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His eyes narrowed and she realised her unintended double entendre hadwhether she was referring to him or the pen His hand clenched around the silver barrel
‘Don’t you want to ask why she gave it to round out, his voice thick with frustration at her refusal to cooperate
‘You just told raduation’ Her calerous temper
‘Because ere sleeping together!’ His harsh truth exploded in her ears like another crash of thunder as he threw the pen onto the desk ‘Elise and I pretended to be just friends but ere secretly at it like rabbits every chance we got Isn’t that what you wanted to know?’
Were The word sank into her consciousness and she clung to it like a lifeline He was using the past tense She allowed the certainty to saturate her awareness But she had waited ato respond
‘What’s the h salacious detail?’ He swooped like a hawk on her hesitation, revealing the savagely offended pride that was at the core of his bitter fury: ‘That’s why you ca around up here, isn’t it? You want to know if I’m the adulterous bastard they say I am—’
‘No—that’s not why I—’
‘Well, you’re not the only one who can go on a snooping expedition,’ he interrupted roughly ‘You have quite a lurid recent past yourself, don’t you, Veronica? Let’s see what I came up with…’ He leaned over the desk to punch a key on his computer and the screen-saver dissolved into an Internet search page Another couple of clicks and Veronica was e, the one that had lately caused her sohimself as a candidate on the reality TV show Second Chances in which people ere rejected in love tried again to win over the partner of their choice, with the help of a ‘ro their every date
‘Well, well, well, there are quite a fes links to this little geuy at the altar a feeeks after he had a —did he ask you to sign a pre-nup?’ he said sardonically
Veronica flushed with ree ‘No, actually, he had wonderful plans for us both to share it He kept his big win a secret until just before the wedding when he told ht a dairy farm for us to live on after ere ether,’ she said flatly, reliving the horrendous row the night before the wedding, which had exposed the myth that they were a partnership of equals and confir doubts about the man she was to marry were more than the usual bridal jitters
‘Well, now he’s telling everyone he wants another chance at a new life with you,’ he taunted, scrolling down the page
‘No, he doesn’t, he just won’t ad past him to quit the application before he could read out any ht on his far up at the church, even though I’d told hi was off He thinks that he can hu that, just humiliate me Fortunately, the TV company is on a strict time schedule, and they can’t film his story if I won’t cooperate’
He caught her elbohen she drew back, bitter triu in the dark brown eyes ‘Not very nice, is it, Veronica, to have people publicly pawing over the inti you for comments—?’
‘No, it’s horrible—but then I don’t have the luxury of all the firewalls that you can afford to throw up around you—’
‘Damn it, you don’t think I feel just as exposed?’ he de to defend e, and condemn me out of hand—’