Page 92 (1/2)

“There is no ‘but’ I am honest with you, cara, because of your honesty with me I have learned to believe no one People say what they think I want to hear, frouy ants to sell me a car to the CEO ants to sell me his company And women…” He shook his head “They say, ‘Yes, Marco,’ and ‘That’s marvelous, Marco,’ and they say it no matter what I do or say because they want to impress me” He cupped her face, threaded his hands into her hair “You treat me as if I were a real e, no lies, no games, and you expect the same of me Do you have any idea how rare that is in my world?”

“Sometimes—sometimes people have reasons to be—to be less than honest”

“You have a kind heart It is why you look for the best in others”

“There’s good in everybody, Marco”

“You are the eternal optimist, Emily I am a realist”

“A realist would understand that nobody is perfect”

He smiled “You are such a beautiful innocent, cara”

Sudden anger swept through her How could an otherwise intelligent man make such an easy assessment of her? Did he still see her as a rain-soaked waif?

She put her hands on his chest and pulled back

“Dammit, do not talk to me as if I were a child!”

Marco took her in his arms She stayed motionless within his embrace He murradually, she let herself lean into him

Staying angry at hier was really at herself and the fact that he saw her as someone she wasn’t

If she were known to him as Emily Wilde, raised in luxury, instead of Emily Madison, the rain-soaked waif he’d saved, would he still want her?

She gave a long sigh and dropped her head to his shoulder

“The world isn’t all black and white,” she said