Chapter 198

He scowled at her. “My feelings have nothing to do with this.”

“Oookay,” she agreed verbally, if not intellectually. “You behaved badly.

You admit that. Why cut me a check afterward unless you intended it to be an apology? You must have felt some guilt.”

He ignored the emphasis she’d put on the word “felt.” Stepping back from her—since his stance had so obviously been another indication of his emotions—he tugged on the hem of his tux jacket and said, “Guilt had nothing to do with it. You were desperate and I took advantage of that. My behavior was…” obviously he had to search for a word that didn’t imply guilt “…dishonorable.”

Honor was a priority for him. Unlike most men she’d known, who never gave such things a second thought. He clearly had his own code of ethics, and that fierce sense of right and wrong was one of the things she’d loved best about him.

“I’m glad you still care about things like that,” she mused aloud.

He sent her a piercing lo