Passion Never Dies Read Online Free PDF

Natalie ordered before disconnecting.
    Diana sighed as she stepped into her small kitchen and took out a glass from her cupboard. She needed a drink. Badly. It wasn’t every day she made out with an almost complete stranger.
    Her cell phone rang and she hesitated before answering it, but recognized her mother’s ring tone.
    “Hi, Mom,” Diana said as she looked inside her fridge.
    “Diana, how was your dinner?” her mother Trina asked casually.
    Diana was disappointed to find nothing alcoholic inside her fridge. She could have sworn that she had purchased some red wine last week.
    “It went great,” Diana answered, opting not to tell her mother about Jake. It was simply too surreal and complicated.
    “Natalie and Max gave me a beautiful necklace with a star pendant.”
    “That’s lovely, darling. Natalie always had such great taste.”
    Diana walked over to her living room and sat down on her comfortable, dark green sofa.
    “How are you and Murray?” Diana asked. Murray was her mother’s husband.
    “We’re fine. We’ve been taking our power walks earlier in the morning now to escape the midday heat. When are you coming to visit us?”
    “Soon, Mom,” Diana answered. Then she paused briefly before adding, “I hate to cut our conversation short, but I’ve had a long day.”
    Normally, she liked to indulge in long chats with her mother, but tonight she needed time alone to mull over her troubled thoughts.
    “All right, darling, I’ll let you go. Take care and please say hello to Richard for us.”
    Before disconnecting the call, Diana winced at her mother’s request. Her mother had a soft spot for Richard and hoped that Diana’s friendship with him would deepen.
    With a sigh, Diana let out a deep breath to calm her nerves. Her conscience was bothering her and she knew that she needed to be honest with Richard, but how was she going to bring Jake up to him? Guess what, Richard? I kissed a guy I barely knew and hadn’t seen in nine years. That was going to go over well. She had lost all ability to think straight when she had been in Jake’s arms tonight. It seemed that whenever they were together, passion exploded and frantic lust made her mindless to all things except him.
    Richard had been her steadfast companion for a little over a year and she was in a comfortable relationship with him. She had never wanted commitment and he had not pushed it with her, which she appreciated. Not that there was anything particularly wrong with Richard, but she had never felt the urge to truly commit to him. He was generous, down-to-earth, thoughtful, kind and had never pressured her to do anything she didn’t want to do. He was essentially a very nice guy - but she wasn’t in love with him and he certainly never left her breathless and aching, like Jake.
    Biting her lower lip indecisively, she picked up her cell phone and chose Richard’s number. She cleared her throat, still not sure what to tell him.
    “Hello?” answered a deep voice.
    “Hi, Richard,” Diana said slowly.
    “Diana, I called you earlier. How was your dinner with Natalie and Max?” asked Richard in a cheerful voice.
    “Oh, um - it went well,” she replied carefully. “Sorry you couldn’t come.”
    “Me, too. I really wanted to be with you tonight, but I had to attend the teacher’s meeting,” Richard said regretfully.
    Richard was a fifth grade teacher for the Clark County school district in Las Vegas. He loved his job and was dedicated to his students, which Diana admired him for.
    “It’s okay,” said Diana and then hesitated. She wanted to bring up Jake, but how?
    “We’re still on for dinner and a movie this Saturday, right?”
    “Well, uh, yes, of course,” answered Diana, stumbling, but she honestly couldn’t think of how to broach the subject at hand.
    “I was thinking of seeing that new Meryl Streep movie. It’s been getting good reviews.”
    “Sounds good...we haven’t seen a movie lately,” Diana said