Love at First Flight Read Online Free PDF Page A

ocean.
    A tortured look crossed his face. “ God , how can I say this?”
    “Just say it! I can't stand this!”
    “I've never been with anyone else. Since
I was seven-teen, there's only ever been you. I remember so vividly the day I
met you. I took one look at you, and I was a goner. We should be married by
now, Jule. I know that. It's just sometimes I wonder what it would be like to,
you know—”
    Her heart shattered into pieces. “To be
with someone else.”
    His eyes glistened with tears. “I love
you. In my whole life I'll never love anyone but you.”
    “But I'm not enough for you,” she said,
choking on a sob. Had anything ever hurt
this much?
    “That's not true! How can you say that
after the way we just made love? It's not about you being enough for me.”
    She wiped the tears from her face. “Then
what?”
    “I'm afraid if I don't get some shit out
of my system now I won't be faithful when we're married.”
    If he had punched her in the stomach he
couldn't have hurt her more. Her knees buckled, and she dropped to the sand as
sobs overtook her. He couldn't be saying these things. This was not happening.
    He knelt down next to her and took her
in his arms.
    She didn't have the strength to push him
away.
    “Jule.” He kissed her forehead and then
her cheek. “Please. Don't do this. I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”
    “ What
did you think would happen ? That I'd just say, 'Have at it, Jer? Sow your
wild oats, and give me a call when you're done?'“
    “Don't you ever wonder how it would be
with someone else?”
    “Nor She pushed him away. “No! No! No !”
    He seemed taken aback by her vehemence.
    “You've always been enough for me. It would never occur to me to wonder
about other men.”
    “Never?”
    “Never.”
    He buried his face in his hands. “Fuck.”
His hands muffled his voice. “You said it.”
    “Look, let's just forget all this, please ? I'm a stupid ass. That girl
means nothing to me. I swear to God.”
    “ I can't just forget this, Jeremy !” She
knew she sounded hysterical but didn't care. “How can I live with knowing you
want to be with someone else?”
    “Because I'm telling you I won't do
anything about it.”
    “So I'm supposed to go home and wonder
what you're up to down here? I don't think so.”
    “I thought you trusted me!”
    “I didn't know I couldn't!”
    “ This
is so fucked up ! I've been faithful to you forever! I admit to having
thoughts—and that's all they were— thoughts —about
someone else, and you act like I've been fucking my way through Florida or something!”
    She whimpered.
    He sighed and put his arms around her. “I'm
sorry, babe. I'm so sorry. This whole situation sucks. None of this would've
happened if I hadn't taken this goddamned job down here. If I'd known it would
cause all this trouble for us I wouldn't have done it. The extra money's not
worth it.”
    She rested against him because she
didn't know what else to do. He had been her world, her life, for so long that
the idea of living without him was unimaginable. But how could she live with
what he had said? Would she always wonder if he was thinking of someone else?
Would he come to resent her because they met too soon? Did he already resent her for that?
    “Hey,” he said after a long period of
silence. “Why don't we get something to eat? You'll feel better when you eat.”
    She got up to go with him, but she knew
nothing would make her feel better.

CHAPTER 5
     
    THE IVORY-FROST LENOX GRAVY BOAT FINALLY
DID IT for Michael. After two hours of listening to Paige and her mother go on
and on about eight-hundred-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets and Tommy
Hilfiger towels, the delicate china gravy boat didn't stand a chance with him.
    “Excuse me,” he said. Before Paige or
her mother could utter a word, he got up and walked away. He rode the nearest escalator
down to the first floor of Dillard's. Wandering into the mall, he let his
thoughts drift to the opening argument