Free A Matter of Choice by Nora Roberts Page B

simultaneously. Slowly she straightened, then looked out at the horizon again.
    "Good morning," she said when he stood beside her. "You're up early."
    "So are you."
    "You worked late. I heard your typewriter."
    "Sorry."
    "No." A fleeting smile. "I liked it. Is the book going well?"
    Slade glanced up as a gull soared over their heads, white-breasted and silent. "It moved for a while last night." Something's wrong, he thought. He started to sit beside her, then changed his mind and remained standing. "What is it, Jess?"
    She didn't answer immediately, but turned her head to study his face.
    And what would he do, she wondered, if he wanted a woman to marry him?
    Would he wait patiently, choose the best time, then be satisfied when she asked him to wait for an answer? A ghost of a smile touched her lips. God no.
    "Have you had many lovers?" she asked.
    "What!"
    She didn't pay any attention to his incredulous expression but turned to stare out at the surf again. "I imagine you have," she murmured. "You're a very physical man." The clouds skimming over the water were shot through with red and gold. As she spoke Jessica watched them brighten.
    "I can count mine on three fingers," she continued in a tone that was more absent than confidential. "The first was in college, a relationship so brief it hardly seems fair to include it. He sent me carnations and read Shelley out loud."
    She laughed a little as she settled her chin back on her knees. "Later, when I was touring Europe, there was this older man, French, very sophisticated. I fell like a ton of bricks... then I found out he was married and had two children." Shaking her head, Jessica gripped her knees tighter. "After that there was an advertising executive. Oh, he had a way with words. It was right after my father died, and I was...
    groping. He borrowed ten thousand dollars from me and vanished. I haven't been involved with a man since." She brooded out to sea. "I didn't want to get stung again, so I've been careful. Maybe too careful."
    He wasn't overly pleased to hear about the men in her life. Forcing himself to be objective, he listened. When she fell silent, Slade dropped down beside her. For the space of a full minute, there was nothing but the sound of crashing waves and calling gulls.
    "Jess, why are you telling me this?"
    "Maybe because I don't know you. Maybe because it seems I've known you for years." A bit shakily, she laughed and dragged her hands through her hair. "I don't know." Taking a deep breath, she stared straight ahead.
    "Michael asked me to marry him."
    It hit him hard--like a stunning blow to the back of the neck that leaves you disoriented just for an instant before unconsciousness. Very deliberately Slade gathered a handful of sand, then let it sift through his fingers. "And?"
    "And I don't know what to do!" She turned to him then, all turbulent eyes and frustration. "I hate not knowing what to do."
    Stop it now, he ordered himself. Tell her you're not interested in hearing about her problems. But the words were already slipping out.
    "How do you feel about him?"
    "I depend on Michael," she began, talking fast. "He's part of my life.
    He's important to me, very important--"
    "But you don't love him," Slade finished calmly. "Then you should know what to do."
    "It's not that simple," she tossed back. With a sound of exasperation, she started to rise, then made herself sit still. "He's in love with me.
    I don't want to hurt him, and maybe..."
    "Maybe you should marry him so he won't be hurt?" Slade gave a mirthless laugh. "Don't be such an idiot."
    Anger rose quickly and was as quickly suppressed. It was difficult to argue with logic. More miserable than offended, she watched a gull swoop low over the water. "I know marrying him would only hurt both of us in the long run, especially if his feelings for me are as deep as he thinks they are."
    "You're not sure he's in love with you," Slade murmured, considering the other reasons Michael might want her to