Love at First Flight Read Online Free Page B

she was dressed, she leaned
over to leave him with a lingering kiss. “I love you, Michael. I can't wait to
marry you.”
    After she left the room, he realized she
hadn't answered his question.

CHAPTER 4
     
    JEREMY FROZE AND THE WATER BEAT DOWN ON
HIM. Blinking furiously as the shampoo slid into his eyes, he ducked back under
the shower.
    Juliana needed only that one frozen
moment to confirm that she had stumbled upon what—or rather who —had been distracting him lately. A
wave of nausea choked her as she walked out of the bathroom to find some
clothes.
    Knotting a towel around his waist, he
came out a moment later still dripping. “It's not what you think.”
    She pushed past him, slammed the
bathroom door, and locked it. After she scrubbed all traces of him from her
body in the shower, she got dressed, her hands shaking as she fought the urge
to scream.
    Dressed and waiting for her when she
came out, Jeremy crossed the room to her. “Let me explain.”
    She couldn't even look at him.
    “It's nothing. She's just a friend.”
    “You're lying,” she said in a small
voice. “I saw it on your face.”
    He took hold of her hand. “Let's take a
walk.”
    She pulled her hand free of his grip. “Don't
touch me.”
    “Juliana, please. Take a walk with me.
Let me explain.”
    Since she didn't know what else to do,
she slid on flip-flops to follow him outside. Accompanied by the roar of the
pounding surf, they walked down a long boardwalk to the beach. Juliana
continued to fight the need to shriek. This could not be happening. Not Jeremy. Not my Jeremy. He wouldn't do
this. Would he?
    He walked along the water's edge with
his head down. Finally, he looked over at her. “You know I love you, babe. I
love you more than anything. I always have.”
    Juliana didn't trust herself not to
scream, so she said nothing.
    “I've missed you so much since I've been
here. It's like my whole world is out of sync because I don't have you with me.
I had no idea how essential you are to me until you weren't there every day.”
    “So you decided to replace me?”
    “Oh God, replace you? There's no replacing you. You're everything .” He paused, looking pained. “But that's kind of the
problem.”
    She stopped walking. “What are you
talking about?”
    “I want us to get married when I get
home.”
    “ What ?
After all these years you can't just blurt that out when there's clearly
something else going on.”
    He took her hands and gazed into her
eyes. “I love you. You're my family, Jule. I want to marry you and have babies
with you. I want the forever we were always meant to have.”
    Her breath caught on a sob. How long have I waited to hear that? “So
what's the catch? If you want all that with me, who's this Sherrie person?”
    He sighed. “She's just this girl who
hangs out with us. She's nothing.”
    “Then why is she calling you when you're
with me?”
    His handsome face clouded with
annoyance. “That's a very good question.”
     
    Juliana pulled her hands free and walked
away.
    He caught up to her. “Jule? I meant it.
I'm not prepared to ask you properly this weekend, but I want to. Soon.”
    “Can I ask you something?”
    “Sure.”
    “If your 'nothing' friend Sherrie hadn't
called this morning, would we be having this discussion about marriage and
babies and forever right now?”
    He looked stricken.
    “I don't buy it, Jer. Where's this been?
You've had the chance to say all this for years, but you never did. My friends
have been telling me forever that I needed to give you an ultimatum, but I
never saw the need. Now I'm wondering if I've been a total fool.”
    “In ten years there's been no one but
you. You know I haven't so much as looked at another woman.”
    “Until now?”
    “That's all I've done, Jule, is look.”
    For some reason she believed him, but
suddenly she felt cold all over. “You want to do more than look, don't you?”
she asked, her voice so soft it was almost lost in the roar of the