Bared to You

Engaged.
I felt the blood drain from my face, my
gaze shifting to where the man I loved stood with
the woman he must’ve once loved, his hand
moving to the small of her back to steady her as
she leaned into him with a laugh.
As my stomach twisted with jealousy and sick
fear, it struck me that I’d assumed he had never
had a serious romantic relationship before me.
Stupid. As hot as he was, I should’ve known
better.
Magdalene touched my shoulder. “You should
sit down, Eva. You’re very pale.”
I knew I was breathing too fast and my
speeding pulse rate was dangerously high.
“You’re right.”
Moving to the nearest available chair, I got off
my feet. Magdalene sat beside me.
“You love him,” she said. “I didn’t see it. I’m
sorry. And I’m sorry for what I said to you the first
time we met.”
“You love him, too,” I replied woodenly, my gaze
unfocused. “And at that time, I didn’t. Not yet.”
“Doesn’t excuse me, does it?”
I gratefully accepted another glass of
champagne when it was offered to me and took a
second for Magdalene before the waiter
straightened to move on. We clinked glasses in a
pitiful display of scorned female solidarity. I
wanted to leave. I wanted to get up and walk out. I
wanted Gideon to realize I’d left, to be forced to

---

leave after me. I wanted him to feel some of the
pain I felt. Stupid, immature, hurtful imaginings that
made me feel small.
I took comfort from Magdalene sitting silently
beside me in commiseration. She knew how it felt
to love Gideon and want him too much. That I
sensed she was as miserable as I was confirmed
what a threat Corinne might be.
Had he been pining for her this whole time?
Was she the reason he’d closed himself off from
other women?
“There you are.”
I looked up as Gideon found me. Of course
Corinne was still on his arm and I got the full effect
of the two of them as a couple. There were, quite
simply, impossibly gorgeous together.
Corinne took a seat beside me and Gideon
brushed his fingertips over my cheek. “I have to
speak with someone,” he said. “Would you like
me to bring you back anything?”
“Stoli and cranberry. Make it a double.” I
needed a buzz. Bad.
“All right.” But he frowned at my request before
he walked away.
“I’m so glad to meet you, Eva,” Corinne said.
“Gideon has told me so much about you.”
“It can’t have been too much. You two weren’t
gone that long.”
“We talk nearly every day.” She smiled, and
there was nothing fake or malicious in her
expression. “We’ve been friends a long time.”
“More than friends,” Magdalene said pointedly.
Corinne frowned at Magdalene and I realized I
wasn’t supposed to know. Was it she or Gideon
or both of them that had decided it was best not to
tell me? Why cover up something if there was
nothing to hide?
“Yes, that’s true,” she admitted with obvious

---

reluctance. “Although that was some years ago
now.”
I twisted in my seat to face her. “You still love
him.”
“You can’t blame me for that. Any woman who
spends time with him falls in love with him. He’s
beautiful and untouchable. That’s an irresistible
combination.” Her smile softened. “He tells me
you’ve inspired him to start opening up. I’m
grateful to you for that.”
I was about to say, 
I didn’t do it for you
. Then an
insidious doubt drifted through my mind, making a
vulnerable spot inside me fold in on itself.
Was I doing it for her without knowing it?
I twisted the base of my empty champagne flute
around and around on the table. “He was going to
marry you.”
“And it was the biggest mistake of my life
walking away.” Her hand went to her throat, her
slender fingers restlessly stroking, as if toying with
a necklace she’d normally find there. “I was young
and in some ways he frightened me. He was so
possessive. It wasn’t until after I married that I
realized possessiveness is much better than
indifference. At least for me.”
I looked away, fighting the nausea that rose in
my throat.
“You’re awfully quiet,” she said.
“What is there to say?” Magdalene tossed out.
We all loved him. We were all available to him.
In the end, he would make a choice between us.
“You should know, Eva,” Corinne began,
looking at me with those clear aquamarine eyes,
“he’s told me how special you are to him. It took
me some time to gather the courage to come
back here and face you two together. I even
canceled a flight I had booked a couple weekends

---

ago. I interrupted him at some charity event he
was giving a speech at, poor guy, to tell him I was
on my way and to ask for his help getting settled.”
I froze, feeling as brittle as cracked glass. She
had to be talking about the advocacy center
dinner, the night Gideon and I had sex for the first
time. The night we’d christened his limo and he’d
immediately withdrawn; then left me abruptly.
“When he called me back,” she continued, “he
told me he’d met someone. That he wanted you
and me to meet when I got into town. I ended up
chickening out. He’s never asked me to meet a
woman in his life before.”