Read Online A Summer To Remember (Seasons of Love & Lust Book 1) by Selene Chardou - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Selene Chardou
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here when you have that beautiful woman downstairs, Paul?”
“I know Ashley is perfect and you wouldn’t be surprised to know she’s like that in private too. But perfection does not equal love.”
I sat down on my bed and was surprised when he sat next to me. “What’s on your mind, sweetheart?”
“Don’t call me that. Your sweetheart is downstairs.” I turned toward him and held his face with my hands. “You don’t want to risk her…not for me.”
“Fuck this.” Paul snatched my hands away and stood. “I will not be manipulated and played for a fool.” He walked over to my door and shut it completely, and locked it for good measure.
My heart thundered in my chest so hard I could feel the vibration in my ears. Although I knew he wasn’t capable of any real violence, I’d finally pissed him off with my tiptoeing around a subject that I was too ashamed to talk about to anyone. Even Talia wouldn’t know if she hadn’t been the one who had accompanied me to the hospital.
He walked over in long strides with a panther’s grace. He knew he hadn’t scared me, but perhaps his temper had scared himself. Paul was the type who always wanted people to perceive him as a gentle soul with a killer instinct. Therefore, he kept his bad language to a minimum and there was really nothing all that bad boyish about him unless you counted a few tattoos in strategic places no one who wasn’t intimate with him would ever be able to see.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to raise my voice. That was completely uncalled for. However, I really think you need to stop playing games with my heart. I want to know what happened to you. What turned you into this cold, callous woman who feels like she isn’t worth anything to anyone? I need to know. You owe me that much.” I stood and walked to my floor-to-ceiling picture window, looking down below at the New York City traffic and thousands of people mulling about. This city was so beautiful and extraordinary, but it was also tragic and sad. There were more than eight million stories in the Big Apple and mine was just one of them. How sad was that?
“Paul, even if I tell you what happened to me, I don’t expect you to dump Ashley. She’s perfect for you and you’re like a big brother to me. I want to see you happy, and perhaps there is someone out there for me too but I have a hard time believing it is you. What kind of cruel God would dangle a man as wonderful as you in Ashley’s face and pull him away at the last minute?”
“What kind of God dangles a man like Kevin in front of you, only he turns out to be the asshole of the century and ruins your life and the person I once knew?” Paul sighed. “Truth be told, I never liked him. I always thought there was something a bit…shifty about him.”
I turned toward him as the light from the setting sun shone through my windows and threw off hues of orange, red, and gold. “You’re a great judge of character. Too bad you didn’t let me in on how you felt when I started dating him. If he’s capable of what he did to me then he’s capable of insider trading and every other underhanded deed a person can do.”
“Why don’t you come over here and tell me this story?” He patted the bed beside him.
I walked over slowly, my mind so focused on the past I felt like I was in a dream sequence of my own making. When I sat beside him again, I looked toward him, not yet looking into his crystal blue eyes.
I sighed heavily. “Where do I start?”
“Why don’t you tell me what happened…from the beginning?”
I inhaled a deep breath and exhaled as slowly as possible.
Chapter Eight
I started at the beginning, and felt a little bit like Dolores Claiborne from the famous novel by Stephen King. There was a lot of talk of romance and how Kevin and I started out as a dream come true. How he would drive down from Yale in New Haven to see me every weekend. We were in love—at least I
“I know Ashley is perfect and you wouldn’t be surprised to know she’s like that in private too. But perfection does not equal love.”
I sat down on my bed and was surprised when he sat next to me. “What’s on your mind, sweetheart?”
“Don’t call me that. Your sweetheart is downstairs.” I turned toward him and held his face with my hands. “You don’t want to risk her…not for me.”
“Fuck this.” Paul snatched my hands away and stood. “I will not be manipulated and played for a fool.” He walked over to my door and shut it completely, and locked it for good measure.
My heart thundered in my chest so hard I could feel the vibration in my ears. Although I knew he wasn’t capable of any real violence, I’d finally pissed him off with my tiptoeing around a subject that I was too ashamed to talk about to anyone. Even Talia wouldn’t know if she hadn’t been the one who had accompanied me to the hospital.
He walked over in long strides with a panther’s grace. He knew he hadn’t scared me, but perhaps his temper had scared himself. Paul was the type who always wanted people to perceive him as a gentle soul with a killer instinct. Therefore, he kept his bad language to a minimum and there was really nothing all that bad boyish about him unless you counted a few tattoos in strategic places no one who wasn’t intimate with him would ever be able to see.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to raise my voice. That was completely uncalled for. However, I really think you need to stop playing games with my heart. I want to know what happened to you. What turned you into this cold, callous woman who feels like she isn’t worth anything to anyone? I need to know. You owe me that much.” I stood and walked to my floor-to-ceiling picture window, looking down below at the New York City traffic and thousands of people mulling about. This city was so beautiful and extraordinary, but it was also tragic and sad. There were more than eight million stories in the Big Apple and mine was just one of them. How sad was that?
“Paul, even if I tell you what happened to me, I don’t expect you to dump Ashley. She’s perfect for you and you’re like a big brother to me. I want to see you happy, and perhaps there is someone out there for me too but I have a hard time believing it is you. What kind of cruel God would dangle a man as wonderful as you in Ashley’s face and pull him away at the last minute?”
“What kind of God dangles a man like Kevin in front of you, only he turns out to be the asshole of the century and ruins your life and the person I once knew?” Paul sighed. “Truth be told, I never liked him. I always thought there was something a bit…shifty about him.”
I turned toward him as the light from the setting sun shone through my windows and threw off hues of orange, red, and gold. “You’re a great judge of character. Too bad you didn’t let me in on how you felt when I started dating him. If he’s capable of what he did to me then he’s capable of insider trading and every other underhanded deed a person can do.”
“Why don’t you come over here and tell me this story?” He patted the bed beside him.
I walked over slowly, my mind so focused on the past I felt like I was in a dream sequence of my own making. When I sat beside him again, I looked toward him, not yet looking into his crystal blue eyes.
I sighed heavily. “Where do I start?”
“Why don’t you tell me what happened…from the beginning?”
I inhaled a deep breath and exhaled as slowly as possible.
Chapter Eight
I started at the beginning, and felt a little bit like Dolores Claiborne from the famous novel by Stephen King. There was a lot of talk of romance and how Kevin and I started out as a dream come true. How he would drive down from Yale in New Haven to see me every weekend. We were in love—at least I
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