Blind Trust Read Online Free PDF Page A

that night. He had loved her mind, her beauty, and her loving ability to give. His absence had only made those feelings stronger. No, he thought as he watched her. For him, there would never be another woman.
    He started toward her, the buzz of a power saw outside muffling the sound of his footsteps across the floor.

    H ad he left her for another woman? The sickening thought crossed Sherry’s mind as she stared, unfocused, at the blueprint Wes had asked her to make copies of. Had it been some idiotic, male desire that had wrenched him away? Hadn’t the love she’d believed in been a little too good to be true?
    An hour hasn’t gone by that I haven’t thought of you. His words echoed in her mind. Then why? she wanted to cry out. Why did you leave me?
    As if in answer, the power saw outside cut off, and she heard footsteps behind her. She kept her head down, for she didn’t want Wes or any of the others to see the tears in her eyes. But a familiar scent drifted to her nostrils, and she stiffened as his roughened fingers closed gently around her arm.
    She swung around. “What are you doing here?”
    “I was looking for you,” Clint said softly. “Sherry, we’ve got to talk. You have to trust me. You have to believe in what we had, even if what I tell you doesn’t make sense.”
    “Get out,” she said.
    “No, I won’t. You have to listen to me.”
    “You haven’t said anything to listen to , Clint. Some cockamamy stuff about writing a book. Do you really think I’m so stupid—?”
    “It’ll be clear soon, Sherry. Until then … I just want to see you. I’ve missed you. I would have risked almost anything to get back to you …”
    “Risk?” she asked. “What kind of risk could it take? The risk of possible marital entrapment? Is that it?”
    “No, Sherry. You know how much I wanted to marry you.”
    Her face reddened and tears sprang to her eyes, and her face twisted with the effort of holding them back. “You’re a cruel man, Clint. I never would have believed that about you.”
    Clint took a step toward her. “Don’t believe it now, Sherry. I never wanted to hurt you. I’m so sorry.”
    He touched her shoulder, and Sherry turned away, unable to trust herself to face him. A tear seeped through her lashes, but she kept her eyes closed.
    Clint lowered his mouth to her hair, kissed it, then pressed his forehead against her crown. She felt his chest brush against her back, felt the fusion of their hearts telling her that she had a dreadful fight on her hands if she intended to forget him.
    “Don’t, Clint,” she whispered desperately, but in answer he slid his arms around her waist and pulled her back against him.
    “I still love you, Sherry,” he whispered next to her ear.
    Why couldn’t she hate him? Why couldn’t she summon enough anger to push him away and convince him that there was no feeling? “But I don’t love you,” she said, her voice as stiff and unyielding as her body.
    As if her words had no meaning, he tightened his embrace. “It’s so good to hold you again,” he murmured against her neck.
    “Let go of me, Clint.” Her voice broke as she spoke, and she longed to extract herself from his embrace before her brimming emotions burst. Pulling herself together, she said it again more firmly. “Let go of me.”
    Clint turned her to face him, forcing her to look up into his pleading eyes. “Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t love me,” he challenged. “Your eyes don’t lie. They never have.”
    Sherry’s cheeks stung. “This is not a game, Clint.”
    “Look me in the eye and say it,” he repeated.
    A moment of silence rippled between them as Sherry looked up into his opaque black eyes and summoned all the strength she contained. “I don’t love you anymore.”
    Clint’s eyes bore into hers, searching, finding, measuring. “I still don’t believe you.”
    “Fine, then,” she said, her face burning. “Delude yourself. I don’t care what you