Secrets of You by Mary Campisi

before her with his heart at her feet. She stared at him, eyes bright, then cleared her throat and turned away. She was going to say no . It didn’t matter that he would never be able to forget her or that he’d broken the engagement to protect her. Even if he divulged the real reason for his leaving, what good would that do? Arianna was a private person and throwing her past life in front of her, one that included theft and a pregnancy, was not going to earn him any points and certainly not an opportunity for a second chance.
    “Meet me at Ian’s tomorrow morning, 10:00 a.m .” She opened her car door, slid inside, and drove away before Ash had a chance to respond.

Chapter 5

    Arianna grabbed her coffee and headed toward Ian’s gallery. The Frame was located ten minutes from the city in an upscale shopping plaza. Quinn said Ian Debenidos could spot talent and bullshit in less than five seconds, in people and their work, which made him one of Quinn’s favorite people. Ian liked Arianna’s work, called it “riveting and compelling,” and wanted to showcase her jade collection this fall. His findings appeared regularly in the Arts section of the Sunday paper, along with his bi-weekly commentary on man and art and the interrelationship between the two.
    Why did Eve have to offer Arianna’s services to Ash? Couldn’t she tell from last night’s dinner that Arianna had no desire to be around him? Of course she could. Eve was very intuitive, especially about people and relationships. Hadn’t she been the one to see the real Quinn Burnes behind the arrogance and bluster? And hadn’t she been the only woman to draw out the sensitive side of the man, make him admit he needed her, loved her even? Eve had been watching Ash and Arianna most carefully last night as though she were writing a thesis paper on rebuilding relationships gone bad.
    Why hadn’t Quinn told Ash to go to hell and never come near Arianna again? She’d wanted him to do exactly that, wouldn’t have minded if he’d given the man a black eye. But he’d done neither. He’d actually asked in a roundabout way to consider giving Ash another chance. Interesting, since Quinn usually attacked a situation head on, no dancing around or feigning. So why the unspoken suggestion to forgive and try again? Was he serious? It would be a disaster. She ignored the thumping in her chest. She had to keep her emotions vacuum-packed because if she didn’t, Ash would swoop in like a gush of air and invade her senses, smother her doubt, and capture her heart. Again.
    She could not let him do that.
    Could she?
    Sleep hadn’t come last night, not when all she could think of was his plea for another chance, spoken in such earnest tones, those dark eyes filled with regret and a smattering of hope. He wanted to start again with the truth, not lies. He admitted he wasn’t who he said he was, but what he didn’t know was, neither was she.
    And how exactly would she throw the truth at him? A truth he might think he wanted to know but wouldn’t, not the real story, unadorned, naked, covered in so many lies as to appear unrecognizable. If he knew who she’d been, what she’d done, would he still want a life with her? Marriage? Children? Or would he shun her as “trash” and accuse her of being the one who had betrayed him .
    And if he did those things, would he be wrong?
    The quest for self-respect never ended and no matter the awards, the write-ups in newspapers and magazines, the requests to design a new line for celebrities, she could not move past what she’d done. She’d betrayed her family, stolen from them and discarded them, all before she’d reached eighteen. It didn’t matter that she’d tried to repair the damage; her father would hear none of it. The money she sent was returned, though it was five times what she’d taken from them. There’d not even been a note with the return, just a simple Void slashed across the center.
    She’d thought she could start