“That’s nuts, Gideon. Her calling every day. That’s stalking.” Which reminded me of her assertion that he’d been as possessive over her as he was about me. That niggled at me in a terrible way.
“Where are you going with this?” he asked, in a voice laced with warm amusement.
“Don’t you get it? You drive women off the deep end because you’re the ultimate. You’re the grand prize. If a woman can’t have you, they know they’re settling for less than the best. So they can’t think about not having you. They just think of crazy ways to try and get you.”
“Except for the one I want,” he retorted dryly, “who spends a lot of time running in the opposite direction.”
I stared unabashedly, drinking him in as he stood naked in front of me. “Answer one question for me, Gideon. Why do you want me, when you can have your pick of perfection instead? And I’m not fishing for compliments or reassurances. I’m asking an honest question.”
He caught me up and moved us into the bedroom. “Eva, if you don’t stop thinking of us as temporary, I’m going to take you over my knee and make damn sure you like it.”
Setting me down in a chair, he went to rifle through my drawers.
I watched him pulling out underwear, yoga pants, and a top. “Have you forgotten I sleep in the nude with you?”
“We’re not staying here.” He faced me. “I don’t trust Cary not to bring more intoxicated jerks home and once we turn in for the night I’ll be drugged on the medication Dr. Petersen prescribed and possibly unable to protect you. So we’re going to my place.”
I looked down at my twisted hands, thinking about how I might need protection from Gideon, too. “I’ve been down this road with Cary before, Gideon. I can’t just hole up at your place and hope he comes out of it on his own. He needs me to be around more than I have been.”
“Eva.” Gideon brought me my clothes and crouched in front of me. “I know you need to support Cary. We’ll figure out how tomorrow.”
I cupped his face. “Thank you.”
“I need you, too, though,” he said quietly.
“We need each other.”
He pushed to his feet. Moving back to the dresser, he pulled open his drawers and grabbed clothes for himself.
Standing, I began to dress. “Listen…”
He pulled a pair of low-slung jeans on. “Yes?”
“I feel tons better now that I know the score, but Corinne is still going to be a problem for me.” I paused with my shirt in my hands. “You wanna nip her hopes in the bud real quick. Stow the guilt, Gideon, and start weaning her off.”
He sat on the edge of the bed to pull on his socks. “She’s a friend, Eva, and she’s in a rough spot. It’s a cruel time to cut her off.”
“Think carefully, Gideon. I have exes in my past, too. You’re setting the precedent now for how I’ll handle them. I’m taking my cues from you.”
He stood with a scowl. “You’re threatening me.”
“I prefer to see it as coercion. Relationships work both ways. You’re not her only friend. She can find someone more appropriate to lean on in her time of crisis.”
We grabbed what we needed and walked back into the living room. I saw the mess left behind—an aqua-hued bra beneath an end table and blood spray on my cream sectional —and I wished Cary was still around to smack some sense into.
“I’m digging into it with him tomorrow,” I bit out, my jaw tight with anger and worry. “Goddamn it, I should’ve decked him when I had the chance. I should’ve knocked him out cold, and then locked him up in his room until he gets his brain working again.”
Gideon’s hand at the small of my back rubbed soothingly. “It’ll be better to do that tomorrow, when he’s alone and hungover. More effective that way.”
Angus was waiting for us when we got downstairs. I was about to climb into the back of the limo when Gideon cursed under his breath, stopping me.
“What?” I asked him.
“I forgot something.”
“Let me get my keys.” I reached for the overnight bag Gideon was holding, which had my purse inside.
“No need. I have a set.” He shot me an unapologetic grin when my brows rose. “I had copies made before I gave them back to you.”
“Seriously?”
“If you’d paid attention”—he kissed the top of my head—“you might’ve noticed that you’ve had the key to my place on your key ring since I returned it.”
I gaped after him as he darted past the doorman and back into the building. I remembered the torment of those four days when I’d thought we’d broken up and the excruciating pain I’d felt when those keys slid out of the envelope and into my palm.
I’d had the key to being with him all along.
Shaking my head, I looked around at my adopted city, loving everything about it and feeling grateful for the crazy well of happiness I’d found here.
Gideon and I still had so much work ahead of us. As much as we loved each other, it was no guarantee that we’d survive our personal wounds. But we communicated, we were honest with each other, and God knew we were both too stubborn to quit without a fight.
Gideon reappeared just as two large, beautifully groomed poodles walked by with their equally coiffed owner.
I climbed into the limo. As we pulled away from the curb, Gideon tugged me onto his lap and cuddled me close. “We had a rough night, but we got through it.”
“Yeah, we did.” Tipping my head back, I offered my mouth for a kiss. He obliged me with one that was slow and sweet—a simple reaffirmation of our precious, complicated, maddening, necessary connection.
Cupping his nape, I ran my fingers through his silky hair. “I can’t wait to get you back in bed.”
He gave a sexy little growl and attacked my neck with tickling nips and kisses, banishing our ghosts and their shadows.
At least for a little while…
Gideon and Eva’s story continues in the
powerfully sensual sequel in
the Crossfire series,
1. Eva’s move from California to New York brings her closer to her mother. While the move was a good one for both her and Cary’s careers, it could have been avoided. Why do you think she made the choice to start her new life in New York?
2. Cary is dependent on Eva materially and emotionally, even though she turns to him as a sounding board more often than he turns to her. What needs does Eva meet for Cary?
3. Initially, it’s the physical attraction that draws Gideon to Eva, but by the time he lures her to his nightclub there’s something deeper involved. What is it about Eva that causes Gideon to pursue her so relentlessly?
4. Gideon has a difficult time accepting any privacy barriers between him and Eva. Do you think Eva is too soft or too tough on the issue? How would you respond?
5. Eva values transparency in her relationships, but she allows Gideon to keep his secrets. Why do you think that is? Do you agree or disagree?
6. Gideon’s life revolves around his work and his philanthropic commitments; Eva’s social life is more personal. How do these differences affect them as a couple?
7. Gideon and Eva have a very sexual relationship. Considering their pasts, why do you think sex is such an important way for them to communicate?
Sylvia Day is the national bestselling author of over a dozen novels. Her résumé includes a variety of odd jobs ranging from amusement park employee to Russian linguist/interrogator for U.S. Army Military Intelligence. She’s presently a full-time writer. Sylvia’s work has been called an “exhilarating adventure” by Publishers Weekly and “wickedly entertaining” by Booklist. Her stories have been translated into Russian, Japanese, Portuguese, German, Czech, Italian, and Thai. She’s been honored with the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the EPPIE award, the National Readers’ Choice Award, the Readers’ Crown, and multiple finalist nominations for Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA® Award of Excellence. She’s now hard at work on DEEPER IN YOU, the sequel
to BARED TO YOU, but would love for you to visit with her on her website.
Connect with Sylvia
www.SylviaDay.com
www.Facebook.com/AuthorSylviaDay
www.Twitter.com/SylDay
Books by Sylvia Day
Paranormal Romance
Renegade Angels
A Taste of Seduction
A Hunger So Wild
A Touch of Crimson
Dream Guardians
Heat of the Night
Pleasures of the Night
Historical Romance
Seven Years to Sin
Pride and Pleasure
The Stranger I Married
Bad Boys Ahoy!
Georgian
Don’t Tempt Me
A Passion for Him
Passion for the Game
Ask For It
Writing as S. J. Day
Marked
Eve of Chaos
Eve of Destruction
Eve of Darkness
Writing as Livia Dare
Sapphire’s World
In the Flesh
Anthologies
Hot in Handcuffs
Guns and Roses
Wicked Reads
Best Erotic Romance
Steamlust: Steampunk Erotic Romance
Men Out of Uniform
The Promise of Love
Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance 2
Alluring Tales: Hot Holiday Nights
Perfect Kisses
Got a Minute?
Alluring Tales: Awaken the Fantasy
Declassified: Dark Kisses
White Hot Holidays: Vol. 2
Dreams of the Oasis: Vol. 2
Sex on Holiday
NonFiction
Lustfully Ever After
Perfectly Plum
The Write Ingredients
Digital Titles
A Caress of Wings
A Dark Kiss of Rapture
All Revved Up
Kiss of the Night
Misled
Snaring the Huntress
Catching Caroline
Writing as S. J. Day
Eve of Warfare
Eve of Sin City
Table of Contents
Praise for Sylvia Day
Books by Sylvia Day
Copyright
Bared to You
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Deeper in You
Book Club/Readers' Group Guide
About the Author
Sylvia Day, Bared to You
(Series: Crossfire # 1)
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