like loving Eve enough to let her go, playing college ball had been a mistake.
    Paul could have been a good solider like his brothers. He could be fighting in Iraq instead of sitting in fancy boardrooms mediating business mergers. But he had loved football and what had that love given him in return? He was a disappointment to his family who lived and breathed for the honor to fight for their country. His brothers had medals marking them as heroes. Paul had a stupid law degree, a bum knee and a heart that beat for a girl his best friend had just put on his “to do” list.
    Love of any kind had always been a bad investment for Paul.
    It mattered little to him that he didn’t love Trisha. He was brought up to love pain and discipline. No one ever had to know Paul still had a flame in his heart that burned brightly for Eve. Only he knew that when he had told a beautiful eighteen-year-old girl with a sunburned nose he would love her forever—he had meant it.
    Trisha was what he needed, someone who shared his ideals and wanted what he wanted out of life. Success, children, social standing and parents who were proud of what the two of them could achieve together. Trisha didn’t require love notes and flowers. She required a man who understood the rigors of life and was willing to endure them with her in a way that served both of them well. Trisha may not be as cuddly as Eve, but she had honor, integrity and a steel spine that had made her one of the youngest prosecuting attorneys in Tampa.
    With the right planning, one or both of them could go into politics. Once they got married and had a few good-looking, well-behaved children they would have all the right ingredients to be a