Daring to Love: A Contemporary Romance (The Armstrongs Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

mountain?”
    "Sort of.” Bad mistake! Charlene knew it the moment she saw Darcy wrinkle her nose.
    “Hah! I knew it! You don’t scrub the shower for nothing. Spill it!”
    “Well, he flirted a lot and we kissed. But he doesn’t want me. After what I thought was  the hottest kiss ever, he backed off. Turned cold as stone and couldn't get away from me fast enough." And I found out the only reason he’d flirted with me was because of a stupid bet!
    She didn’t tell her friend that little eye-opening nugget of truth. It was too humiliating.
    Darcy gave her a big hug, “Hey, honey, it’s his loss if he couldn’t see how special you are.”
    When Charlene didn’t answer, she suggested, “You know what? Let’s have a few beers at Snow Daze. You can either find someone else to help you forget about Evan Armstrong, or drink his memory away.”
    Charlene nodded, so much for hiding in a hole until the World cup team had left. But Darcy was right, a few beers and she wouldn’t care that she’d been played for a fool. She might even laugh about it. Or not.
    Fifteen minutes later, Charlene and Darcy were sitting in their favorite bar with fresh drinks on the table in front of them.
    “Isn’t this better than sitting at home moping?” Darcy asked.
    “Sure.” Charlene put on a pretend smile. She tried to find something else to focus on, but couldn’t stop thinking that Evan or one of his friends could walk into the bar at any moment.  When the door opened again, she almost jumped. Why didn’t I stay home?

Chapter 6
     
    Evan had seen the hurt fill Charlene’s eyes as she rushed away from the patio area and he hated himself for having been the cause of her distress. He was used to getting himself into trouble, and he took his licks without complaint. That was part of the deal. No risk, no fun, right?
    But he’d never intended for somebody else to get hurt. That was not okay and he berated himself the rest of the afternoon on how things had gone down with Charlene. He’d messed up big time with her and had no idea of how to fix things.
    He spent a restless night, thinking about Charlene and wishing he’d handled things differently.
    The next morning he dragged himself down to the lobby of the team hotel for breakfast and bumped straight into a skier from Switzerland. Heidi. Of all persons, it had to be her!
    They had enjoyed a brief relationship a while ago, but nothing had ever come of it. It had never been something serious, neither one of them interested in more than a casual affair. At least, that’s how things had started out.
    Over time, Heidi had decided she wanted more. She wanted a committed relationship with the promise of a future. Evan had argued that they were “more or less” together, but that hadn’t been enough for her. Reason enough to break up before things got ugly. They’d parted fairly amicably, and Evan had gone back to being the guy who only did casual relationships. No commitments. No attachments.
    That had been three years ago, and after a few weeks of “regrouping”, they’d gone back to being friends. Had we ever been something more than friends? With benefits? Probably not.
    Nodding his head in her direction, he offered her a greeting, “Good morning, Heidi.”
    She turned her smile upon him and then frowned, "Hey, why do you look like someone else just won the overall world cup?"
    "I don't!" he answered with a grumble. There’s no way I’m going to tell her about my latest stupidity. Besides, why am I letting some chick I only met once twist me inside out like this? Charlene isn’t important to me.
    Heidi had spent too many years with him, though and wasn’t going to let his answer go. "You do," she countered, examining him with her x-ray vision.
    “A woman!" It wasn't a question; it was a statement.
    How the hell does she do that? He sighed. Heidi had always been able to look through his masque and see what really went on in his mind. That was one of the reasons he’d