Golden Vows Read Online Free

burned through the tightness in his throat and he poured himself another, only then realizing how his hands shook.
    What had she done to him? If she’d stayed another minute, another second, he’d have lost control, maybe even followed through on his threat to wring her neck. His fingers curled tightly around the delicate, crystal glass, and he had to force them to relax.
    Whom was he trying to kid? If he’d touched her, there would have been no threat. The feel of her smooth skin beneath his hand would have been his undoing and he would have crushed her in his arms and punished her with kisses until she yielded to his will.
    Once he wouldn’t have hesitated.
    Once he wouldn’t have doubted his right to touch her.
    And once she would have yielded.
    He stopped the useless thoughts. Once was gone. Over. Finished. She was leaving. And he would forget.
    Dane took another swallow of bourbon and felt his whirling thoughts slow and settle in his mind. It was best this way, he told himself. A divorce. A quick, clean break with the past.
    I’m leaving you.
    The memory of her softly spoken words twisted inside him like a knife blade. But the wound wasn’t fresh. Amanda had left him a long time ago. He didn’t know when or how or even why, but it had happened. So slowly that he hadn’t realized it until too late, she had drawn away from him, shut him out of her life by degrees and left him waiting helplessly for the finale.
    He’d been expecting her to do something to change the situation. He’d even been aware of her struggle to reach a decision, but still he felt as if his whole world had collapsed at his feet.
    And she had stood there, so calm and composed, with no desire to talk to him or to work things out. She had just stood there, as if leaving him were the easiest thing she would ever do. He hadn’t realized until that moment just how far apart they’d grown.
    I’m leaving you.
    Well, he could survive without her.
    He caught sight of his reflection in the window. The offset lighting gave back a distorted image, and he closed his eyes against what he saw there. But shutting out the visual image only made the inner one more clear.
    He was afraid.
    A derisive sound tore from his throat. He, Dane Cameron Maxwell, survivor of all challenges fate had thrown his way, was afraid that he couldn’t survive without Amanda.
    So why was he letting her leave? The whisper came faint but persistent from his heart. Had he grown so soft that he didn’t have the courage to fight for what he wanted?
    Considered the idea, he let his mind replay the conversation with Amanda. Was it his imagination or had he seen a flicker of disappointment in her eyes tonight? Was there an ember of love for him hiding behind that cool indifference?
    Determination flowed through him in a sudden, exhilarating wave and the fragile glass in his hand shattered under the pressure. He was hardly aware of the splintering glass, thinking only that he would make her love him again.
    “All right, Amanda,” he whispered to the silent night. “I’ll dothings your way ... for now. If you want a divorce, we’ll go through the motions of getting one, but I’m not going to make it easy for you.”
    Picking up a napkin from the table, he dabbed at the cuts on his hand and studied the rock fireplace.
    He’d built that wall himself, stone by stone. And if it took every ounce of strength he possessed, he’d tear apart the wall Amanda had built between them.
    Stone by stone if necessary, but one way or another, he would win her back.
     

Chapter Two
     
    The Maryland countryside rolled past the car window in vivid splashes of color as the odometer of Dane’s Mercedes clicked off the miles with solemn insistence. Amanda could almost hear the seconds ticking past with the same urgency. Time was spinning crazily forward, rushing her toward the inescapable consequences of her decision.
    Glancing sideways at Dane, she wondered if he dreaded the next few hours as much