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"Johnny. "
"Our Johnny?"
Kate refused to let the pronoun wound her. "Yes. Last night—"
"He slept with me, what? A few months ago, then wouldnt stop calling. Hes on the rebound, Katie. He cant be in love with you. "
Kate tried not to let the word rebound find purchase, but it did. "I knew youd make it about you. "
"But . . . hes your boss, for Gods sake. "
"I quit. Im starting a job in advertising in two weeks. "
"Oh, great. Now youre giving up your career for a guy. "
"We both know Im not good enough to make it at the networks. Thats your dream, Tully. It always was. " She could see that her friend wanted to argue the point; she saw, too, that any argument would be a lie. "Im in love with him, Tully," she said finally. "I have been for years. "
"Why didnt you tell me?"
"I was scared. "
"Of what?"
Katie couldnt answer.
Tully stared at her. In those dark, expressive eyes, she saw everything: fear, worry, and jealousy. "This has disaster written all over it. "
"I didnt trust Chad all those years ago, remember? But I put it aside because you needed me to. "
"Speaking of love disasters. "
"Can you be happy for me?"
Tully stared at her, and though she finally smiled, it wasnt the real thing and both of them knew it. "Ill try. "
Rebound. The word, like the image it represented, kept springing into Kates mind.
He slept with me, what? A few months ago . . .
. . . cant be in love with you . . .
As soon as Tully left the apartment, Kate called in sick to work and crawled into bed. She hadnt been there more than twenty minutes when a knock at the front door startled her out of her thoughts. "Damn it, Tully," she muttered, pulling on her pink velour robe and slipping into her bunny slippers. "Cant you ever remember your key?" She opened the door.
Johnny stood there. "You dont look sick. "
"Liar. I look terrible. "
He reached forward, untied the belt, and pushed the robe off her shoulders. It fell around her feet in a poufy pink puddle. "A flannel nightgown. How sexy. " He closed the door behind them.
She tried not to think about her conversation with Tully—
rebound
cant love you
—but the words chased one another across her mind, tripping every now and then over his: . . . dont want to hurt you.
She saw now, suddenly, the danger shed accepted so naïvely. He could shatter her heart and there was no way to protect herself.
