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didn’t keep their promises. At least not the guys she’d known.
    There was no way she was staying around to eat breakfast in awkward silence while waiting for him to find a gentle way to let her down by telling her how great last night was but he wasn’t ready for a relationship.
    It’s me, not you.
    Blah. Blah. Blah.
    Feigning sleep might be immature and a bit irrational, but she couldn’t face him. No way. She listened closely as he shuffled through drawers, praying he was heading into the bathroom to take a shower. Then a door closed, followed closely by the sound of running water.
    Juliana practically leapt from the bed, throwing the covers aside and scrambling to her feet. The room looked cheaper than it had last night, although she hadn’t been paying too much attention. She searched around for her clothes, picking up the pieces as she found them. She quickly donned her panties and bra. Then she wiggled into her wrinkled dress. She found only one of her stockings and gave up the search for the other, fearing she was wasting precious time. After stuffing it in her purse, she jammed her feet into the pumps.
    When Juliana reached the door, she paused, casting a glance to the closed bathroom door. Connor was humming as he showered, an endearing trait that made tears sting her eyes. She could almost imagine sharing a home with him, listening to him hum every morning as they got ready to go to work. She swallowed hard, pictured him rubbing his soapy hands over his body. That incredible chest. Flat, sculpted abs. And lower…
    If she didn’t get the hell out of there, she was going to strip and join him in the shower. Then she’d never let him go.
    No.
    She was leaving before he told her to go, before he left her behind. No matter how much she wanted to pretend, even for a little while, that she mattered to him, she didn’t. They’d had sex. Twice. That was all. There was no commitment, no emotional entanglement. No true feelings. At least not on his part. She refused to let her mind wander any farther down that path, preferring to cut and run, although the thought that she might never see Connor again choked her up.
    Opening the door, she slipped into the hall. The quiet click of the latch hit her like a blow to the gut. Sniffing back the threatening tears, she hurried down the hall to the elevator. Thankfully, no one else was out and about. When she reached the lobby, she walked with her head held high, moving quickly—just short of running—to reach the exit.
    Outside, Juliana fished her phone out of her purse as she made her way across the street to the small shopping center. She hadn’t dared call a cab and wait for it at the Ramada. No doubt Connor knew she was gone by now. If he tried to chase her down, there would be a confrontation, a very public confrontation. That, she wouldn’t allow.
    Mallory answered on the second ring as Juliana slipped inside Starbucks. “Jules? What’s up?”
    “I need a ride. Please.”
    * * *
    Connor stepped out of the bathroom, tucking in the towel he’d wrapped around his hips. One look around the room made him frown. “Shit.”
    Juliana was gone.
    “Shit. Shit. Shit.”
    Before he could even process that, there was a knock at the door. Breakfast, no doubt. Not that he had an appetite now. He checked the peephole, hoping she’d gone for ice or a soda and had locked herself out. A glance back showed her clothes were gone, except for one black stocking resting underneath the desk.
    No such luck in the peephole. A uniformed employee was reaching up to knock again.
    Connor opened the door, let the lady wheel the cart into the room, and had to dig his pants out from under the duvet to tip her. After she left, he picked up Juliana’s stocking and sat on the bed, feeling dejected as he rubbed the silky sheer fabric between his fingers.
    She’d run away.
    But why?
    The first time they’d made love had convinced him that their connection was going to be anything but a