She drew in a deep, shuddering, indignant breath. ‘Rosie was a virgin before she met you!’
There was a long, odd silence. ‘Oh, I see,’ he said, nodding his head slowly. ‘Now I understand.’
‘So you’re not denying it?’
‘That I was her first lover?’ His mouth flattened as he shook his head. ‘No, I’m not denying it. How could I, when it’s true?’
Funny that it should hurt so much to hear him admit it. ‘Well, at least that’s one thing sorted out,’ she said flatly.
‘I’m just rather surprised that she told you about it, that’s all.’
‘Really?’
His eyes were piercing. ‘Well, do you talk about your sex life with your friends?’
‘No. Of course I don’t.’ Not that she had a sex life to talk about, of course.
‘So you see me as some barbaric despoiler, do you, Fran? Plundering the treasures of innocent young women? Taking their virtue and then discarding them afterwards, like a piece of garbage? Positively medieval,’ he mused.
Put like that, it did sound a little far-fetched. ‘I didn’t say that—’
‘No. But that’s what you meant.’ His eyes bored into her. ‘Or maybe you think I raped Rosie?’
‘No!’ She stared at him in horror.
Her vehemence was reassuring. ‘Well, then—the logical conclusion to what you’re suggesting is that because we had sex, then we should have got married. I don’t think people travel down that particular road any more, Fran.’ He saw the frozen expression on her face and his eyes widened in fascinated astonishment. ‘I don’t believe it,’ he said softly. ‘You did just that! That’s why you got married, isn’t it? Because he took your virginity?’
‘That’s none of your damn business!’
‘No, maybe it isn’t.’ But her face told him that his guess was accurate enough. ‘What is my business, though, is how you and that pathetic pack of women attempted to sabotage a charity ball!’
Fran awkwardly rubbed her bare toes over the carpet. ‘Look, Sam, it was just a case of five women playing a little joke—’
‘A little joke?’ he choked incredulously. ‘Really? Making me out to be a serial seducer in front of friends and colleagues whose opinion I value? Forgive me if I don’t share your sense of humour!’
‘Rosie is a friend whose opinion I value!’
‘But you didn’t bother to check your facts, did you? What did she tell you, by the way?’
Fran’s cheeks went the colour of brick. ‘The same as she said at the ball—’
‘Oh, you mean that charming announcement of being deflowered and dumped?’
‘Which was unplanned, by the way—’
‘Was it really?’ he questioned witheringly. ‘Sure you hadn’t been rehearsing it together for days?’
‘No! I had no idea that she was going to say that!’
‘But you believed everything she told you, didn’t you?’
‘I’ve known her since we were at school together. Of course I believed her!’ Her eyes flashed. ‘Okay then, Sam—why don’t you give me your version of what happened?’
He shook his head and gave a shudder of disgust. ‘I wouldn’t dream of talking about what I did with an ex-lover to a third party!’
Fran’s heart plummeted. ‘But you’re not denying what she said? That you took her virginity?’
‘No,’ he breathed reluctantly. ‘Those facts concerning Rosie are unfortunately true.’