didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“You didn’t recognize me then?” He couldn’t mistake the hope in her tone.
He grasped on to his first day on Secret Fantasy and fingered one spiral curl with his finger. “The hair’s different than the pictures.”
She glanced down. “Everyone thinks I bolted because I got cold feet. Or I had a lover on the side. Did you know local radio stations in Chicago are holding contests? It was ridiculous. I couldn’t leave my house without being followed. Don’t people have anything better to do than focus on my life? I’m not even a celebrity.” She shook her head in disgust.
“You never know what’s going to strike people’s interest.”
She lifted her head and met his gaze. “You haven’t asked me why I ran.”
“If you want me to know, you’ll tell me.” When she looked back on this conversation he wanted her to be able to remember she’d revealed without being pushed or prodded. That he hadn’t forced or directed the conversation in any way.
Because when she found out the truth, not only didn’t he want her hurt, but he wanted her to be able to forgive him.
“I do want to tell you. I just don’t know where to begin.”
Her pain was palpable and Doug had no desire to prolong the revelation any longer than necessary. “I know about the newspaper articles fingering your ex’s business partner in a money-laundering scheme.”
She winced. “Then you know the article was retracted due to lack of proof.”
He merely nodded.
“I believed Stuart was innocent. I believed his partner, Congressman Haywood, was innocent.”
“So the retraction must have been a blessing.”
“At the time it only confirmed what I already knew. But later…”
Doug held his breath. Here it was, the answer to his story. The one that would put him back on top, ease his father’s emotional unrest and fix the damage he’d done to the
Juliette stared off into the distance. “We’d gotten to the church early to do that last-minute family thing. But I was getting claustrophobic and I left my mother and sister in the back chamber because I needed air. The church wasn’t filled yet but I didn’t want to run into anyone, so I went out the back to a place Stuart, Gillian and I used to hang out when we were kids. That’s where I saw them.”
Adrenalin rushed through his veins. “Saw who?”
“Stuart, Congressman Haywood and Paul Costa.” She clenched and unclenched her fists. “The article in the paper alluded to Mob connections and money laundering but it didn’t mention anyone by name. But Costa is an alleged boss and there’s no way I wouldn’t recognize him. And then there was the snippet of conversation I overheard. Something about the retraction being taken care of and the reporter silenced.” She shivered. “There was no question what Stuart was involved in.”
Doug listened to her in disbelief. His gut had told him she knew something to link Barnes and Haywood to illegal dealings. He’d never once thought she’d been an actual eyewitness.
“Did they see you?” At the thought, his stomach began to churn.
“Would you miss a bride in her fluffy white wedding dress?” she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Actually Stuart caught sight of me and excused himself. I’d already ducked back inside and he grabbed my arm and led me to someplace private. We had a huge argument. I called off the wedding and he…” She inhaled deep.
“He what?” Doug grasped her hands, warming them inside his. He had his story. Now he needed to take care of Juliette. And later he’d figure out how to tell her the truth without ripping her heart and trust to shreds. “Did he threaten you?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think I’d be as torn or confused about what to do if I’d been his target. He said if he went down, he’d make sure he took my father with him. An implicit threat to keep my mouth shut.”
And knowing Juliette’s strong feelings for her parent, something Stuart Barnes had to have known, he’d easily guaranteed her silence.
Doug squeezed her hands tighter. “Forgive me for asking this, but is your father involved in anyway?”
“No. But if Senator Stanton’s handpicked protege is arrested, it’ll taint my father’s record and any good he’s accomplished in his term.
Doug let out a slow groan. Her admission had just called a glaring halt to his plan to expose Barnes and his Congressman partner at all costs. A blunt article with Juliette as his witness would destroy her father. And anything that hurt Senator Stanton would kill Juliette. Something Doug would never do. The tough-guy reporter he’d been before meeting this woman was long gone. Doug had to accept that truth-one a long time in coming. As long as he’d been on this island.
Damned if he had a plan right now, but he had to come up with one and soon. Although he had all his personal excuses for wanting to nail Barnes and Haywood, a more pressing reason remained-he couldn’t let their illegal activities go unchecked. And he had to expose them before Barnes was elected senator. A good possibility considering his being jilted at the altar would garner him the sympathy vote and, as of now, Senator Stanton was still in his corner. He had to halt the senator-elect, without hurting either Juliette or her family.
“You’re quiet. I’ve shocked you.”
He shook his head. “I always knew you were special. But the lengths you went to to protect your father, the flak you took from the media…”
“He’d do it for me in a heartbeat. That’s why I need to figure a way out. I can’t let Stuart become senator, knowing what I do. And I can’t hurt my father. I need your help and input. Together we could come up with an idea.” She hesitated. “But I was also hoping we could do something else together first.” Her voice had dropped a husky octave and the atmosphere shifted.
The room temperature inched up a heated notch and sexual vibrations surrounded them. Doug went from concerned to aroused in seconds flat. Apparently Juliette felt the same because she inched up onto her knees and moved near, bracing her hands on his shoulders and placing her lips close to his ear.
“Can you see the enormity of this secret? That I wouldn’t share it with just anybody?”
If she only knew who she’d just trusted. The guilt was enormous, though he tried to console himself with the fact that he was on her side. “Juliette…”
“Doug…” She parroted in a low murmur. “You’ve made me feel like I can trust you with anything. That has to mean something in the scheme of your fantasy.”
It meant she believed she could trust him and though
“They don’t have to be.” She nuzzled the sensitive place behind his ear with her lips and he let out a slow groan.
Irony was at work again. She’d revealed all in order to bring them closer and though he needed time and space to sort out what he’d learned and figure out the best and safest way to use the information, if he walked out on her, he’d hurt her as badly as his secrets would. Secrets he couldn’t reveal until he’d figured out a way to help her, save her father’s reputation and secure them as a couple.
“Doug, if your fantasy is really about putting a woman’s needs first…make love to me.”
All the restraint he’d exercised vanished in that instant. She’d freed him mentally and emotionally and he refused to look back. He would figure a way out-after he did as she asked and made love to her.
Grasping her hips, he took control, toppling her onto her back on the bed. “You’ve been testing and teasing me for two days now.” Now it was his turn.
Excitement danced in her eyes. “Oh yeah? I know I’ve tried. I was thinking I didn’t have much success.”
“Sure you did.” He swung his legs over her waist, pinning her to the mattress. “It’s just that I’ve got what’s called discipline.”
A smile worked at her lips. “Looks to me like it’s gone.”
She had no idea.
Her pelvis rose, her feminine mound pressed intimately against his hard erection and she let out an appreciative moan. “It feels that way too,” she practically purred.
Maybe she had a better idea than he’d originally thought. “You’re wearing too many clothes,” he muttered. Silk
