She was so upset, so angry, so hurt that she was actually in tears. “How could you?” she choked out. “Talk about such a thing—joke about such a thing—even think about making love to me as a way to revolt Ariana Bayless—”

“Well, I admit that would be my primary motive, but I think I could enjoy some secondary benefits as well,” he said, coming closer again, dropping his voice into amorous accents. “It’s been a long time, and I surely do miss holding on to you.”

His arms were around her again, once more he bent to kiss her. This time she hit him in the chest as hard as she could and scrambled away before he could react. His smile changed in an instant to a snarl. “You might not want to play, but you better be careful how you say no,” he said in a low voice.

She was trembling now; she felt the loose wobble in her knees and arms and shoulders. “I thought you wanted to be with me,” she said, and even the words sounded pitiful and shaky. “I thought you loved me.”

Again, he threw his hands in the air; it was his frequent expression of exasperation at the ridiculous, incomprehensible world around him. “What does that have to do with anything? Why are you fighting with me? All I did—”

“All you did!” she exclaimed. She heard the shrill note in her voice, but she couldn’t erase it. Her words tumbled out disordered and incoherent. “All you did was want to see anybody except me—and tell me I don’t have anything to offer you—and then insult me by—by—How can you treat somebody you love that way? How can you treat anybody that way?”

He raised his hands again and turned his back. “Fine. If that’s how you feel, don’t come back and see me again.”

She ran for the door before he could realize she was headed out. Her tears nearly blinded her. She tripped once and heard him turn to watch her. “Kit—” he said, but she had reached the door and flung it open.

“It’s how I feel, so don’t ask me back,” she said over her shoulder and stumbled across the threshold practically into the arms of the astonished guard.