Free Paradise by Eileen Ann Brennan

dawned that I preferred the swamp to the jungle. It gets exhausting racing the other rats for as long I did. You forget why you even joined a race with no finish line. No matter how big the deal you made, there was always another, bigger one waiting.”
    His eyes never wavered from her face, but a cloud filled with intense loathing drifted across them. Had she not known him to be pleasant-natured and agreeable, she would have been frightened -- very frightened.
    “I dreaded going to work everyday,” he continued, his voice rough and throaty. “Worse, I dreaded going home every night. I hated everything about my life: the job, the people, the pace, everything. I needed a change, a reason to get up in the morning.”
    Who would have thought carefree Eddie McGraw would have such a disturbing past? Her fingers, only inches from his face, itched to caress the sharp plane of his cheek, to comfort him. Her hand moved on its own, but she jerked it back and scratched her ear to cover the uncontrolled action. There was a lot more to Eddie McGraw than she’d guessed.
    “So how does that get you to a swamp in Georgia ?” Folding her arms around her legs, she gripped her calves to keep from touching him.
    “Nick and I used to visit our grandparents here when we were kids, summers, vacations, every minute we weren’t in school. They owned the business, and Nick took it over when they retired. It started taking off at about the time I was ready to pack it in. I quit my job and moved down here.” He tossed her a quirky “so that’s that” grin, but she wasn’t buying it.
    “How did you know you wouldn’t miss that life? It’s a pretty drastic move.”
    “I didn’t at the time, but I know now I’ll never go back.” He looked up at the lantern as if seeing something beyond his lackluster former life, but his disgusted expression disappeared. The glowing light accented the angles of his face, transforming it into a blank mask. When he spoke again, it was in a low, hushed voice.
    “I have no interest in it anymore. The traffic, the noise, the hassles. I prefer the quiet serenity of this place. No starting bell, no tearing my hair out when a major account skids, no one telling me what I can and can’t do. Besides,” he smiled up at her, “I gave up my rent-controlled apartment. No chance of getting another one of those.”
    She nodded. “Good point. Now, I understand,” she said, but she really didn’t.
    At his questioning look, she continued just above a whisper, her heart suddenly filled with unexplained tenderness. “I wondered how a good ol’
Georgia
boy knew about Vuitton, Versace and Cardin.”
    Eddie graciously dipped his head, acknowledging her compliment. His raven hair gleamed in the dim light, and she clamped her hands harder around her calves to keep her fingers from the wavy locks.
    “I guess I have a lot more to think about moving to New York than just the job. You sure paint an interesting picture.”
    “Probably more bleak than interesting, but that’s how I landed here and I’m grateful for every day I spend out in this swamp. Now, since you’re so reluctant to tell me about yourself, why don’t I tell you about you?”
    She wasn’t expecting a hundred and eighty degree turn in the conversation, and he caught her off guard. So much for thinking she had side-stepped his earlier curiosity. Evidently, she wasn’t as smooth as she thought.
    “Okay, Slick, what do you know about me?”
    Eddie lay on his back again, cradling his head in his hands and staring at the top of the tent. Dismayed at the added space between them, she breathed faster at the sight of his naked torso practically begging her to jump on it. He was nicely built, but if he didn’t put on a shirt, she was going to make a fool of herself.
    On impulse, she grabbed her backpack and rummaged in it until she found her University of Florida sweatshirt. “You must be freezing. Would you like to wear this? It’s dry.” She offered him