Sex, Lies & Her Impossible Boss by Jennifer Rae Page A

man down.
    Faith looked small and very young in her school uniform. She
brought her knees up to her chin.
    ‘I was naïve and stupid and did something I shouldn’t
have.’
    ‘What?’ He gritted his teeth.
    ‘He was my teacher. It only happened a couple of times.’
    ‘Did he...did he make you do something you didn’t want to?’
Cash’s jaw clamped shut.
    ‘It wasn’t like that. I...I chased him.’
    ‘How old were you?’
    ‘Seventeen. Old enough to know better.’
    ‘Young enough to be fooled by an older man.’
    ‘I wasn’t fooled, I was in...’
    ‘What...love? You were in love with him?’ Something sparked in
Cash’s head. She still felt the sting of having her heart broken. That sting had
turned into more of a burning numbness for him. Although his mind had wandered
back to Jess more often since he’d been back in Australia, he realised he wasn’t
angry about it any more. He looked at the sadness on Faith’s face. That was what
he felt too. Sad that it had changed the way he thought about love and sex and
trust.
    ‘I thought I was. He paid attention to me. Told me things I
wanted to hear,’ she said, her voice soft and her accent broadening.
    ‘That’s not love. Love is when two people care about each
other—not just when one person has the complete power over another.’ Like Jess
had over him right from the beginning. She’d known how he felt about her. She’d
known he was besotted and she had manipulated him to get what she wanted. To get
closer to Charlie.
    Faith’s eyes met his. There was a hint of glaze over them as if
a tear was close to the surface. ‘I thought you didn’t believe in love.’
    Cash shrugged. ‘I believe people think they’re in love. But
it’s just a fairy tale. It always ends. I don’t believe in happy ever afters and
you shouldn’t either.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Because when you love someone, you trust them. And when you
trust someone you’ll always be disappointed.’
    ‘Not always.’
    ‘Always. Who else have you loved, Faith—besides this joker who
used you?’
    ‘No one. Except my family. My parents, my brothers.’
    ‘And have you ever felt betrayed by them?’
    Faith hesitated. ‘I felt betrayed when my parents sent me away
to school. And my brothers teased me constantly about what happened. They still
do.’
    ‘The people who love us have the power to hurt us the most.
That’s why I try not to love anyone.’
    ‘That’s why sex is just sex for you.’
    ‘Exactly. Simple. Uncomplicated.’
    ‘Unable to get hurt.’
    She made it sound as if he was scared. ‘Why put yourself into a
situation where you’re sure to get hurt? The smart thing to do would be to avoid
that altogether.’
    ‘The smart thing, or the easy thing? Love exists so you can
feel it. Don’t you remember what it feels like to be in love? Isn’t it
wonderful?’
    It was. For twelve months. Then it felt as if his heart were
being ripped out through his nostrils. ‘It’s not worth the pain.’
    ‘So you’d rather go through life feeling nothing so you don’t
have to experience the pain?’
    ‘I don’t feel “nothing”. I have friends and I like my job. I’m
content.’
    ‘Content? Content is a word used by people who are too afraid
to risk it all. Being content is not the same as the feeling of being in love.
Love feels like you’re flying and sick all at once. I want to feel that. I want
to think about someone all the time and feel invincible.’ Faith had let go of
her knees and was looking more like herself again. Optimistic. Animated.
Faithful. Gorgeous. ‘Like my heart is so swollen it’ll burst through my chest.
Like nothing anyone can say or do can hurt me.’
    ‘But you do get hurt. This teacher...this...predator. He hurt
you. I’d suspect pretty bad by the way you can’t get through this scene. Was the
love worth all this pain?’ As the words left his mouth he knew he shouldn’t have
said them. His honesty always got him into trouble. Like when he