Chances & Choices Read Online Free

ball she had attended with her father since she was fourteen.  A year earlier they went as usual, only a month before her father suffered the stroke he died of.  As the occasion drew nearer, she started to become melancholy, the fact that she would not be attending reviving the memory of his loss.  When Andrea Saunders offered to provide an escort to take her, she was grateful.
    She didn't connect the name, but she recognised Julian at once when he came to collect her at the apartment she had shared with and then inherited from her father.  As he opened his car door for her, she noticed he was left-handed and also the mark of his wedding ring.  The lighter tone of his skin indicated it had only recently been removed, but Claire knew his wife had been dead for over a year.  He noticed the direction of her gaze and rubbed the finger a little self-consciously.  Claire was never quite sure why she asked him what she did, with no preliminaries.
    "Did you love her a lot?"
    His jaw tightened, but he answered her softly.
    "Yes, very much."
    Once in the car, he drew her out, asking her questions about herself and Claire relaxed in his company.  But with that small exchange it seemed had passed an unspoken message.  When Julian called her again, to attend another function with him, she never for a second believed it was because he might have a romantic interest in her.  Their acquaintance increased and eventually grew into a strong friendship, which brought them together often, until she went to New York for career reasons.
    Looking across the table, Claire speculated for the second time that evening about why she had never found him sexually attractive.  Now, she thought she might have the answer.  Had she subconsciously decided not to compete with the memory of the beautiful woman known to the public as Susanna Ainsley, award winning star, and to Julian as Susanna West, his much loved wife?
    Claire narrowed her gaze.  It was an illuminating thought - one that opened up new horizons.
    As they were preparing to leave, Julian asked where she intended staying.  Looking a little sheepish, she informed him that her apartment, which she rented out while she was in New York, would not be vacant till Sunday.
    "I was hoping you might put me up until then.  I was looking forward to a swim in the ocean tomorrow."
    "Oh, so you want a bed as well as a meal," he said, reaching across and taking the cheque from her.  Tossing down the necessary money, he ushered her out of the restaurant.  Then he answered the second half of her statement as if it had just sunk in.  "Are you crazy, the water's cold at this time of year?  It's still winter."
    "You're the one who's crazy.  Winter, I just flew in from snowbound New York, remember."  Reaching the car she turned to him.  "I could always stay at a hotel if it's too much trouble."
    "Be quiet and get in the car," he answered bundling her, unceremoniously, into the vehicle.
    As he entered on his side she attempted to throw him a quelling look, but spoiled the effect with her amused eyes.  Tossing her head in a very feminine gesture, she told him.
    "I’ll thank you to treat me with a little more respect.  You might have known me since I was practically a teenager, but I am now a sophisticated, mature woman, in case you hadn't noticed."
    Julian stopped, his hand on the gearshift, and looked across at her deliberately, a smile flitting across his lips, an unmistakable inflection in his voice.  "Oh, I noticed."
    Claire sat back in her seat, crossing her legs, a satisfied curve to her lips.
     
    Later, she sat curled up in the corner of the large leather sofa, which faced the ocean in Julian's living room, as he lit a fire in the fireplace that dominated the north wall.  He had taken off his jacket and tie, and his sleeves were rolled up as he went about the task.
    Noticing the muscled strength of his forearms and the dark hairs that grew on them, she felt a slight shiver run through her.