chin. The punch had little effect beyond a momentary stun, and the bouncer returned with a cross that grazed Marcus’s eye.
Marcus noticed the drunk stumbling to his feet and decided that retreat was in order. He wasn’t about to fight them both. He held up his hands as if to surrender, and when the bouncer lowered his fists, Marcus took off. He grabbed Eden’s hand and pulled her across the street. “We have to get out of here,” he shouted. “Right now.”
The crowd surged toward them as if to get a better look at Eden. But Marcus knew the streets of Newport well enough to make a quick escape. They ducked down a side street, then cut back through an alley. Eden was slowed by the sexy shoes she’d decided to wear, but they managed to reach Marcus’s truck in less than a minute. Marcus helped Eden inside, then grabbed a baseball cap from behind the seat and put it on his head. He hopped in the driver’s side and placed his hand on Eden’s shoulder. “Get down,” he ordered.
Eden did as she was told and they wound through the back streets until they were well away from downtown. “That was a mess,” Marcus muttered, steering the car toward the Newport Bridge.
Eden sat up and stared out the rear window. “I’m sorry.”
He glanced in the rearview mirror. “I don’t think they’re following us.”
“Who?”
“The photographers,” he said. “The guy with the video camera.”
“He wasn’t a photographer,” she said. “I think he was just a tourist. Usually the tabloid photographers wear credentials. That way, they don’t get beat up.”
Marcus cursed beneath his breath. “Great. I just assaulted some poor git from upstate New Hampshire just to protect your honor.”
“You really hit him hard,” she said. Eden held up the video camera he’d tossed to her during the fight. “And you stole his camera.”
“Me? You stole it. I just wanted you to get the tape out. This is why I didn’t want to go to that club. I warned you.”
“Why are you so upset? I go through this all the time. Everywhere I go there are people taking my picture and shouting questions at me. You just have to ignore them.”
“I don’t need my picture taken,” he said.
“Why? Are you ashamed to be seen with me?” Eden asked.
Marcus stared out the windshield at the late-night traffic over the bridge. “Don’t be ridiculous. We went out, didn’t we?”
“Then what’s the problem? I thought we were having fun. Don’t let some tourist with a camera ruin our whole night.”
“I just can’t stand by while some idiot insults you. Did you hear what he said?”
Eden sank back down in the seat, her arms crossed over her chest. “Of course I did. But I didn’t let it get to me. He was drunk, and a lot of people think celebrities are fair game. I’ve just learned to let it roll off my back, Marcus. He doesn’t make a difference to me.”
“Then who does?”
“You do,” Eden snapped. “My mother and father do, to some extent, although that can be hit-and-miss at times. Some of my friends-but not many. And Sarah, my father’s housekeeper, and Maria. And that’s about it. Oh, and your mother. I hope that she has a good opinion of me.”
Marcus glanced over his shoulder as they turned onto the bridge. “I don’t want to provide amusement for some lady waiting on line at the grocery store.”
They drove the rest of the way to Marcus’s place in silence. He wasn’t angry, just frustrated. He and Eden were like a runaway train, heading for the end of their relationship at top speed, and there was nothing he could do about it. At this rate, there was destined to be a huge crash with at least one casualty-him.
In the past, he’d never given a second thought to breakups. In most cases, he was glad to be free of the responsibility for some woman’s happiness. But with Eden, he was loath to face the inevitable.
He craved the feel of her naked body against his, the sensation of sinking into her moist heat and the act of bringing them both to a mindless ecstasy. It wasn’t just the sex. He loved spending time with her. He loved falling asleep with her in his arms and waking up to her sweet smile. He loved her.
He glanced over at her and fought the urge to reach out and touch her. Maybe it was better this way. This incident just proved that he couldn’t live in her world, and she wasn’t willing to give up her world to live in his.
“You’re all right?” he asked.
Eden nodded. “I’m fine.” She glanced over at him and forced a smile. “Thanks for standing up for me. Nobody’s ever done that before.”
“No problem.”
EDEN STOOD IN FRONT of the kitchen sink and filled a glass with water. Marcus watched her from his spot on the sofa. Since they’d returned home, she’d been curiously silent.
He shouldn’t have reacted the way he had, blaming her for what had happened. But how could she expect him to understand or to tolerate behavior that she’d grown immune to? From the start Marcus had protected her, and he wasn’t about to stop now.
She had no more control over the situation than he had. Well, maybe a little control. If she hadn’t made that video, then the drunk with the camera probably would have had to find some other insult to hurl at her. And perhaps Marcus could have tolerated a different one.
Eden sat down at the end of the counter and picked up the camera, fiddling with the buttons until she’d managed to rewind the tape. She walked out of the kitchen, her gaze on the view screen, filming her surroundings as she went.
When she reached the sofa, she turned the camera on Marcus. “Smile,” she said.
He held his hand up in front of the lens. “Stop.”
“Why?”
“You got in enough trouble the last time you appeared on video. And I’ve had enough of cameras for one night.”
“Come on, don’t be so depressing,” Eden said with a pout. “I don’t want to spend our last night together all gloomy and doomy. Smile.”
Marcus shook his head and covered his face with his hands. “Go away, Eden.”
“I’ve got an idea. We’ll just make a little video of our last night together and then you’ll have something to remember me by.”
“I’m not going to play this game with you.”
She pried his hands away from his eyes and trained the camera at his face, standing above him. “Tell me. What did you think the first time you saw Eden Ross?”
“Nice ass,” he muttered. “Naked girl. Big trouble.”
“And what about later?” she continued. “Did you want to touch me?”
The answer was obvious. From the moment he’d met her he’d thought of nothing else. “No,” he lied.
“I don’t believe you,” Eden said, peeking out from behind the camera. “Take your shirt off.”
Marcus refused, but Eden wasn’t about to be deterred. “Then you hold it,” she said, handing him the camera, “and I’ll take my clothes off.” She pointed to the miniature screen on the back. “Just watch me through that and try not to jiggle the camera.”
Marcus grudgingly pointed the camera at Eden. She reached down for the hem of her dress and slowly drew it up over her head. She wasn’t wearing a bra and had chosen a sexy black thong as her only underwear. She let her hands drift up her torso and over her breasts, then brushed her hair away from her face, playing to the camera and to the man behind it. She was deliberately tempting him, and Marcus was loath to admit that it was working.
Eden slowly walked up to him and took the camera, then pulled him to his feet. “Your turn,” she said, dragging him toward the bed.
“Why are we doing this?” Marcus asked as he unbuttoned his shirt.
“Have you ever seen yourself make love to a woman?” Eden asked. “Aren’t you curious? Come on, it’s liberating. It’s like having someone else in the room…but not really.”
He’d never refused Eden anything before, at least not sexually. And he was intrigued. She was right-they should spend their last night together doing something more interesting than arguing. But this was just a reminder of a big mistake she’d made in the past. He grabbed the camera and turned it off.
