Dare to Love
Page 23
“I mean it, Doug. No matter what Scotty says, I’m still partially to blame. I should have been watching out for him more closely.” Andrea lay in bed with her head on Doug’s chest, afraid to believe, even now, in the happiness he’d brought her. After the basketball game, they’d spent the rest of the evening at her parents’ house and Andrea had never seen her mother so quiet, or so content. Gloria had just sat and watched her children all evening, nodding and smiling, her glance lingering on the diamond on Andrea’s finger now and then.
“You’re human, Andrea.”
“I let John down, too.”
“He let you down, baby. He wouldn’t let you be who you had to be. He wanted you to be who he needed you to be.”
That might have been the case, but Andrea was still afraid. “I just need you to be prepared for the fact that it’s probably going to happen. I’ll probably lose perspective again. You just wait and see.”
“If you’re trying to get out of this, Andrea, forget it.” He trailed his fingers down her naked back.
Andrea shivered, nestling closer to him. She could hardly believe this man was hers, that he’d chosen her to share his life. She was afraid she was going to make him regret that choice.
“I just need to know that you’ll still love me when it happens.”
“You can make mistakes all your life, baby. Just don’t ever leave me. That’s the only thing I’ll ever ask of you. Just don’t ever leave me.”
The final knot in Andrea’s stomach faded away. “You have my word on it,” she whispered against his chest.
Finally, a promise she knew she could keep.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-8577-4
Dare to Love
Copyright © 1994 by Tara Lee Reames
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