Free Dirty Little Secrets by Kierney Scott

tally?” A cold realisation dawned on her. “And Booker knows about it. That’s why you called him. Did you have a plan? Does he know everything?”
    Ben ran a hand through his short dark hair. He crossed the room to her and tried again to reach for her hands, but she pulled them away.
    “Answer me!” she screamed. She did not care who heard her. She would give every bloody journalist on her lawn the story of the year.
    “Yes, Booker knows about my friendship with Chad. And he knows about you. It was his idea to use you as a cover.”
    Megan let out a stream of air. “Fantastic. This story just keeps getting better and better.” Megan backed up and collapsed on the leather wingback chair in the corner of the room. She closed her eyes and dropped her head into her hands. She felt so alone. She had not felt so betrayed since she had left Mississippi. That time it had been another man who had let her down. When would she learn her lesson? No one was to be trusted. If she could not rely on Ben, there was no one.
    She wished she could be normal and just cry. This would be a bloody great time to do it. A normal person would cry. Every week she saw men and women on the witness stand dissolving into tears, crying and whimpering. Maybe she should work on learning how to do that, because she needed something to soothe the dull ache she felt in her chest.
    She shook her head. She was not going to feel sorry for herself or wish that she was weaker. She had made her choices. She had benefited from her relationship with Ben in many ways, even if he had just proved he was like every other man she had ever known, taking when there was nothing left to give. She could choke back her righteous indignation. She could play her role.
    “So what now?” Megan asked.
    Ben squeezed in beside her, his arms closing around her. She felt dirty and used, more than any one night stand could ever measure up to. James had not made her feel like this, sad and broken.
    “We are going to issue a statement and then you will go into a residential treatment facility to address your sex addiction issues.”
    Megan’s head shot up.“That seems a bit drastic. All I allegedly did was cheat on my husband. That’s hardly behaviour worthy of treatment. I admit it and then we move on.”
    Ben shook his head. “All the polls indicate that the public respond well to a proper grovelling mea culpa. It will have to be a grand gesture if we are going to ride this thing out. And given your history, it is best that we address it now.”
    “What history?” She needed to hear him say it out loud, let there be no question that he was using her past against her. She shuddered when she remembered every secret she had told Ben. He had been her safe person, the only one who would never hurt her. She shook her head. She never thought that Ben would make her feel ashamed of where she had come from and the choices she had made.
    “Don’t be like that. We both know you have a history. We think it is best to face it head on.”
    We
. There was no
we
in this. This was about Ben and Booker insuring their future. They had really thought it through. Megan shook her head and laughed bitterly. Oh the irony. She had gone over five years without sex and could happily go another five before she had it again, but if she needed to wear the Scarlet Letter she would. She had been publically humiliated before and she had come through the other side, stronger. She could face this. “How long?”
    “A week’s intensive treatment and then outpatient therapy through the church.”
    “Wow. You really have thought this through. Was it you or Booker who came up with all the details?” She didn’t know what answer she would prefer, but if it was her husband screwing her over, at least she could console herself with the knowledge that he had been there for her when no one else had. Perhaps this was just her time to pay him what was due. That is the way life worked, after all, every kindness