The Mammoth Book of Time Travel Romance Read Online Free PDF

sorry,” she said honestly. “I didn’t know.”
    Patrick shrugged good-naturedly.
    “Am I nicer to you in the future than I am tonight?”
    He laughed. “Yes. Much.”
    “I’m glad.” She looked into those grey eyes. “Do I love you then?”
    A flash of pain crossed his face. “Er, not that way, no.”
    She considered the courage and immense love it took to come so far for someone who didn’t return your feelings. “So why don’t you talk to him?” She indicated his younger self.
    “Not allowed. Causes some kind of cosmic run-time error.”
    “And you’re not willing to risk it?”
    “I was told my time here would end instantly if I did, so, no,” he said with a significant look, “I wasn’t willing to risk it.”
    The music soared, and the singer made Peter Gabriel’s lyrics her own.
    “If you could,” she asked, “what would you say?”
    “Oh, gosh.” He looked into the distance, his face breaking into the first truly unburdened smile of the evening. “Don’t be such an idiot. Don’t use Mark as an excuse to not at least try for what you want. Don’t underestimate your own overpowering potential with women.” The smile turned lopsided, and he dipped her with a flourish. “Oh, and do not bet against the Pirates in the ’22 World Series.”
    She lifted a sly brow. “That last bit, good to know.”
    “Yeah, enjoy it for the next four minutes.”
    She laughed, but suddenly four minutes didn’t seem like enough – not nearly enough. “What do I look like then?” She wondered if she were still battling a weight problem. It was a stupid question, but somehow she felt if she knew, some of the rest might be easier.
    “You’re asking the wrong person.”
    She looked at him quizzically.
    “OK, here’s what I see,” he explained. “You walk in a room, fireworks go off. Your hair sends off sparks of gold like a halo. I see your smile, of course – at least when you were smiling. And a body that just exudes—”
    “Hey!”
    “Let me finish. That just exudes this sort of grace and openness to the world. And, well, let’s face it, curves that just won’t stop.”
    He squawked as she elbowed him.
    “I am a man, all right?”
    She let her hand drift to his lapel. He felt so solid, so constant. She’d never felt that before.
    “I want that grace and openness for you always, Kate. That’s why I’m here.”
    A thickness in her throat made it hard to speak. She didn’t know this man, really. And yet he spoke in a way she’d barely allowed herself to imagine she might be spoken to someday. She must do something right to deserve a man like this in her future.
    “What do you become?” she asked.
    “Other than a slave to unrequited love?”
    She grinned. “Yes.”
    “Um, an archaeologist. I think I, er, he might have mentioned that.” He gestured toward P.J.
    “Geez, am I that self-absorbed?” She chucked her forehead. “Why can’t I remember what you told me?”
    “Because you, my friend, have just entered the altered psychological state known as Mark Donovan. It’s like cocaine, only more enthralling. P.J. McCann, on the other hand, makes up in longevity what he lacks in luminosity. Mark’s like the spotlight at a movie premiere. I’m like a glow-in-the-dark rock. Four-point-five billion year half-life.”
    She laid her head on his shoulder, feeling the soft weave of his jacket and the softer chest below. Four-point-five billion years. She liked that.
    The singer, while no Peter Gabriel, brought a heartfelt yearning to her desire to come back to the place her love was.
    “I’m seeing just one problem,” she said.
    “Just one?” The rumble of his chuckle tickled her cheek.
    “Just one. When I let go of your hand, I’m not going to remember any of this. Not one word.”
    “I guess,” he said slowly, “I’m hoping for a miracle.”
    “Like the ’22 Pirates?”
    “Yeah, but this one, I’m not betting against. In fact, I’ve pretty much put all my chips on