Page 26 (1/2)

&nbs

p; Or, given his er?

She wished she hadn’tto hide behind Except words She stood straight and proud

‘I’ainst trusting you—’

He glowered ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

She couldn’t back do The festering wound would never heal if she ignored it ‘He told me about you and Karen He said you were more than just acquaintances—’

‘And you believed him?’ His thick fury alo up at the mention of her sister’s name ‘He lives in Australia, for God’s sake What the hell would he know?’

‘He said Ashley had photos of you and Karen at a dinner—’

‘A dinner?’ he interrupted scathingly ‘Is that all? No porno pics of us actually getting down and dirty, then?’ he lashed out, his words dripping with acid ‘For God’s sake, how could you give credence to anything that cretin says? You said yourself he’s a sleazebag! The only way he can ood is to make someone else look bad!’

She kneas right, but she also knew that lies were often based in truth, and trust was a tay street

‘There’s no smoke without fire’

The trite phrase seemed to be the last straw ‘Well, if you’d rather believe hio ahead!’ he exploded ‘Unlike you I don’t choose to runslime!’

He stor as if she had been hit by a stun-grenade He had never actually addressed the allegation at all, she thought nuer had been directed at the fact that she had taken Ross’s word as gospel

But she hadn’t…not really Her own self-doubt had made the idea seem all too credible, but, still, she had harboured the secret expectation that Luc would flatly deny the accusation as a slanderous lie If he had, she would have believed him in a heartbeat

That he hadn’t was a sickening blow to her unacknowledged feelings, leaving her fiercely grateful that she had fought the powerful attraction that had tempted her to abandon her pride and her principles to a transient affair