“Is that a fact?” she fired back at him, her temper sparking. “Does that include the latest man in my life? You remember him—a wonderful guy. I trusted him completely only to discover that he thinks I’m a crook!” Sarcasm flavored her words with bitterness.

Kane looked as if he’d been slapped. The stunned expression on his face and the sudden dead look in his eyes tore at Erin’s heart, but she proudly held her ground. It would be too easy to forgive him, too easy to let him back into her heart.

His shoulders relaxed, the firm muscles slackening. “So that’s how it stands, does it? You won’t let me help you?”

“I don’t need any help. I’m innocent,” she maintained defiantly.

“Would it make you feel better to know that I believe you?”

“Ha! Then why did you accuse me of thievery last night? Why did you wait all this time? Why didn’t you just ask me what I knew about the embezzlement and the fact that there is supposedly an accomplice? Why did you wait,” she asked, her voice quaking, and her eyes meeting his with accusation, “all the while silently condemning me with your eyes!”

“Oh, God, Erin,” he groaned. “I’m so sorry—I was hoping that maybe you had changed your mind….”

“No!” She shook her head firmly, but her voice softened. “Look.” She reached out to touch his arm, but he jerked away form her. “I want to thank you for helping me with Lee. He…was…getting a little out of hand.”

“Erin,” Kane’s voice was steady and low. He stood half-supported by the railing, his head drooping down and facing the lobby two stories below him. “I want you to marry me. I need you to be my wife, and Krista needs a mother. Perhaps I judged you too quickly, but it was only because I was afraid of the truth. I wanted to talk to you about it earlier.” His eyes rolled heavenward and his voice became husky. “God, how many times did I try?” He shook his head disconsolately and continued to stare blankly ahead of him. “But I just couldn’t.”

“Because you didn’t trust me. You couldn’t find it in your heart to accept my innocence,” Erin added in a flat, dead voice.

“There are other possibilities. The accomplice has to be in the legal department….”

“But I was the most convenient choice. The easiest target, right?”

His silence was as condemning as the pained droop of his shoulders. “Oh, God, Erin. Just believe that I love you!” he pleaded.

“I guess you and I have a different meaning for the word,” she replied, her voice broken by emotion. “Goodbye, Kane,” she whispered as she slipped through the door and listened to the sound of his footsteps retreating heavily down the stairs. Biting back the tears that were struggling to fill her eyes, she hurried to the bedroom and pulled out her worn leather suitcase. She tossed it recklessly on the bed. “You’re a coward,” she snipped at herself, “running from the truth that you love him, and no matter what he’s done, the one thing that you want most in life is to be his wife.” Her tiny fist balled up and crashed down on the suitcase. Damn! Why am I such a fool? For an instant she thought about running after him and throwing herself into his arms, but her pride forced her to restrain herself. He thinks you’re a thief, she reminded herself, and the feeling of cold betrayal once again settled upon her. Hurriedly she tossed the rest of her things haphazardly into the suitcase and snapped it shut. She looked around the bedroom to see if she needed anything else but found that she had to get out of the room. It was too crowded with memories, gloriously happy memories of making love to Kane in her bed.