Cross My Heart Read Online Free PDF

dating for several weeks, and Paul's feelings for you have been
pretty obvious. You must have known where this was leading."
    Liz looked stunned. "I'm old enough to be his mother!" she
shrieked.
    Elyse's smile faded, and a look of disbelief replaced it.
"Mary Elizabeth Haley, you're an idiot! Ten years is a long way from a
generation, and what does his age have to do with anything? Apparently
he wasn't too young to perform."
    "Don't be crude," Liz snapped heatedly. "You know
perfectly well what I'm saying. He's just out of law school. Hasn't
even passed the bar yet. I never intended things to go this far. We
started out as golfing partners. We were well matched and I liked him,
so when he asked me to go out with him I did."
    She threw out her arms. "It just snowballed from there. I
knew my feelings were getting out of hand, that I should stop seeing
him, but he wouldn't let me. Kept teasing me about my 'absurd age
fallacy' as he called it."
    She dropped her hands back in her lap. "I must have been
out of my mind to agree to go with him this weekend, even though we had
booked separate rooms. I'm no starry-eyed virgin. I know all about
lust, even if I do have middle-aged spread and crow's-feet." Her voice
broke, but she continued. "I've made a damned fool of myself, and
I—I've told him I'm not going to s—s—see
him anymore." She dropped her face in her hands, and a sob shook her
shoulders.
    "Liz!" Elyse jumped up and crossed the few steps to the
sofa. She sat down and put her arms around her sister. "You do
not
have middle-aged spread and crow's-feet, and we're not talking lust but
strong mutual attraction and caring. You're taking this business of age
too seriously. It doesn't seem to bother Paul. Why should it bother
you?"
    "B—b—because I'm old enough to know
better. We're not discussing Joe Blow here. Paul's ancestors came to
California with the gold rush and have been movers and shakers in state
politics ever since. His grandfather was lieutenant governor, and both
his father and older brother have served terms in the Senate."
    Elyse stroked Liz's back as her sister wept. "What does
Paul's family have to do with anything?" she asked softly. "He may be
younger than you, but he's certainly no child. He's two years older
than I am and more than capable of making his own decisions. He doesn't
need his father's permission to court you."
    Liz raised her tearstained face and reached into the
pocket of her slacks for a tissue. "The problem is, it's gone past
courting," she said, and blew her nose. "Paul's asked me to marry him."
    Elyse opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She was
speechless.
    "You see?" Liz wailed accusingly. "You're as appalled as I
am."
    Elyse shut her mouth and took a deep breath. "I'm not
appalled, I'm surprised. Men don't usually propose marriage quite so
quickly. Are you in love with him? Yes, of course you are. You wouldn't
have gone to bed with him if you weren't."
    "It doesn't matter if I am or not, I've no intention of
encouraging this lunacy." Liz wiped at her wet cheeks with the palms of
her hands. "I told him no and sent him away. I'm just a novelty. The
young women swarm all over him. He won't have any trouble replacing me
with someone more suitable."
    Her efforts at drying her face were in vain as her tears
spilled down it once again.

    Clint sat at the desk in the study of his large
ranch-style house in Cameron Park and tried to work, but his thoughts
kept returning to last Sunday and Elyse. He hadn't meant to make her so
angry. Obviously she was more sensitive than he'd imagined about her
status as an unwed mother.
    He hadn't even been thinking about that when he'd
questioned her about her social life. He'd only wanted to make her stop
lying to him and admit there was a man in her life. He'd wanted her to
talk about Paul—where they went, what they did, how she felt
about him. Instead she'd assumed he was coming on to her.
    He slapped his hand on the desk and stood up. Well,