What Fools Believe Read Online Free PDF

too intense for him to keep staring into.
    “I lied to you before.”
    “Which time?” he said, lifting his eyes.
    She scratched her head and said, “I was not expecting you to be cruel to me.”
    “What were you expecting?”  
    She strolled over to the kitchen and dropped her elbows on the counter. Her wavy hair, just long enough to kiss her shoulders, snaked down her back over the tan leather jacket in her ensemble. A rush of blood traveled through his body. Joshua’s heart raced. His pulse drummed in his ears and the longer he stood near her, the more the truth became apparent. Nothing had changed. It could’ve been ten years or ten minutes, anyone he could have possibly loved would come second to her. The feel of her naked skin, squeezing her breasts and tasting her flesh, the raw, guttural roars of his orgasms. That was all he could think of in the moment.
    “I’m moving back to Chicago,” he heard her say.
    Inside his chest, his heart thundered. Knots twined in his belly and a withered promise of a dream regained steam, grew ripe and plump with fresh hope. Joshua suppressed the longing. When Rebecca looked back at him, he shrugged and said, “We’re very different people now and it’s a big city. I doubt our paths will ever cross.”
    “I don’t want it to be awkward.”
    “It won’t be on my account.”
    She stepped away from the counter. “Okay. Well, I guess I wasted a trip coming over here then.”
    “It doesn’t need to be. Would you like to stay for a drink?”
    “No, thank you.” She looked over at the documents on the table. “I get the sense I’m intruding.”
    “It just looks daunting, but it’s nothing—”
    “Nothing you can’t handle. Yeah, I remember,” she said.  
    Joshua chuckled and an inviting smile broke over Rebecca’s face. It chipped away at his apprehension. From what he remembered, they enjoyed each other’s company outside of the bedroom too. But more than anything else from that time, he remembered being paranoid. All the time. The feeling of dread hounded him. It gnawed at his insides. He irrationally believed Olivia could sniff out her sister’s scent from under his cologne, hair gel and aftershave. He feared reprisals that might stunt his career and destroy careful plans. And now, on the verge of a partnership before his thirty-fifth birthday, he found the prospects of being blacklisted utterly repugnant.
    “I can find my way out,” she said.
    “Wait. Rebecca, does Olivia know about us?”  
    “Is that all you ever think about? What my sister knows? What my sister thinks about you?”
    “Obviously not, but while the answer to my question has no bearing on your life, it can ruin mine even now.”
    “She doesn’t know anything all right. I’d never do that to you.”
    “Or to Spencer.”
    Rebecca frowned and said, “Leave him out of this.”  
    “I wish you had seven years ago.”
    She rolled her eyes and took two quick steps toward the gallery. His hand caught her across the stomach, blocking her escape. What now? Apologize? Tell her you loved her? Even after all these years and as crazy as it sounded. What would that get him?  
    Joshua silenced his internal deliberation and told her, “Welcome back, Bex.” It sounded sincere. In a sense it was. “I didn’t tell you the other night, but it was great to see you.”  
    She glanced down at his hand latched on to her. Lifting both hands in the air, palms up, he moved out of her way. “Sorry. Do you need me to call you a cab?”  
    “No, I’ll be fine.” Her spiked heels stamped across his floors, a clear indicating of what she thought of his feeble attempt at an apology. Rather than petering out, the vicious clacking ended abruptly. When he turned, Rebecca stood at the end of the hallway. “I’m getting a divorce, Josh. Olivia doesn’t know that either.”
    She strode out of his apartment. A sentimental notion wanted him to chase after her. A force more stubborn than desire rooted his