‘I’m sure.’ He looked at her but she had the distinct impression a part of him didn’t even see her. ‘But no. Thank you.’
‘Myles—’
‘How about you tell me about what happened with Justin? And that tape.’
He just about managed to keep the sneer from his mouth.
‘I thought you didn’t want to hear it?’
‘I’ve changed my mind.’
He was distracting her. She knew that. But he was also offering her a chance to finally give someone her side of events. Someone other than Rafe. Someone who mattered.
Still, she shifted uncomfortably.
‘If you don’t want to,’ he began, but she cut him off.
‘I do want to. It’s just that...it wasn’t exactly my finest hour.’
‘No, it wasn’t.’
Her temper flared and somehow it gave her the impetus she needed.
‘Fine, then how about you tell me what you want to know and I’ll give you all the gory details to satisfy yourself that I’m as wanton and easy as they like to say I am?’
* * *
‘I don’t want the gory details.’ Myles just about kept from snarling. It was madness how he’d spent so many years schooling himself to stay calm in the most incendiary of situations and yet this woman set him off like a match on an oil spill.
‘I get the picture, Rae. You got talked into bed by a guy who should have known better than to take advantage of you and during one of your, shall we say, intimate sessions, you decided to film it.’
He had no idea how he managed to act as though it didn’t rip his insides out just thinking about her with that sleaze, the man who was supposed to protect her in the aftermath of her high-profile father’s death.
‘That’s exactly what I’ve been telling you. There weren’t multiple sex sessions. I only slept with him that one time. That was it.’
‘You only had sex with the guy once?’ He was dubious.
She nodded her head, her body slumping slightly where she stood. Only her hands still on his chest appeared to hold her upright.
‘I only had sex with Justin once,’ she repeated, coughing awkwardly. ‘And the only person I’ve ever had sex with is Justin.’
‘You’ve only had sex once in your entire life?’
She’d said it earlier, or at least alluded to it, he couldn’t remember clearly; his head was still a jumbled mess.
‘Ironic, isn’t it? Given the reputation the press have given me.’
‘You did give them a sex tape.’
He regretted the words the instant they left his mouth. If he could have swallowed them back up then he would have. He didn’t even know why he’d said such a cruel thing. If he hadn’t known better he might have thought it was jealousy.
But that was impossible.
Wasn’t it?
‘I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.’
Her woebegone smile only made him feel worse.