Time for Love , The McCarthys of Gansett Island, Book 9 Read Online Free Page B

the downstairs bathroom to fasten her bra and freshen up. Standing before the mirror, she was startled by the flushed, satisfied look to on face. She rested her hands on her cheeks, as if that might remove some of the color that had settled there. It didn’t work.  
    Resigned to her face giving away her heightened emotions, she returned to the family room. David had cleaned up the popcorn mess and was washing the bowl.
    “You didn’t have to do that.”
    “One of us had to do it. Why not me?”
    “Thank you.” Daisy dried the bowl and put it away, cleaned the popcorn maker and wiped up the kitchen.
    David held her denim jacket for her and turned off the TV, chuckling at yet another sex scene in the movie. “They must’ve been exhausted after filming,” he said, making Daisy laugh as he opened the sliding door to the deck and gestured for her to go out ahead of him.
    A motion-sensitive light came on as she went down the stairs ahead of him. He held the door to his silver sedan for her, and she sank into the buttery-soft leather with a sigh of pleasure. Everything about this evening had been a pleasure. Other than the one moment of panic, she’d gotten through her first post-attempted-rape encounter fairly well, all things considered.
    She tried really hard not to think about that awful night with Truck when she’d nearly been killed in the midst of his meth-fueled rage. He’d held her down and tried to force himself on her. He’d been too stoned to finish what he’d started, but he’d left her bruised and sore and traumatized from the effort.
    From the driver’s side, David reached over to take her hand. “What’re you thinking about?”
    “Unpleasant memories and how they came back to haunt me tonight.”
    “Only for a second, and we worked through it, right?”
    “Right.” As her throat tightened with emotion, she squeezed his hand in gratitude. “Thanks for putting up with me.”  
    “It’s certainly no hardship. I like being with you.”
    She turned to look at his strong profile, illuminated by the streetlights as they left Mac and Maddie’s driveway and headed for town. All too soon, he pulled up to the curb outside her house.  
    “Do you want to come in for a little while?” she asked, feeling uncertain about what would happen now that they’d kissed, among other very nice things.
    “I’d love nothing more than to spend more time with you tonight, but I’m afraid of things going too far too fast.” He reached over to do that thing he did with her hair and her ear. “You’re not ready for too far too fast. And…”
    “And what?” Daisy asked.
    His smile faded. “There’re things about me you should know before this goes any further.”
    “What kind of things?”
    “The kind that might dull that shine in your eyes when you look at me.”
    “Do my eyes shine when they look at you?”
    As he nodded, an aura of sadness clung to him. “You won’t look at me like that anymore when I tell you what you need to know about me.”
    Daisy thought about that for a moment. “I’d like to hear anything you want to tell me, but no matter what it is, I’ll never forget the extraordinary kindness and compassion you’ve shown me since one of the worst nights of my life. I’ll never forget the conversations we’ve had or your understanding tonight when I fell apart a little bit. So whatever it is, you should know I won’t forget any of that.”
    “You’re very kind, Daisy, and you’re probably far too good for me.”
    “That’s not true.”
    “I haven’t always been an honorable person. I’ve made mistakes that have hurt people.”
    Operating on instinct at this point, she reached out to him, cupping his face and turning him to look at her. “How can you say you’re not good enough for me? You’re a doctor, for goodness sake.”
    “All those years of school didn’t necessarily make me a good person.”
    “Did you learn from these mistakes you made?”
    “Yeah,” he said,