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“Thank you for telling me the truth.”

“Lessa, I…” Julianna moves to touch me but retracts her hand at the last moment. “It’s also the truth that I enjoy being with you. I do think… thought… of you as my girlfriend. To tell you the truth, I’ve been fucked up since you left.”

Dare I believe her? What part of this is a performance? Did Ms. Bradford bet her that she couldn’t seduce me again? Where do the lies end, and the truths begin? What do I do?

“The fact of the matter is,” I finally say. “You seduced me under those pretenses. You lied to me through omission.” I hate saying this. “If we got back together, I would forever wonder if you truly did care for me or were only putting on appearances to make a point. We already had a precarious relationship. I’m sorry it’s come to this, but I have no choice.”

“So…” she begins, clearing her throat. “That’s it, huh? Gone like that? It’s over?”

“Guess so.” Some other voice in the back of my mind screams that it isn’t so. But dare I listen? Ha! I don’t listen to anything but reason and logic right now. Both are telling me to calm down before Julianna has the chance to woo me with her kind words again. Saying that she truly likes me… wants to be with me… thinks she’s taking me to her brother’s wedding… “Sorry. Bed made.”

“All right, Lessa.” She stands, and I’m already panicking that she’s walking away, out of my life forever. How pathetic of me! “I’ll leave you alone today. But I’m going to ask you again the next time we meet. And the time after that. If you deny me three times, I’ll stay out of your life forever.”

I stifle a laugh.

“What?”

“Deny you three times… who are you, Jesus?” I let my laugh fly loose now. “Guess that makes me Judas!”

“I didn’t mean it that way. Also, I'm pretty sure you're thinking of Peter."

Is she flustered? Did accidentally making a religious joke throw her off? Too good to be true.

“All right, Julianna. You get two more shots. But you better make them good, because I plan on denying you both times.” I must, for my sake. I can’t live the rest of my life falling for whatever someone tells me. The next person I get involved withmight not be as good as Julianna. I might end up with a Presley Bradford, who orders girls for her friends.

“I will, Lessa. You have my word.” Julianna gives me one last look before turning away, her body swallowed up by the summertime sunshine. “Next time, you’ll falter more.”

I wipe a tear from my eye as I go back to Cher’s. I blame it on allergies.

Chapter 45

Julianna

“And I thought Alessa was a wonder at scheduling.” I sit at my desk while Vern attempts to not quiver in his loafers before me. “Count your lucky stars that I don’t take your head off right here and now.”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Marcon.” To his credit, my executive assistant is a wonder at keeping his composure even when I’m pissed as hell. “There was nothing else I could do. The Moreau meeting was already scheduled in advance, and the lawyers couldn’t...”

“Whatever. Couldn’t do it any other day. I get it.” Sighing, I pull a tablet from my top desk drawer and pretend to get ready for my important meeting coming up in ten minutes. “There have been worse gaffes. But do we have to deal with the lawyersandthe Moreaus?”

“Actually, ma’am, the lawyers are already here.”

I roll my eyes as I stand up and straighten out my blazer. “Tell the lawyers they must wait. Danica isn’t going to hangaround when there’s baby shit to take care of back on the East Coast.” For all I know, this is the woman’s first vacation from a screaming baby in her house.

Vern stiffens where he stands. “Ms. Penrose is with them.”

My hand hovers above the off switch on my computer monitor. “What?”

“She’s here with the lawyers. Should I...?”

“Tell them to keep waiting. I have a more important meeting to get to.”

“You’ll be happy to know that Ms. Lieberfield is not with them. I asked. She doesn’t plan on attending.”

“I’m sure Presley will be happy to hear that.” Are we still doing this? Alessa is here? With her lawyers? With HR? In some damn office we’ve holed them up in until I can finish signing papers with Moreau and her lawyer?

Yeah. Her. Sure.

It’s quite evident that my guard is already so down that I am less than prepared to see the sophisticated blond woman sitting in the conference room, flanked by two bodyguards and a timid lawyer.