Free The Street Where She Lives by Jill Shalvis

of desire streaked through her.
    Her eyes flew open, met his. Once upon a time he’d caused that reaction, in quite different circumstances.Did he remember? Judging from the strain in his face, the slight tremble to his hands as he dragged her loose pants down her legs, hardly shifting her casted leg at all, he did remember.
    Determined to feel nothing as he pulled on her pj’s bottoms, then covered her up with the comforter on her bed, she concentrated on breathing, concentrated on not going down memory lane every single time she so much as glanced at him.
    He moved off the bed and opened her bedroom window, letting in some of the early evening breeze. And unbidden, another memory hit her. Him crossing her bedroom just like he was now, his tall, lanky form turning to shoot her a crooked grin as he eased open her window and swung a leg over the sill at the crack of dawn, preparing to leave after a long, forbidden night of touching, kissing, talking, loving.
    Now, Ben’s mouth curved wryly with the same memory. “I guess this time I can use the door instead of nearly killing myself climbing down the trellis. Remember?”
    Her body shuddered. It was damn hard to feel nothing, to refuse to go down memory lane with him saying “Remember?” in that sexy voice every two minutes. “Tell me again why you have to do this, Ben. Why you have to stay.”
    He turned away. “Do you really think that little of me, that you believe I wouldn’t?”
    â€œI think you’re crazy if you expect me to fall for the reasoning that you want to be here, in South Village, tied to one house, one spot, when everything within you yearns to be on the move.”
    He moved to the door. “Well, then, call me crazy.”
    â€œBut why? You can’t want to be here.”
    â€œThis has nothing to do with what I want.” He glanced at her over his shoulder. “Just get better. Get better and it’ll be over before you know it. Then you can go back to your safe, sterile life and forget I bothered you for one moment of it.”
    The door shut behind him, and before she could obsess, sleep took over her battered body, releasing her from thinking, aching, wondering.
    But not from dreaming.
    Â 
    T WO MONTHS BEFORE high school graduation, National Geographic contacted Ben. They wanted him to intern with one of their photographers for the summer in Venezuela. If that worked out, he’d have an assignment waiting for him in the fall in South Africa.
    â€œCome with me,” he said to Rachel.
    They sat in their hidden-away spot in the botanical gardens behind city hall, their common meeting place, halfway between their respective houses.
    Rachel lifted her gaze off the letter in his hands and stared at him. He was more animated than she’d ever seen him, even in the throes of passion, and she knew why. He’d been waiting his entire life to leave this town, and now he had a chance.
    But she’d been waiting her entire life to stay in one place longer than it took to order and cancel cable service. She’d moved once a year for as long as she could remember, and she was weary, so damn weary.
    She loved South Village; loved the joyous crowds, the urban streets, the sights, the smells, everything. This town was her life, her heart. She loved it here and didn’t want to leave, not even for Ben. If she left, her life with him would be no different than it was now—just a blurof moving, moving, moving, when all she wanted was a home.
    â€œRach?”
    â€œI want to stay.”
    â€œNo, we have to go. There’s nothing for me here, you know that.”
    Actually, she’d only guessed, as he never told her about his family. It was the one thing he’d always refused to discuss.
    â€œIt’s my future,” he said hoarsely, telling her only how much this meant to him, but not why.
    Oh, God, letting him go, watching him walk away, would be like ripping out a part