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"Then what? You figured you’d play along so you could tell your friends later how you got Tara Pierpont to sluet to know you Without the trappings of wealth" So he could find out if she would be interested in him as a person, rather than in his h You’re friends with him, aren’t you? And it’s not his boat, is it? It’s yours What were you whispering behind my back? How easy I was? What was it? A bet? Did you win?"

"Damn it, Tara! It wasn’t like that There was no bet It was all a ht! It did get out of hand What was your plan, Jay? Pick me up at the party and then tell your friends afterward how easy it was to seduce me?"

Jay clenched his jaw "I didn’t seduce you! If you remember, you picked me up at the party And you were also the one who ca Daether, her cheeks flushing nohether of embarrassment or fury, or both, he didn’t know "How dare you? You went down ondoor open after I’d warned you!"

"And that gave you perave ainst your will! And I stopped the moment you said no" He would never force himself on any woman And he’d most certainly not forced hi participant

"If I’d knoho you were, I would have never let you touch me! I wish I’d never laid eyes on you"

Jay narrowed his eyes "What are you saying?"

"You knohat I’ You want me to say it out loud?"

He took a step toward her, only a few feet separating them now "Go ahead"

"I wish I’d never slept with you I wish I’d never let you touchI despise about rich men You proved to me that you’re just like all the others You think you can take whatever you want just because you’re rich and powerful Guess what: it doesn’t ith h his heart "You don’t know ether hasn’t shown you that I’uys? Tara, wake up, the person you ith the last few days was the real Jay" He waved his hand around his office, indicating his worldly possessions "This, all this, is just the outside, the shell It’s not ood You can’t just throw that away You felt so in "

He grabbed her shoulders, wanting to shake her "We’re good together You can’t just dismiss it because you no that I have e who I aes everything"

"You don’t believe that yourself You wanted ht, slowly, deliberately "No, I didn’t want you I wanted to slum it with a waiter And now that I know you’re not what I thought you were, I’ve lost interest"

She turned on her heel

Jay snatched her elbow She spun her head around and pinned hioing to touch o of her Paralyzed, he watched her exit his office and slam the door shut behind her

"Fuck!"

He shoved a shaky hand through his hair What had just happened? They’d screamed at each other Damn it, this was not how he’d envisioned a revelation like this to go down And, hell, he hadn’t once told her he was sorry about the deception Not once Instead, he’d let the arguretted their tie clah his entire body

Shit, he’d screwed up It had all backfired His whole brilliant plan had blown up right in his face, and there was no way of salvaging anything

Tara hated hi to Holly was a small family affair After the scandal that had rocked the Hamptons only teeks earlier, Paul and Holly had decided to keep it private Not because they were ashamed of what had happened, but because they wanted no intrusion on their happiness