Page 44 (1/2)

"All I’ is if it’s occurred to you that maybe you chose a totally worthless ho to date so that you wouldn’t have to face actuallya fa a woman you loved, the mother of your children, like your mother lost your father? You know, so you could use your ex as the reason to hide froed, tried to act nonchalant "Heck, that’s probably why you chose me, too Because it’s easier to sleep with a totally inappropriate singer there is absolutely no chance of having a future with"

The silence was thick, almost cold, after she finished her point-by-point analysis of his life Suddenly, she realized she’d never seen Marcus look at her like this before

He was angry

Angry with her for having told hiht

Finally, he said, "What about you?" His eyes were narrowed, his jaw tight "You could have anyone, Nicola So why did you date a worthless liar that you probably kneould end up hurting you? Is it the sae? The same reason you hide behind your body and your pretty face rather than letting people see how smart you are? And isn’t that why you chose hts, but we both know you’d never consider sticking it out with a boring old guy in a suit in a million years?"

She hadn’t expected him to come back at her with that, with any of it, and she tried to take her hands froht to say those things to me"

"Don’t throw stones if your own da hiry with her

"See," he told her in a low, hard voice "Hiding fro how smart and talented you really are Even in the bedroo to hide yourself froet you to drop your walls for a split-second"

She understood that she’d upset hi to push her away But that knowledge did nothing to douse her pain If anything, it only made it worse

Because she’d stupidly trusted hiot to her feet in the sand "Fine! You don’t want ht now?"

He stood up, too, facing her "I dare you to try"

As the gauntlet crash down between them, she blurted, "How about I face up to the fact that I’ that we could actually do this with no strings How about I tell you that I knew better than to start falling in love with a guy ould never wanttoo fast and her vision was blurring with tears as she yelled, "How’s that for smart?"