In Too Deep_ Husband Material & the Sheikh's Bargained Bride - Brenda Jackson [6]
He’d stopped trying to figure out at what point they’d begun drifting apart. He would be the first to admit he’d spent a lot of hours working, but all those hours he’d spent away from her were meant to build a nice nest egg so they wouldn’t have to work forever.
And although she was paid well for her movies, as her husband, he’d still felt it was his duty to make sure she got anything and everything she wanted in life. They had talked about having a family, but she hadn’t understood that knowing he could provide for her and any child they had was important to him.
Her parents had had money and unlike him, she hadn’t grown up poor. More than anything, he’d wanted to keep her in the lifestyle she’d been accustomed to. What in the world could be so terribly wrong about wanting to do that? To this day he just couldn’t figure it out, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he got.
He had built his world around her. She had been the only thing that truly mattered and everything he’d done had been for her. But she hadn’t appreciated that. So now, because of a decision she’d made without him, he was a man whose life was still in turmoil, although he fought like hell to keep that a secret. And he placed the blame for his shattered life at her feet.
He reached the bedroom’s double doors and without bothering to knock, he pushed opened the door.
And stopped dead in his tracks.
Three
Carmen swung around at the sound of the bedroom door opening and tightened her bathrobe around her. She threw her head back, sending hair cascading around her shoulders. “What are you doing in here, Matthew?”
For a moment he simply stood there staring at her, no doubt taking in the fact that she had just taken a shower and was probably stark naked beneath her short robe.
When he didn’t answer, she said in a sharp tone, “Matthew, I asked you a question.”
His attention shifted from her body and slid up to her face. “What do you think you’re doing, Carmen?”
His voice sounded strained and his breathing shallow. “What does it look like I’m doing? I just finished taking a shower and now I’m putting on clothes. You should have knocked.”
Carmen watched as something flickered in the depths of his dark eyes and a muscle clenched in his jaw. He took his hands out of his pockets, causing the material of his pants to stretch across the huge bulge at his center. It was quite obvious he’d gotten aroused from seeing her half-naked. She inwardly smiled. He’d taken the bait just the way she’d planned.
“I own this place. I don’t have to knock, Carmen. And why are you still here? Why aren’t you gone or at least packing?”
She crossed her arms over her chest and followed the movement of his eyes from her face to her breasts. She was very much aware that her curves were outlined through the silky material of her robe. It seemed he was very much aware of it, as well.
“I decided that I won’t be leaving.”
He pulled his gaze away from her chest. “Excuse me?”
“I said I won’t be leaving. I’d assumed you would be in L.A. all summer, which is why I made plans to spend my vacation here. I don’t intend to change that just because you’ve shown up.”
A muscle clenched in his jaw again, making it obvious her statement hadn’t gone over well with him. She wasn’t surprised when he said, with an icy gaze, “You should have checked my plans for the summer. If you had, I would have told you this place was off-limits. I regret that you didn’t. I also regret that you have to leave.”
She inched her chin a little higher and declared, “I’m not going anywhere, Matthew. I deserve some peace and quiet. I’ve worked hard this year.”
“And you don’t think that I have?”
The sharpness of his tone had her gearing up