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that was what she eventually decided
     she wanted. He was too hungry for her.
    Fuck that, he was too damned horny for her.
    The lust that raged through him where Anna was concerned was one that no other woman
     could assuage. If another could, then he would have ensured it was taken care of before
     now.
    Before he touched her.
    Before he tasted her.
    Before he allowed himself to become addicted to the feel of her close to his chest,
     in his arms, and somehow awakening hungers he’d never known he had.
    Archer could feel the fact that Anna was home to stay tightening in every bone and
     muscle of his body. She was a woman now, and he recognized that steely confidence
     he had seen in her eyes. She was a woman who knew what she wanted. He’d take her into
     his bed, but he would not let her into his heart—at least no more than she had managed
     already. Damn it, a man had to draw the line somewhere if he wanted to preserve his
     own sanity. In the meantime, he was going to ignore the voice in his head telling
     him that it was already too late.

 
    CHAPTER 2
    Two weeks later
    “I’m not going back to college.”
    Anna tried to ignore the four sets of shocked gazes that stared back at her as she
     stepped into the kitchen and walked to the coffeepot.
    She’d made her declaration, and now she was going to make her stand.
    “I didn’t hear you right,” her father replied coolly. “I could have sworn I just heard
     you say you were throwing away thousands of dollars already paid, on tuition alone,
     to one of the finest colleges in the state of California.”
    “Not to mention one of the most secluded, out-of-the-way colleges on the face of the
     planet,” she retorted. “One I first begged you not to send me to, and have since demanded
     to be able to leave for another.”
    “And that doesn’t count the apartment, furnishing it, clothing and food allowances—”
    “Oh yeah, and that’s so much money in that dried-up little corner of the world,” she
     snorted. “Especially considering your so-called apartment is one owned by the school
     itself.”
    She would have given her father’s argument much more respect if it weren’t for the
     fact that the college she was attending, as exclusive and high-priced as it was, was
     little more than a home for wayward children who gave little respect to the fact that
     their parents only wanted a future for them.
    It was all but a prison.
    And why was she there?
    She hadn’t figured that one out yet.
    She was three years through a four-year program, and she still couldn’t make sense
     of her family’s choice for that college.
    What she had done, though, was cram those four years into three, and had the degree
     she had been sent there to attain in business management and consulting.
    “Not to mention the fact that Jacques Dermonde’s offer of a position at his company
     in France is dependent on the completion of those courses,” he continued.
    “And it also doesn’t take into account the fact that I hated France when we visited
     it, and no consideration is given to the fact that I’ve said countless times that
     I refuse to work there. Especially for a man who forced his daughter into marriage
     with a man twice her age, and considers women no more than children who have to be
     controlled and fondled as he pleases.”
    And what had ever made her parents believe she would allow herself to be controlled
     by anyone, besides themselves? And only then because of her love for them.
    Pouring a mug of coffee she turned back to her family and felt her stomach clench
     in dread and trepidation.
    This wasn’t the reaction she had expected.
    There was no warmth, amusement, or even resignation in their gazes. For a moment,
     before she could turn her head away, Anna was even certain she’d seen rising fear
     building in her mother’s eyes.
    “Lisa.” Her gran’mama, Genoa Corbin, addressed Anna’s mother as she rose slowly to
     her feet, reaching for the cane