The Burning Point (CF 1) by Putney Mary Jo

Author:Putney, Mary Jo [Putney, Mary Jo]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Wrecking, Family Violence, Contemporary, General, Romance, Family & Relationships, Abuse, Fiction
ISBN: 9780739407882
Publisher: Berkley Books
Published: 2000-12-15T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

Being home in her own bed should have given Kate a good night's sleep, but it didn't. She awake lay in the dark, feeling like an onion whose outer layers were being peeled away one by one. Alec's whispered declaration of love had been deeply unsettling. Clearly he had hoped for a response, but she couldn't reciprocate.

She'd misjudged their relationship, and misjudged him. Just as Donovan had said later, she'd been locked in a box.

In the darkness, her face burned at the realization of how close she had come to hurling herself at her former husband. When he held her, she'd felt like she had come home. If she had signaled that she was willing, the odds were high that he would have taken her up on her offer.

They would have had a brief, passionate interlude that drowned her misery--and gone from the frying pan to the fire. While Alec could scramble her emotions, Donovan was capable of annihilating her. She had known that any degree of physical contact between them would be lethal, and she'd been right.

Those aching minutes of closeness had brought every sensual, intoxicating memory of their marriage to life. Now she must deal with a renewed physical attraction that could not be buried again while Donovan was so much a part of her life.

Her gaze moved over the shadowy shapes of her bedroom furniture, each with a story of discovery and rehabilitation. Her home had been her project and sanctuary. And as carefully as she had remodeled her home, she had constructed a calm, comfortable life in San Francisco that was pretty as a doll house, and about as real. For years she had been drifting, avoiding emotional risks, her deepest feelings reserved for her brother and the easy, nurturing bonds shared with her female friends. Safe.

Once she had been afraid of nothing. A sign of youth and inexperience. Then she had learned about fear, and retreated from life. Become a victim, God help her.

Even though Donovan had also avoided making a new commitment, at least he had faced hard truths about himself. He was behaving more like an adult than she.

It was another dismal thought. Behaving with calm maturity was a very important part of her self-image. She didn't like having to acknowledge that she had been more numb than mature. But at least she could acknowledge it.

Sighing, she felt for Ginger Bear's warm shape against her side. He made a small feline chirruping sound as she stroked his back. No wonder people had pets. All you had to do with a dog or cat was give it food and uncomplicated affection. So much simpler than maintaining relationships with people.

She'd unconsciously put Alec in the same category with Ginger Bear--a pleasant companion, good to sleep with as long as it was mutually convenient. But while Ginger, faithless feline, was perfectly content to bed down with the house's new tenant, humans did not recover so quickly.

She rolled onto her side, her body curving around the cat.

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