Lifelines: Kate's Story Read Online Free PDF

she’d committed a mortal sin.
    The
truck’s door slammed.
    As
his booted foot struck the first step, her portable computer presented a
collage of swirling triangles and polygons. She slid her finger over the touch
pad and the geometric shapes froze, then disappeared in favor of a white
screen, blank except for the words Contract Law centered at the top.
    Two
booted steps struck the veranda. She typed in a rush: Repudiation is an act
or declaration which clearly indicates that a party will not perform an act ...
    She
flipped a page in her book. The door opened but didn’t slam against the wall.
Rachel typed the words again ... an act or declaration which clearly indicates
that a party will not perform an act he will not perform if he does not
perform. She typed through the slam of the door – he’d closed it more
roughly than he opened it. Banging it might damage the inlaid antique glass.
Richard would never break something he’d built himself.
    She’d
become accustomed to his voice calling her name as he came through the door,
but for the last twenty-seven days he’d arrived home without words.
    The
doorway to the corridor filled with Richard’s muscular body. That’s the first
thing she’d noticed about him—his strength. He wasn’t muscle-bound like a
weight-lifter. He had the solid, tightly-packed body of a man who worked with
his hands. Great body, masculine face, and incredibly sexy mahogany-colored
hair.
    Tonight
she couldn’t decide whether she should ignore him, or cross the floor into his
arms and tease him—first into the shower, then to bed. Her groin tightened in
response to her thoughts, and she clutched the computer, bracketing it with her
hands to hold it protectively to her sex.
    “You’re
late, Richard.”
    “I
suppose I am.”
    She
didn’t know what strategy to use with a Richard so cold and unapproachable.
    “Didn’t
it occur to you I might be worried?” The computer felt like a trap, pinning her
in place. She closed it and thrust it aside. It beeped in protest.
    She
rose to her feet, but felt no more comfortable. He stared at her ... or through her. She couldn’t tell, didn’t know how to change the look on his face. All
her knowledge of Richard seemed invalid.
    “Is
this how it’s going to be?” She hated the edge of hysteria in her voice. She’d
managed tears at the counselor’s office today, but she would not cry
now. Tears hardened Richard. “Do you plan to come home late every night?”
    He
shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and stared at her with his eyes
hooded and his mouth a hard line.
    “Stop
looking at me as if I’m some lower life form! Exactly how many days of
punishment do you plan for me?”
    “I’m
not punishing you.”
    “Oh,
right! Do you realize that every day this week—every night, you spit gravel all
the way up the drive, then you—” She swallowed hysteria, hated the wave of
tears against her throat and eyes. “Please ... darling ...”
    He
turned away from her.
    He
would go to the spare room, where he would sleep with his back turned to the
door. That horrid wave of lust caught her again and she reached for him, the
well-formed muscles of his upper arm hard against the palm of her hand.
    She
swallowed tears to dry the softness of her voice. “Can’t we ... I need you,
darling. If we made love...”
    He
snarled so viciously she jumped away from him.
    “ You need? What about me?” His face loomed over hers, his voice as harsh as the
hands gripping her shoulders. “You told me you wanted my children, but you had
an abortion without telling me, without asking.”
    “We’ll
have children later, after I finish school.”
    “What
were you thinking when you aborted our baby? ‘ You’re an inconvenience? Get
out of me, you little bastard? ’”
    “Damn
you! Damn you!” She sobbed as her fists thumped his chest. “You always knew
what I wanted! You promised you’d send me to law school.”
    His
grip bit hard into her arms.