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  Caroline sat there, blinking, trying regain her equilibrium. “Drew? How can this be happening?”

  “I’m sorry. You have no idea how sorry I really am. Caroline, I love you. I would never do anything to purposely cause you or your family any pain. I’d never hurt Pepper purposely, either. That’s why I’m telling you before you read it in the paper on Friday.”

  The bottom dropped out of her stomach. “Friday? As in the day after tomorrow?”

  He nodded. “That’s when it’s going to run.”

  It was all starting to come into focus now. That first date when she’d mentioned that Sydney had said some things were wonky at Texas Star. Then he had access to inside info through Pepper and Sydney after she was laid off. “I am such a fool.” She hadn’t realized she’d said the words out loud, but the look on his face made her glad she did. “All along I thought you were seeing me because you cared. Drew, we agreed that anything I said when we were together—God, when we were in bed—was off the record. What, did you have a tape recorder going the entire time? Were you writing down everything I said and passing the notes on to your little assistant?”

  He frowned and shook his head vehemently. “I know this isn’t going to make you feel any better, but this story was not born from anything you said. Everything was always off the record when we were together. Caroline, you have to believe me when I promise you that this paper has been investigating Texas Star for a long time.”

  “And you expect me to believe that after all this time the pieces just magically fell into place once we started dating? That it wasn’t because of the proximity you had to the daughters of both organizations that are being taken to task? Do you think I’m an idiot, Drew?”

  He looked as if she’d slapped him. And at that moment, the wild angry beast in her that he had unleashed wished she could. That in itself scared her, because she abhorred violence.

  But she felt so violated.

  Used and violated.

  She couldn’t even wrap her mind around the fallout that this was going to cause—the dark shadows it would cast on Coopersmith & Bales; how it would stress her relationship with her father and Pepper; and the television show... The sponsors were probably already running to disassociate themselves from the scandal that was sure to reach much farther than the lowly Dallas Journal of Business and Development.

  “I’ve been sitting here racking my brain trying to think of some way to convince you that I did not use you, that this story was in the works long before you and I were together.”

  “Save it, Drew.” She stood up to leave.

  Drew stood up, too, and moved between her and the door.

  “No, Caroline, listen to me. Please. When we got the latest quarterly earnings statement from Texas Star, I gave it to Bia to look at. She’s the one who noticed the discrepancies. She talked to someone on the inside who spilled everything. Things that you and Pepper would have no way of knowing. Things even I didn’t know until I read the story. The minute Bia told me she was onto something at Texas Star, I recused myself from the project because loving you and working on the story would be a conflict of interest. I chose you over reporting this story. I have not even been involved in editing it. The only reason I read it is I have to sign off on every story before we go to press. I’ve told you a lot more than we ever reveal about our work before the paper is published. I shouldn’t have said anything about our source.” His face softened. He signed. “Will you please believe me when I tell you I’m sorry? I love you, and I never meant for this to hurt you. Or your family or Pepper.”

  He was so tall and imposing, and damn it all if she didn’t find her mind remembering how he looked as he was making love to her, how well their bodies fit together and how his lips tasted. Now, those same lips were moving very fast, trying to convince her that he didn’t use her to further himself, his career. So that he could look like the golden boy reporting the story of the century. God, and now even she was starting to think that she believed that the allegations he was going publish were true.

  But then something he’d just said clicked.

  “So, you have to sign off on every story?”

  He nodded.

  “What happens if you don’t sign off on something?”

  “I pull it and put something in its place. Like we did for the business profile when we featured Celebrations, Inc.”

  She put her hands on her hips and looked up at him, locking gazes, keeping her expression hard and unwavering. “So, if you wanted to, you could refuse to run the piece on Texas Star?”

  He flinched and looked at her as if she had two heads. “I could pull a story if there was a substantial reason it shouldn’t run. What are you suggesting, Caroline?”

  “I’m suggesting that if you love me as much as you say you do, then you’ll kill the story.”

  Again, he looked like she’d struck him, only this time her words had landed like a punch in the gut.

  “That’s not going to happen,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with that story. It’s one hundred percent true. We have the facts, figures and documents to back it up.”

  “Drew, let me make myself clear, since you obviously don’t understand. If this story runs, it’s going to hurt a lot of people I love. I am begging you to pull it. Unless you do, I will have no choice but to walk out of this office and out of your life for good.”

  “You’re giving me an ultimatum?” he asked. “You want me to not do what’s good and just and right? You want me to look the other way after Texas Star has defrauded their employees, their investors? These people are going to be left with nothing once the smoke clears. And you think that’s okay?”

  Now, she felt like she was the one who had been punched in the gut. Why did it always have to end this way? Why did it always have to end? Period.

  She felt herself choking up and knew that she had to get out of there. But once she walked away, her whole life was going to come tumbling down around her.

  “I stand by the people I love, Drew. I cannot believe that a man like Harris Merriweather, a man I’ve known my entire life, is capable of the heinous acts you’re accusing him of. And what’s more, I will never believe that my father used the company my great-grandfather built from scratch to help him cover his tracks. So, I’ll ask you one more time. If you love me, please pull the story.”

  Drew stood and walked to the door. His face was hard and angry. “Then I guess this is goodbye, Caroline. Because if you really loved me as deeply as I love you, there would be no way that you would ask me to disregard the truth.”

  Chapter Twelve

  The next afternoon, Drew sat alone in his office. The Texas Star story was finished—with a firm “We never discuss client matters with the press,” issued by Richard Bales. Apparently, Charles Coopersmith had left on a postretirement cruise early that morning and could not be reached for comment.

  Drew hadn’t heard from Caroline since he’d watched her walk out to her car and drive out of his life. Now, a pervading sense of numbness kicked in when he thought of her. He was glad. Because if not, he wouldn’t be able to function. He had to conduct business and get through the day, since work was all he had left.

  Too bad this numbness couldn’t block out thoughts of Caroline, too. And thoughts of her had been dogging him all day. Caroline in the kitchen; Caroline in the bedroom; something funny she’d said; an expression she’d make.

  What was she doing today?

  Had she talked to her father before he left on the cruise?

  At least a dozen times today, he’d started to pick up the phone to call her and then remembered that last night, on her own volition, she’d walked out of his life for good.

  How could he have loved someone who had no idea what he was about? What he was made of? How could he love someone who had so little regard for the truth?

  A crescendo of laughter peaked and pulled him from his brooding. Through the glass walls of his office, he watched the rest of the staff celebrating t
heir coup, the fact that they’d scooped all the financial newspapers—and more so that they’d finally dismantled “Stonewall,” as they’d not so fondly taken to calling Harris Merriweather.

  Bia popped open a bottle of champagne and was pouring it in paper cups and coffee mugs. Drew watched the staff toast her. As they should. It was her moment. Moments like this were too few and far between. She deserved to bask in the glow.

  It was as if he were watching a silent movie—shiny, happy people putting work aside for the moment, taking the last hour to celebrate Bia’s victory.

  He, on the other hand, still had work to do. The paper was ready to be emailed to the printer—all of this week’s stories had been written and edited. The advertising had been placed. Everything that needed to be officially approved had been by all who officially signed off.

  This week’s edition was good to go.

  Why, then, had he not sent it to the press? All he needed to do was push a button to send it on its way. Then, tomorrow morning, evidence of the staff’s hard work would magically appear on newsstands, in mailboxes on desks and coffee tables all across Dallas.

  Interesting that he had not yet heard anything from Texas Star. Surely by now they knew that the story would run tomorrow. Drew had braced himself for a threatening call or even a cease and desist from the energy company’s legal counsel. But he had not heard a peep.

  Until Drew pressed Send on that email, there was still a chance in the universe that he and Caroline could be. But once he’d detonated this week’s issue, their relationship would be officially over.

  The email was up on his monitor. The mouse was in his hand. His finger hovered over the mouse. All he had to do was click.

  Click. It would be just that easy. If only he could unstick his frozen finger.

  The sound of someone tapping on the glass made him jump. He looked up to see Bia holding up two coffee mugs, asking in pantomime if he wanted one.

  He waved her away, pointing to his computer and shrugging. His own way of pantomiming that he was still working. Actually, masquerading was probably a better word, but Bia didn’t need to know that.

  As she turned away, Drew’s gaze landed on the bottle of champagne that Caroline had brought in last night and forgotten in her hurry. It stood like a sentinel keeping watch over him. Taunting him...Don’t push that button. Before you do, think of all you’re giving up.

  But if he didn’t, anything he gained would never make up for the integrity and self-respect he lost.

  In one aggressive rush, all the anger that had been hidden behind the numbness broke through. Caroline didn’t love him. If she did, then she would never have given him the ultimatum to kill the story or lose her forever.

  Because by simply saying that, she’d lost him.

  His index finger came down hard on the mouse.

  The pin had been pulled from the grenade.

  * * *

  Sleep and baking had always been Caroline’s defense against a dark night of the soul. When life’s problems got too big or too hard, all she had to do was bake a cake, and after that was done, she would close her eyes, and for a few blissful hours she could cast off her troubles.

  So what was a girl to do after baking six cakes, and still sleep would not come to her? What any sensible girl would do—she enlisted the help of her friends.

  Despite the fact that she was approaching thirty-six hours of sleep deprivation—and she’d comforted herself with so much cake that even her sweat pants were beginning to feel tight—she had asked her friends to meet her for dinner. A.J. had offered to cook, saying she had some recipes she was dying to try. Eager to get the contraband out of the house, Caroline had offered to bring dessert.

  The girls of Celebrations, Inc. hadn’t yet gotten word on whether the pilot had passed the muster. They were a few days—maybe even a week or ten days—away from getting that news. And, oh, how she could use some good news right about now.

  But first she had to face a little more bad weather before she could hope for brighter days. She hadn’t yet told Pepper about the article, and she owed it to her friend to tell her the news herself rather than letting her read about it the same way the masses would.

  She’d invited Pepper over for a drink before the dinner at A.J.’s. Caroline just hoped that Pepper would still be speaking to her after she told her everything.

  After showering and dressing in a pair of black wool pants and a gray silk button-down, Caroline opened a bottle of merlot and set out a block of Irish cheddar cheese that she’d picked up at the market the other day. It was a cheese that Drew had introduced her to, and she’d gotten this block for them to share.

  A lump formed in her throat, and she chastised herself for being ridiculous. How could she be upset over a man who would toss her best friend and family under the bus for a few moments of professional glory?

  Still, she’d allowed herself to care for him, and the empty place that he had once occupied so well felt like a big, gaping hole. It would just take a while for the wound to heal, she reminded herself.

  She poured herself some wine and went into the living room, doing her best to push thoughts of Drew into the dark recesses of her mind. Right now, she needed to concentrate on how in the world she was going to break the news to Pepper. The mere thought made her a little queasy.

  Ten minutes later, Pepper arrived, all smiles and hugs. She obviously knew nothing about the situation at hand. They sat at Caroline’s kitchen table, drinking wine and making small talk about everything under the sun until, inevitably, the conversation turned to Drew.

  “Where is Clark Kent on this fine Thursday night?” Pepper asked.

  Hearing the nickname that Pepper had bestowed on him made Caroline’s heart clench, or maybe it was a physical reaction to what she was about to tell her friend. “I have no idea.”

  She took a long sip of wine, hoping that she seemed more nonchalant than she felt.

  Pepper’s face fell. “Caroline...? What’s going on honey?”

  Caroline felt her composure begin to slip. So she didn’t speak for a good thirty seconds while her armor hardened again. Finally, she took a deep breath and said what she needed to say.

  “I’m afraid that your father was right when he told you to warn me away from Drew.”

  Caroline clamped her lip shut and bit the inside of her cheeks to keep the tears from leaking. The great pains she was taking to hold them in made her nose burn and her cheeks hurt.

  Pepper leaned in. “What happened? Tell me everything,” she insisted in a low, dish-me-the-goods voice.

  Tell me everything.

  Pepper’s words, the wine, the cheese and crackers...it was déjà vu—flashback to that night after Caroline had first met Drew. Only it had been a Monday night. Tonight was Thursday. And back then the whole world had seemed bright and shiny and full of new possibilities.

  Now, here she sat trying to find the words to tell her friend that the man she and Pepper had celebrated with so much gusto really was as big a louse as Harris Merriweather had foretold.

  How could she be so stupid?

  “Pepper, I have to tell you something, and I just don’t quite know how to say it.”

  “Oh, God, please don’t tell me you’re pregnant and he’s left you.”

  She wished it were something that simple. At least a baby would be loved and wanted, even if single parenthood would not be ideal.

  “No, I’m not pregnant.” And her prospects for a family of her own had never looked bleaker. Because now not only was she heartbroken, but she didn’t trust her own judgment when it came to men. How had her picker strayed so far off course? Then again, she reminded herself, beginning a relationship with a one-night stand hadn’t exactly set the stage for a lifetime of bliss.

  She tried to convince herself of this, but something about it rang hollow. Maybe it was because she was leaving out the part where she’d actually fallen in love with him.

  “I think Drew may have used me to ge
t to you for a story for his newspaper.”

  Pepper frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  She told her friend about the story that was due to come out tomorrow. Pepper was silent for a long minute. Caroline could see the wheels turning, but she didn’t sense any anger in her friend.

  “So, did you actually tell him something that helped him shape the story?”

  “Well, no. Not exactly. I mean, because we were dating, he was around you and Sydney. Sydney lost her job and because of that, one of the reporters at the paper went on a witch hunt until she found someone who would talk.”

  “But it wasn’t Sydney, right?”

  “No, not as far as I know. But I really don’t think so.”

  “And you say that he didn’t write the story himself?”

  Caroline shook her head. “In fact, he said he recused himself from the story once he...once he...”

  “Honey, what is it?”

  “Once he fell in love with me.”

  The words seemed to resonate in the air.

  Pepper blew out a breath. “I know you’re not going to want to hear this, but I’m going to say it anyway. I have no idea what the article is about—Daddy is always dealing with press who seem to come preprogrammed to believe that any very rich man didn’t get that way by being an honest man.” She shrugged. “I don’t get in the middle of my father’s business dealings. It’s something that’s never interested me, and thank God my dad isn’t like yours and thinks I need to carry on his legacy. But I digress. What I wanted to say was I believe that Drew loves you. Call me a hopeless romantic, but there is something about the way that guy looks at you that nearly causes everything in his wake to spontaneously combust.”

  Caroline was doing her best to concentrate on how well her friend was handling the news, rather than the part that she was reinforcing that Caroline had probably just let the love of her life get away.