Page 11 of Dangerous Obsession

JADE

Damn it! Damn stupid, thick-headed adrenaline-junkie men and their idiotic desire to get themselves killed doing stupid stuff.

Cole had explained to her what had happened below the surface. He’d told her the debris had shifted in the yacht wreckage, and a very solid desk had pinned Maxim down, trapping him.

She hated to think what would’ve happened if Max had been down there diving alone. She would’ve lost him for sure.

She couldn’t protect him if he was determined to get himself killed underwater. It was infuriating.

More than that, it was terrifying.

She’d raced the yacht back to the slip at the pier.

Max had paid millions to have a private pier built beneath the cliffs and the house.

The pier sat far out in the water so that changing tides would never strand the yacht, and storms wouldn’t drive it onto the rocks.

She’d become an expert at docking the yacht, but today her hands were shaking so badly she’d done a poor job of showing off her skills.

Not that she cared. She was too angry and rattled to give a damn if she marked up the hull.

Cole sat by Max’s side on the foredeck. He had a hand on Max’s shoulder.

She would’ve believed it a bro gesture, except that she’d seen Cole kiss him last night.

They were talking to each other. She couldn’t hear them because she was at the helm, rushing them back home.

It frustrated her. She wanted to be the one by Maxim’s side right now, but Cole was there instead.

As much as she wanted to hate and distrust Cole, she found that she couldn’t.

He had saved Max’s life. It was that simple.

If Cole meant Max any harm, he wouldn’t have risked his life saving him.

Even though the bastard wandered around and got into all kinds of trouble, poking his nose everywhere it shouldn’t be, she still owed Cole her thanks.

Once she’d finished docking the yacht and all the mooring lines were secure and the gangplank extended, the three of them left the boat.

Max was moving a little stiffly, but he’d been lucky.

He was shaken up and a bit bruised but not badly hurt.

Still, both of them walked on either side of Max, ready to support him if he needed it.

Soon the three of them left the pier and stepped onto the sand that stretched from the sea to the switchback stairway and the villa.

“You’re worried,” Max said quietly.

He’d caught her staring at him, struggling to hold back hot tears. She wouldn’t cry. That would only let these two bozos think she was weak and that she actually cared if they got their dumb asses killed.

“Of course I’m worried,” she snapped. Her resolution to give them the silent treatment had lasted all of two seconds. “I told you the ocean was dangerous! Who swims into a wrecked ship anyway? It’s not the Titanic.”

Cole was smirking, and that annoyed her too. “On the bright side,” he said, “there were no sharks. Or poisonous snails.”

She was going to murder him. As soon as she got him alone. Nobody made fun of her for the poisonous snails. And there wasn’t a person on the planet who loved sharks.

Max reached out and squeezed her arm. She could see from his eyes that he understood how upset she was. “Don’t worry. I’m all right.”

She moved out of reach. “Thanks to him. If he hadn’t been there, you’d be dead.”

Neither of them tried to deny it.

But it felt like they had teamed up against her. They were in the water together; she was on the boat.

It was a horrible feeling. Especially after all that she’d sacrificed for her duty, all to keep Maxim safe. She’d given up her chance at happiness…and he nearly got himself killed in a stupid diving accident.

It hit her hard exactly at that moment. She didn’t belong here anymore.

Max deserved a guy like Cole. One who would go on crazy adventures and nearly get them both killed.

Then they could drink beers and reminisce to their heart’s content.

She was holding him back. She had seen the kiss they shared, hadn’t she?

It had been so damned hot, but that was the problem.

Once upon a time, she’d shared her body and her love with Max.

But she’d been the one to end their physical relationship, knowing she needed to for professional reasons.

To do her job and keep him alive and safe.

It all seemed so stupid now. It had been the worst mistake of her life, even though at the time she’d believed she was doing the right thing.

She had hurt him, and she had hurt herself. Staying here was only tormenting her. Wanting what she couldn’t have anymore. Aching for the thing she loved and had thrown away like a fool. Now she’d almost lost him again but for good this time.

Her heart couldn’t take it anymore. Since Cole had arrived, everything had been upended and thrown into chaos. Everything had changed. Now she realized what she had to do. It was something she should’ve done a long time ago, but she just didn’t have the heart back then.

Now she was done. They were walking in the sand on the beach. Max’s luxury yacht was safely docked at the end of the huge pier. The sun was still warm; the wind off the water was cool. But everything else had changed for her.

She turned to face Cole. “Thank you.”

Cole watched her with an intensity that reminded her of last night. The grappling on the stairway landing. The kiss they’d shared. She didn’t look away, though. She was done with him too.

“It was nothing,” Cole said. This time he didn’t smile. He seemed wary, as if he sensed something was very wrong.

He was perceptive. Far more perceptive than Maxim, who could be clueless despite his big brain and all the focus that meditation supposedly gave him.

Perhaps this was for the best. Maybe this man would stick around and look after Maxim since he seemed to be so much more of what Maxim needed.

He wouldn’t withhold his kisses and affection and love as Jade had been forced to do.

He didn’t need to do the right thing to keep things professional and keep Max safe.

So she’d made a terrible mistake. Now it was time to finally finish paying for it.

Jade turned and walked away down the beach, leaving them behind.

She wouldn’t cry. Not until she got herself somewhere alone. Maybe on the boat back to the mainland. Maybe not even then. Right now, she felt frozen and numb inside.

She didn’t know when that feeling would ever leave her again.

* * *

MAXIM

Nearly dying had shaken a bunch of things lose in his head. Death had a way of cutting through the rest of the bullshit in a man’s life. Sometimes you got into a rut and couldn’t break out. Sometimes you needed a swift kick in the ass.

When Jade first walked away from him with her shoulders back and her head held high, he assumed that she was pissed.

He understood that. It was her job to keep him safe.

He’d done something stupid and reckless, not making sure Cole was with him as he pressed deeper into the wreck. She had a right to be angry.

And she cared about him. Even now. After all this time and all that had changed.

But when she kept walking without even a glance backward, he knew something was very wrong.

He moved away from Cole. His body ached. He was still a little shaken up, but he wasn’t going to collapse, and he didn’t need a wheelchair or someone to carry him around. He was going to have some nasty bruises where the desk had pinned him, but he knew he’d gotten off lucky.

Cole caught up and gripped his shoulder. “Let her go. She needs some space.”

He shook off the man’s hand and continued walking toward her. She was moving quickly, her long legs eating up the ground. She was already much farther away down the beach.

Cole stepped in front of him again. “Give her a chance to sort this out in her head. She cares about you and she nearly lost you today.”

He stepped around Cole and kept on walking. “You’re wrong. Something changed. Something’s wrong.”

He knew it in his gut. He knew it in his heart.

As he pursued her, he realized things had to change for him too.

He was no longer willing to keep up this charade.

He couldn’t continue with Jade so close to him, looking so beautiful, seeing her every day and unable to touch her, to hold her, to kiss her.

He never should’ve agreed to it in the first place.

But she’d begged him…and he’d been afraid to lose her.

So against his better judgment, he’d agreed.

Now he was losing her. Because judging from the way she was walking off, it didn’t look as if she ever intended to return.

Cole was striding along beside him, his handsome face concerned. He was watching Max closely. “You’re sure?”

“I’m sure, damn it!” If Cole tried to stop him again or interfere, there was going to be trouble.

Nothing would stop him from reaching her and doing what he should’ve done a long time ago.

Now Cole was grinning. “Then go get her, man. Go get her.”

Maxim didn’t need to be told twice. He broke into a dead sprint after her, leaving Cole in his dust.

She must’ve heard him coming, but she didn’t slow her walk. Infuriating woman. She was determined to drive him crazy.

He finally reached her and ran in front of her to block her path.

Now she stopped. She stared up at him with those wide, dark eyes.

Eyes that could seem innocent or as hard as steel whenever she wanted.

But he could see the glint of tears in those eyes now.

The sight of them shattered his heart into pieces.

He grabbed her by the shoulders. She could’ve broken the hold easily in a dozen different ways. She didn’t. She only stood there silently, looking at him.

He had words he wanted to say. They shot through his mind like meteors, flashing brightly, and then they were gone again.

To hell with words. He didn’t need them to show her how much he loved her.