Stripping It Down by Alden Jami Page A

the bedroom. He couldn't remember ever feeling this happy, this...peaceful. Though he hadn't really been conscious of it, the entire time he'd been in San Francisco, a subtle tension had weighed on his shoulders as he struggled to keep a balance between pushing Kit into a relationship without overwhelming her with the force of his emotions.
    Last night had changed all that. She loved him, he was sure of it.
    She might not have been able to say it, but he felt it in every touch, every kiss, the way she wrapped her arms and legs around him in an almost desperate grip. The words would come eventually. What mattered was that they were going to be together. Bone-deep warmth surged through him as he imagined their life together. The words would come soon enough. All that mattered was Kit was finally his.
    Steely morning light cast the living room in shadows, and he could hear the hum of Kit's computer in the otherwise silent apartment. He quickly fixed himself coffee and sat down at her desk to check his email.
    As he clicked open a browser window and logged into his remote email client, he noticed Kit's e-mail was still up. He glanced quickly at her in-box, then looked away.
    Jake still had the nagging feeling that Kit was keeping something from him, but snooping was not the way to ease his mind. How could he keep her hard-won trust if he went searching through her correspondence?
    He was working his way through his messages when a message for Kit flashed on the screen. Reflexively Jake glanced at it.
    The message was from someone named Tina, the subject line “Your Latest C. Teaser Column."
    C. Teaser...something about that name bugged him. Now he remembered. That column Michael had sent him, where the funny, bitchy woman made fun of the majorly pussy-whipped guy she was dating.
    A burning ache settled into the pit of his stomach. Why would someone e-mail Kit about C. Teaser?
    Almost involuntarily, he read Tina's message.
    Kit, your latest column was genius! One of the funniest ever. I still haven't read the one you wrote this morning (you must be getting tired of your sex slave if you're up at 2 A.M. writing instead of gettin’ down!) but if it's anything like the last one, you should be signing a book contract by the end of the week.
    Unable to stop himself, Jake searched through Kit's Sent folder and pulled up twenty editions of "Stripping It Down." With every word he read, the gnawing sickness grew until his whole body throbbed with hurt and rage as he realized what Kit really thought of him, of their relationship.
    While he'd been falling in love, she'd thought of him as a sex toy and used him as fodder to entertain her readers. While he'd been entertaining visions of their future together, she'd been glorying in leading him around by his dick, waiting for the moment she could let him down hard as payback for the way he'd treated her twelve years ago.
    He didn't bother reading the column she'd written at two o’clock this morning. He already knew what it said. No doubt she'd ridiculed his love, laughed at how thoroughly she'd duped him, and figuratively rubbed her hands as she anticipated how, very soon, she would grind his heart into a fine powder.
    No wonder she hadn't been able to tell him she loved him.
    Hot, humiliated tears burned his eyes, and he thought for a second he might barf all over her keyboard.
    He had to get out of her apartment.
    Grabbing his pants from where he'd dropped them last night on the living room rug, he hopped his way into them and slammed open the bedroom door. He saw her jolt awake in the corner of his eye but couldn't bring himself to look at her. If he did, he was afraid he'd strangle her, or worse, start crying like a chick and beg her to tell him none of it was true.
    Tugging his suitcase out of the closet, he started throwing his clothes inside, yanking open the dresser drawer he'd claimed and shoving in shirts, underwear, and socks. Suits, pants, dress shirts were pulled from hangers