Read Online My Love Betrayed by April Lynn Kihlstrom - Free Book Online Page B

there!”
    He left then, to go in a direction opposite to
mine. Twenty minutes later, I was at the
anthropological museum. I’m not quite sure why I
went there, or why it was so soothing. Maybe
because I was feeling so confused and anthropology always makes me realize how absurd our
notions about this or that are. Each society has its
own notions about what’s important, what’s
proper. Each society thinks it has all the important
answers. And yet, in time, all fades away except a
relic or two. The same would happen to our
culture, I knew. And what would people, five
centuries from now, think of the nose cones from
the Apollo space missions?
    When I finally turned away, I was more at peace
with myself than I had been since Rick’s arrest. It
was impossible to take my problems too seriously
in the midst of all these ancient reminders of
human sacrifice. I mean, really! Those ancient
sacrificial victims had serious problems.
    I decided to eat at the museum restaurant. The
food was as good as I had remembered and it was
nice to be able to relax over a cup of coffee. Alone.
Even the stares from men who passed my table
failed to unnerve me. In my present mood, their
questioning smiles gave my ego a much-needed
boost.
    As the heat from my coffee cup warmed my
hands, I tried to think about my situation. If I were honest, I had to admit I’d been eager to leave early
because I wanted to avoid Charles. Much as I tried
to ignore Mr. Iveson’s vague hints at lunch, they
touched that part of me that felt guilty over
deserting Rick now. Rick. It was easier to think
about him than about Charles. I felt hurt, but that
was mostly pride. How could I have been so naive?
And how could I be sure I wouldn’t be so naive
again? Wasn’t I being just as naive about Charles?

    A voice at the back of my head told me, You
weren’t completely blind about Rick. Something
kept you from agreeing to marry him. Suddenly
Charles flew into my thoughts again.
    Again I tried to avoid Charles by thinking about
my job. My position at the company could only be
enhanced by the work I was doing here. Under
normal circumstances, I would be fortunate to be
offered such a chance to prove myself so soon.
And I knew I was doing a good job. Charles
    Yes, we were back to Charles. And, as I sat
there, nursing my now cold cup of coffee, I faced
the fact that I was falling in love with Charles. I
knew it was crazy. How can you fall in love with
someone you don’t know? I asked myself sternly.
But I had no answer for myself, except to hope that
by morning things would be clearer.

By morning, things did seem a bit clearer. I
realized that I had been leaning on Charles,
expecting him to sort out my difficulties for me.
Granted, I had been in shock and needed someone
to hold my hand, but now the time had come for
me to manage by myself again. I needed to know
that I could and, if I were ever to sort out my
feelings for Charles, I would have to put some
distance between us.
    Accordingly, I skipped breakfast at the hotel,
took a taxi to work, very early, and found a cafe
nearby where I could get coffee and eggs with
beans. The eggs looked awful with the beans
mixed in, but tasted marvelous. Afterwards, I felt ready to face the men at work. With a wry smile, I
wondered what Charles would make of my
absence. Would he feel concern? Relief? Somehow, Charles did not seem the sort of man who
enjoyed baby-sitting semihysterical females, no
matter how fond of them he was.

    I was the first one at the office and, by the time
Carlos arrived, I had found the bug we’d been
searching for the day before. That set the tone for
the whole day. We ran program after program
through the computer with great success, taking
turns to run out for lunch. By late afternoon, we
were feeling almost drunk with our achievement.
    Carlos was even joking, saying, “It is a good
thing you are so much a woman. Otherwise I
would wonder