For All of Her Life Read Online Free PDF Page A

quiet, before a low-burning fire, no lights except for the soft streaks of red and yellow that illuminated from the flames.
    All of that might have changed.
    But it hadn’t, she was sure. Just seeing him, she knew. He hadn’t changed much at all.
    Right. He was still pigheaded and stubborn. Dominating. Their arguments had nearly raised the roof upon occasion.
    But had that really been why she had left? The question taunted her suddenly. She had left, but he had been the one who had filed the divorce papers. Almost before the door had closed behind her, she remembered bitterly.
    But it had ended!
    And now, just like that, he was back. In her home. The same man who had set his hands so protectively upon her shoulders. Ten years and she could still remember way too much—way too clearly. It hurt to see him. It was also good.
    She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as he walked by. He wasn’t just stepping past her.
    He was walking back into her life.
    And God help her, she didn’t know if she could bear it.
    The bad...
    ...or the good.
    But that didn’t seem to matter—to Jordan, at least. He walked in, glanced around the living room, his green gaze giving away nothing of his inner thoughts. He turned by the large, beige, soft leather sofa and lifted a brow to her.
    “Please, sit down,” she invited dryly.
    He did so, near the edge of the sofa, watching her, elbows on his knees, hands folded idly between them. He waited for her to seat herself, and she gingerly sat before him in the recliner. As she felt his gaze sweep over her she wondered if he was giving her the same assessment she had just given him—seeing what damage the last decade had brought upon her. She waited for him to make a comment. Perhaps, You look great, Kath. The years haven’t changed you at all. But he didn’t. He just watched her. Damn him. She didn’t like surprises. If she’d known she was going to see him, she’d have had on makeup, her hair would have been brushed and styled, and she would have been wearing real clothing. Something black probably, black was such a dignified, slimming color.
    She wanted to appear dignified, not slim, she assured herself. This had been over long ago. She didn’t need to prove anything to Jordan.
    She wondered why it mattered what he thought of her. It shouldn’t. It did.
    Still, he didn’t comment, but his eyes remained upon her, intent as he studied her. Unnerved, she determined she was going to be casual. Calm. At ease. She would ignore the Lladro pieces on the floor and the little specks of porcelain dust on his shoulders and in his hair.
    “Since you’re here,” she said, “may I offer you anything?”
    “Yeah, sure. I’ll have a—” he began, then paused and shook his head. “Let’s go somewhere. Let me take you to dinner.”
    “Jordan, it’s nearly midnight.”
    “And this is New York. The theater crowd will be out in numbers.”
    “What are you doing in New York?” she inquired carefully, without responding to his invitation.
    “I came to talk to you.”
    “As I said before, I have a telephone. You could have called.”
    He nodded. “Yeah. And you just bashed me on the head before you closed the door in my face.”
    “I didn’t mean to hit you.”
    “Did you mean to close the door?”
    “Jordan—”
    “Instinct, right?” he taunted softly. “Kathy, you’d have hung up on me if I’d called you here, and your assistant would have had you in continual meetings if I’d tried to get you at work.”
    “You could have warned me you were coming.”
    “You’d have left town.”
    “We have written upon occasion.”
    “This is important.”
    “To you.”
    He shrugged. “Yeah, to me. And our daughters.”
    She hesitated a minute, watching him. “Are you here in New York alone?”
    A slow smile crept onto his lips. “Why? Have you room on the sofa?”
    “Not on your life,” she said sweetly. “I was just concerned about that sweet young thing with whom you’re