Read Online Face to Face by Ariana Gaynor - Free Book Online Page A

even love or is it really an obsession with the unknown? What if the need to meet this person supersedes every worry
or ‘what if’ of a face-to-face meeting? Does not caring about the
outcome make it more like love than an obsession, or does it make it an
obsession for certain? Is it just the need to see and feel the other person to make sure they are real and not imagined in the part of your mind where all your deepest wishes lay
hidden from view?
    The two of you have talked for so long about everything
from beliefs to feelings, wants to needs. You’ve talked about things from your past that you’ve never fully shared with
anyone. Does that constitute true feelings or just a sense of safety? Safety,
because the object of your affection or obsession is thousands of miles away
and not necessarily able to use what you s ay against
you or spill the proverbial beans to family members or friends?
    Is it just the illusion of better things? Things that you can’t seem to find in
your life at that moment in time. That phrase “the grass isn’t always
greener on the other side” come s to mind . However, if you don’t explore the
other side how will you know if it’s greener or not? How will you know if you’re missing that one true love everyone
hopes to find?

 
     
     
    Chapter One
     
     
    “We’ve
known each other for around three years, right?” Jess twisted her headset wire around her fingers as she watched Ash during their
video chat. His hair had grown. The dirty-blond tresses hung to his shoulder
blades now. After three or so years of watching him through a computer screen,
she longed to see if th e strands were as silky as
they looked.
    “Yeah,
but I think we’ve been talking more like four.” He chuckled, winking at his
camera.
    His
laugh could curl her toes. He obviously had no idea of the power he held…or did
he?
    She
grinned. “Anyway, don’t you think it’s time I came
out there so we can meet in person ?”
    Her
computer screen turned black where, moments before, Ash’s face had filled the
screen.
    They’d
talked every day about
everything for
the p ast four years. She
certainly ha dn’t expect him to disappear when she asked him to meet her in person. The stunned
expression on her face, reflected in the blank computer monitor screen, said it
all.
    Steven
Ashton James came into her life at a very dark time. Freshly divorced from a
controlling man and learning to l ive alone again
wasn’t exactly fun, but Ash had made the whole thing bearable, even had her
laughing at herself on her most depressing days. His out-of-date long
hair—normally worn in a ponytail—and his bright blue eyes had her seeing life
in a completely new light pretty fast.
    She
jumped as her cell phone vibrated, and his ring tone broke the silence.
    Do I take the risk and answer? Or do I
just let the phone ring and forget I ever asked? How much more rejection can I
take?
    Unable
to ignore the ringing any longer, she tapped the
green phone icon, accepting the call.
    “Hello.”
    He
wasted no time jumping right into the conversation. “Okay, so tell me. Why do
you want to meet me?”
    “Because
we’ve known each other long enough and I’d like to be able to say I have a ctually met you.”
    “But why? I’m just an old steelworker with nothing to offer anyone.”
    “Stop! You know I hate when you talk like that.”
    “Yes,
I know, but it’s the truth, hon. I’ve worked my ass off all my life and the
only things I have to show for it are three ex-wives,
who all bled me dry when they were done with me.”
    “I
don’t care about any of that, and you damn well know it. I want to be clear
here. I love you, love who you are, not what you are or what you have or don’t
have.”
    There
was a heavy silence on the line. The only sound was a soft buzz from her phone.
Had her phone dropped the call? Is he going to tell me not to come? I knew it was too good to be true. I
shouldn’t have pushed, but telling him how I feel