“Are you kidding me?” Laura said in a squawk. “You’re changing your mind because Hazel sounded happy in her diary?”
“No, Hazel was in love, and it came through in how she described Ernest,” Sydney explained. “In what she said about his touch and his behavior. If someone was going to fake that, why would they bother? They know most people would only concentrate on the sex.”
“Well, yeah,” Laura said, gesturing wide with her arms. “That’s the best part.”
“We’ll agree to disagree on that,” Isabel said.
“So...” Laura drawled as she tried to understand, “now Hazel feels more real to you because you are just as head over heels in love with Matthew?”
“Laura!” Isabel jabbed her elbow in Laura’s side.
“Love?” Sydney’s voice was high and tight as something close to panic gripped her chest. “No, I can’t be in love with Matthew. How can I be?” She’d thought he wanted to spend every waking moment together and adored her the same way she adored him. Now she wasn’t sure if any of that was true. “He is not the man I believed he was. The Matthew I dreamed up wouldn’t have read my diary.”
“Wasn’t really a diary,” Laura muttered.
Sydney rubbed her hands against her face. “Okay, my private thoughts. And then he used them.”
“Against your will?” Laura asked.
“Of course not!” Her skin tingled as she remembered how hard Matthew had worked to give her pleasure. Sydney cleared her throat and pushed back her hair from her warm face. “He said he was intimidated because I’m supposedly too sophisticated. Can you believe that?”
“Yeah,” Laura and Isabel said in unison.
Sydney sat up straight. “Seriously?”
Isabel waved the question away. “Matthew has wanted you since the day you showed up in Seedling. You say he stayed away because journalists shouldn’t fraternize with politicians, but maybe that wasn’t it. Have you considered that he didn’t think he had a chance with you?”
Sydney leaned forward in her chair. “That’s ridiculous. He’s Matthew Stone. He has no problems getting the women he wants.”
“That’s true,” Laura said, “but you’re not most women around here. I’ve never seen you flirt. In Seedling, if a woman wants a man she just grabs him and finds the nearest dark corner.”
“Only you do that, Laura,” Isabel said.
“None of this excuses Matthew for what he did,” Sydney said. “He should have told me that he had my notebook. He shouldn’t have read it.”
“Agreed,” Isabel said. “I mean, if Matthew had written down all the ways he was going to seduce and romance you, you wouldn’t look at it.”
Sydney pressed her lips together. She would have been deeply curious to know how Matthew would court and woo her. “I wouldn’t go that far,” she admitted. “I might have taken a peek.”
Isabel took a sip of wine and continued, “And if you knew what his idea of a perfect date might be, you wouldn’t make sure it went off without a hitch. You wouldn’t make sure his dream date came true.”
Sydney shook her head. “There is a big difference between a dream date and an erotic fantasy.”
“Oh, Sydney,” Laura said with a cluck of her tongue, “then you are not dating right.”
Isabel jabbed Laura in the side again.
Sydney raised her hands. “I get it. It is possible that Matthew made a big mistake because he wanted to—”
“Satisfy you.” Laura scooted away from Isabel’s elbow. “And how did you repay the favor? You accused him of having an ulterior motive.”
“He might have one,” Sydney said.
“Oh, please, this is Matthew Stone we’re talking about,” Isabel said. “What you see is what you get.”
“That’s true.” She had seen Matthew at his best and at his worst. He wasn’t perfect but he was a good man. Sydney had been deeply surprised that he had her notebook because it was unlike him to be deceitful. She knew he regretted his actions, not because he got caught, but because it wasn’t honest.
Sydney’s shoulders slumped. “I messed up. I immediately assumed it was a repeat of what happened with my ex and I reacted. But Matthew didn’t need help romancing me. He does just fine on his own. I’m the one who needs a playbook, now more than ever. He’s not going to have anything to do with me.”
“I’m not so sure,” Isabel said. “He’s probably going out of his mind thinking of a way to get you back.”