Making Love (Destiny Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

treat me that way’, or ‘I don’t like that’.”
    “Do you know why that is?”
    “Uh, I think it comes from my mum. She can turn on a dime and I never knew if she was going to turn around and laugh, or start screaming at me. And she didn’t just attack what you had done, she attacked you as a person. I think I’ve carried that into my adult life and I’m always worried that if I stand up for myself, I’ll just get torn to shreds.”
    “I have to say, I find that difficult too, I hate confrontation. You seem to view it as a weakness though?”
    “I guess. My sister’s always been strong and unafraid to argue but I always preferred to avoid it or hide from her.”
    “You feel like a coward,” he said kindly.
    I caught his eye and gave a small nod. It’s not an easy thing to admit.
    “I know it can feel that way but actually, it’s better to be too passive, than too aggressive.”
    “How do you work that out?”
    “Because aggressive people argue, and nothing ever gets sorted out in a fight. It takes cool heads to compromise and reach an understanding, while tempers just inflame sensibilities and make everything worse.”
    I’d never thought of it like that before but he was right. For all the arguing my mother and sister had done, they never seemed to reach an agreement, just an uneasy truce. Of course by hiding from the problem, I never reached a resolution with her either.
    “That doesn’t make it easier to speak up though,” I countered.
    “No, that takes practice,” he admitted. “You seem like the type to stand up for your friends though, am I right?”
    “Always,” I agreed. I didn’t hesitate to stand up for other people when warranted, it was only defending myself that I found difficult.
    “I came up with a little test for myself,” he continued. “I realised that I was more inclined to stick up for other people than I was for myself, so once I had a confrontation, I would walk away and put someone else in my shoes. I asked myself, if they faced the circumstances I was facing, would I defend them, or would I advise them to stand up for themselves. If I decide that yes, I would advise them to do something, then calmly, once all tempers have cooled down, I’ll go back and either ask for what I want, or state what I need.”
    “And that really works?”
    “Almost always and as an added bonus, I realised that in the situations I decided not to make an issue of, I stopped replaying those events in my mind, worrying about what I could or should have done differently. It’s hard to be resentful of something when you’re the one who made a conscious decision not to do anything about it.”
    “I’ve never thought about it in those terms.” I smiled at him. “Thanks.”
    “My pleasure.” He returned my smile. “Do you want a break before we move on to section four?”
    “Might be wise. Each section seems to be getting more complicated.”
    We both stretched our legs and got more tea, sharing glances and shy smiles as we moved around the small room. I gad almost forgotten that we were being watched through the two way mirror while we answered the questions but now, I felt very aware of being watched. I also felt extremely attracted to him, which was just stupid.
    He was an actor and was so far out of my league, it was unreal. I wasn’t ugly, I knew that, but I also wasn’t poised, elegant or beautiful, well, not the kind of beauty he was used to. My beauty, if I could be said to have some, was more of the girl next door type: easy, natural, quiet and in his world, boring.
    If this was a romcom, someone would give me a fabulous makeover and I’d win my man, but real life wasn’t like that. Sure, I probably could look like a star, or at least a starlet, but that would just be for one night. Mostly, I just wanted to be me, which meant that on the days I wore makeup, I kept it light, I kept my body mostly covered; no plunging necklines or backless dresses for me, and I simply