“Are you alone?”
“Yes,” she said, her voice now barely audible.
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes, sweetheart. Stay right where you are. Don’t go outside and don’t open the door to anyone but me. And if anyone tries to get in, then you call the police or 911, all right?”
“O-okay.” She hung up the phone and Marcus jumped to his feet. His mind raced with all the possibilities. Had she been hurt? Was she being threatened? Obviously something had happened to upset her, but what? Hell, maybe she’d called her father and it hadn’t gone well.
As he sped along Ocean Avenue toward Newport, he felt oddly relieved. She wasn’t gone yet. And when she needed help, she hadn’t hesitated to call him. Marcus grabbed his phone again, ready to ask for Ian’s help. But then he thought better of it. If he told Ian about Eden, then Ian would feel compelled to tell Dec, and Dec would have to tell Ross.
The fifteen-minute drive across the bay to Bonnett Harbor was accomplished in ten minutes, and by the time Marcus pulled the truck up to the front of the Sandpiper Motel he was determined to grab Eden and take her back to the safety of the boat.
He jumped out of the truck and found the door to room five. Marcus knocked softly, and a moment later the door opened a crack in front of him. Eden peered out, then stepped back as she let him enter. She closed the door and stood against it, dressed only in her panties and a bra, a towel wrapped around her head. Marcus strode into the room and glanced around, but Eden was alone.
“Thank you for coming,” she murmured.
He faced her, his heart twisting at her tear-stained cheeks. Marcus held out his arms and Eden crossed the room and stepped into his embrace. “Are you all right?” he asked, his hands smoothing over her narrow shoulders to rest at the small of her back.
God, it felt good to touch her again, to feel her warm body beneath his hands. He’d grown accustomed to touching her whenever the whim struck and he didn’t like doing without.
“It’s stupid,” she said, burying her face in his chest.
“What? Tell me. I’ll make it all right,” Marcus said. “I swear I will.”
“You can’t.”
He drew back and cupped her face in his hands. “I can try. Just tell me what’s wrong.”
Eden wiped her nose on the back of her hand and drew a ragged breath. “It’s green,” she murmured.
“What’s green?”
Eden reached up and brushed the towel off her head. “My hair.”
A laugh slipped from his throat, and the moment it did Marcus wished he could take it back. This was one of those times when honesty was probably not the best policy.
Eden’s expression crumpled into tears and she ran to the bed and threw herself face-first onto the mattress. “I know! It looks ridiculous. I wanted to dye my hair so people wouldn’t notice me. I might as well have a neon sign attached to my head now.”
Marcus sat down on the bed and gently turned her over to face him. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t laughing at your hair. It was just a laugh of relief. I thought you were hurt or in trouble.”
She plucked at her hair. “What do you think this is?”
“Jaysus, Eden. You scared me. I thought … well, you don’t want to know what went through my mind. I’m just glad you’re all right.”
“But I’m not all right,” she said. “Look at my hair.”
God, even with the green hair she looked beautiful. How was that possible? “Well … it’s green. How did that happen?”
“I don’t know. The box said medium brown and it came out green. I should sue. This isn’t even close to medium brown.”
“Why did you dye your hair?”
“It’s part of my plan,” Eden said. She gave him a narrow-eyed glare. “This is all your fault, you know. You told me I needed a plan, and I made a plan and now look at me.”
“Unless that plan includes clown college, then I’m not sure what you’re going to do with green hair.”
She gasped, but then a reluctant smile twitched at the corners of her mouth. Marcus reached out and tipped her chin up, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I’m sorry about what I said on the boat.” He couldn’t wait any longer and he covered her mouth with his, desperate to taste her again.
With a groan, she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him down on top of her. Her tongue met his, the kiss deepening until Marcus felt a pleasant warmth seep through his body. When he finally had a chance to take a breath, he gazed down into her eyes, fingering a curl at her temple. “It’s not that bad,” he said. “It’s not like it’s bright green.”
“What is it then?” she asked.
“Avocado?” he ventured.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, then turned him over until she straddled him on the bed. “Tell me it’s pretty,” Eden demanded. “Tell me I’m beautiful.”
Marcus stared up at her as he ran his hands up her rib cage and cupped her breasts. “You know you are,” he whispered, slipping his fingers beneath her bra.
Eden reached back and unhooked it, letting the lacy scrap drop between them. Marcus couldn’t keep from touching her. His thumbs lazily teased at her nipples.
“Say it,” she ordered, closing her eyes.
“You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Marcus admitted. Even with her damp hair an odd shade of green it was the truth. There was no one in the world more beautiful than Eden.
Marcus shifted beneath her, slowly growing hard with each passing second. It never took much for her to arouse him, he mused. Eden noticed his discomfort and pressed her hips against his. “Do you still want me?” she asked, rubbing against him, the answer evident to both of them.
“I always want you,” Marcus murmured.
A satisfied smile curved the corners of her mouth and she stopped moving. “I believe you,” she said as if his answer were some sort of test. With that, Eden rolled off him and stood beside the bed, staring at herself in the mirror above the dresser.
Marcus closed his eyes and fought back a wave of desire, willing his erection to subside. “Do you want to tell me about your plan?” he asked, grimacing as he rolled over onto his stomach.
She smiled as she continued to stare at her reflection. “I hadn’t considered clown college, but that’s not a bad idea.”
“And I’m sorry I made light of this very serious situation. Now tell me.”
“I thought it might be easier to blend in if I changed my looks. So I decided to dye and cut my hair.”
She ought to have known it was an impossible
