Secret Fantasy

“It’s called sharing, Juliette. You said it yourself. We shared the most important things in our lives—my childhood and your recent past. I’m a reporter but I never asked you one leading question. Don’t you want to know why?”

She studied him but he couldn’t read anything in her closed expression. His heart pounded furiously in his chest as he grasped onto his last chance. “I love you.”

A flash of emotion lit her eyes along with a sheen of tears. “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” She drew an unsteady breath. “But I do have to admit one thing.”

Ridiculous hope flared in his chest. “What’s that?”

“Not only does your reputation precede you, but you should be proud. You’re damn good at your job.”

Doug clenched his jaw, pain radiating straight to his head. He’d bared his soul and she didn’t believe him. Not that he blamed her. She was right. He’d done his job too damn well.

“Juliette…”

“Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter.” She swung around, placing her back toward him.

He could have dealt with anger, disapproval or outright accusation but he got none of those. Instead he received apathy—the one thing he couldn’t fight. The one thing that would keep him at arm’s length now and maybe for good.

“Can you just leave?” She wrapped her arms around herself, protecting herself from him.

No matter how much he knew he was the last person who would hurt her, she’d never believe him. At least not now.

“I want you to understand something first. I came for a story about your ex. I never intended to hurt you. Never planned to use you…” he said, his voice trailing off, knowing how lame his words sounded.

And knowing despite his best intentions, using her was exactly what he’d done, exactly what he’d planned, no matter how he’d exc

used it at the time.

And if he’d thought beyond his own needs he’d have realized hurting her was inevitable. “I’ll go.”

If she deserved nothing else from him, she deserved to have her wishes granted. She deserved to have him gone.

JULIETTE TOSSED the last item of clothing into her suitcase, then zipped it closed. Let loose and be yourself, she thought with disgust. She’d come to a conclusion that had nothing to do with self-pity, just fact—apparently it didn’t matter if she played the dutiful daughter, the politician’s fiancé or Juliette Stanton the woman, all were ripe for being used.

When a knock sounded at her door, Juliette exhaled a sigh of relief. She’d booked an evening flight back to Chicago today and had called for someone to bring her luggage to the main part of the hotel. But instead of a bellman, she found Merrilee on the other side of the door.

“I understand you’re checking out early,” the older woman said. Questions and compassion mixed in her gaze.

“My plans changed.” Juliette stepped back and let her visitor inside.

“Life rarely goes according to plan.”

She shook her head and laughed. “You can say that again.” She hadn’t expected to fall hard for any man, especially another one who’d lied to her from the outset.

“Would you believe me if I told you that the unexpected often works out better than anything you’d planned?”

“At this moment? Probably not.” Juliette forced a laugh and started to cry instead. The emotion she’d held in check for the last couple of hours came rushing out, sweeping over her in full force.

Merrilee put a hand on her back and Juliette attempted to wipe away her concerns as easily as she could swipe a hand over her eyes and dry her tears. But neither could be dismissed so easily and she found herself reliving her fantasy by confiding everything about the past few days to Merrilee.

“I feel ridiculous,” Juliette said when she was done, sniffing and grabbing for a tissue.

“I don’t know why. We’ve all been through bad times. But why are you so sure Doug didn’t mean what he said? ‘I love you’ isn’t something a man says easily.”

“It is in my experience,” she muttered.

“Your ex-fiancé?” Merrilee asked.

Juliette nodded. “Stuart’s ‘I love you’ was a way to make himself a part of my family and keep himself in my father’s good graces.”