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steel was back in his voice. I m assuming by that you mean my gender
in general?
Um, yes.
He frowned. By God, that s a generalization I don t care for. I
suppose you think I d do the same thing as what s his name. Use you for
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my own ends and cut you loose when it suited me? He shook his head.
I thought you knew me better.
After a few moments, she looked up, defiant, and his heart stopped.
In that one instant, she was his Katie. Katie the brave, the strong, the
independent. Those were the reasons he loved her now and ironically, the
reasons why she wouldn t let them be together. He loved her and hated
her for them at the same time.
She turned the tables on him, angry as a mad hornet. How can you
say that, when your plan for today was to bring me down? Strip me of my
dignity in the one place I ve worked hard to build? She challenged him,
her tone laced with rough emotion.
You re right. It was a horrible plan. But I didn t go through with it. I
couldn t. I couldn t hurt you the way you d hurt me. The reason I was
late was because I knew I couldn t go through with it. I drove around
downtown twice, wondering what I was going to do. He wanted to reach
out and touch her but knew he must not. I may not like what you ve
done, but I couldn t actually do something so mean and petty in
retaliation. I came here planning to look after the meeting. And that s
all.
He angled his head at her, curious. But that reminds me. How did
you find out about it anyway?
I delivered some stuff to Christine and thought I d pop in. I didn t
like how we d left things and thought perhaps I should try to explain
about the brunch.
What s to explain? I kissed you and you ran.
There s more to it than that. She spread her hands wide, imploring
him to understand. You assumed why, and that was your big mistake.
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Had he been wrong about her? She d already said he wasn t
repulsive, but what other reason could she have had to run away? He
was on the verge of thinking the impossible when she continued on.
Anyway, you weren t in your office. I had a look at your day planner;
it was sitting open on your desk. Sue me. The point is, you intended to
use my weaknesses against me and I can t forgive you for that.
You can t forgive me. Well. He straightened and stared while the fax
machine rang again and paper started scrolling out. I beg your
puritanical pardon for having an inappropriate response when my
feelings got hurt. The memory of holding her in his arms, of touching
her, flooded back, leaving him raw and vulnerable. He sniffed, curling his
top lip. So in return you came up with your own plan to cut mine off at
the knees.
You d look pretty stupid rejecting me when I was already involved
with someone else.
Ah. He folded his arms across his chest, hiding his relief. She
wasn t seeing anyone. He d had the feeling she was bluffing but a little
part of his heart was worried she d already moved on.
Except you think fast on your feet. I didn t anticipate you playing
along. Her fingers flexed against the black back of the chair; her smile
was weak. Then I realized I d played right into your hands. I d gushed
about a boyfriend, you pretended to be him. It would have made your
rejection of me that much more satisfying.
Not satisfying. There s nothing to be proud of when you hurt
someone else.
Her gaze met his, honest and open for the first time that afternoon. I
know. She sighed deeply.
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But you could have corrected me when I touched you. Accused me of
fooling with Lisa and Jan, make it all seem like a joke. You let it go.
Why?
He held his breath waiting for her answer. Because I wanted it to be
true, he wanted to hear her say. Despite everything, despite his vow that
he was done with her, he knew that with the right answer to this one
question, he d be hers. After all she d done, she still had that power.
Perhaps because despite it all, he still sensed a vulnerability about her,
and he wanted to be the one to take it away and make it right.
I& I guess you took me by surprise, and I didn t think of it.
Oh. Well, so much for that idea. Stupid, stupid, he chided himself.
When was he going to learn not to get his hopes up?
So we re back to square one. He heard his own voice and it sounded
oddly flat.
Not exactly. The muted sound of the restaurant bustle behind them
filtered through the door. We have a somewhat successful business
between us.
Business. He snorted. He couldn t give a good damn about the
business right now. What he had always wanted was Katie s love and she
was getting further and further out of his reach. The gulf between them
was growing wider by the minute, and he was tired of fighting for
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