Free The New Hope Cafe by Dawn Atkins

was
Family Time all the time. She was grateful for his devotion, flattered by his
focus. She hadn’t known that her isolation, his subtle but relentless digs, as
well as his intense jealousy, were hallmarks of an abusive relationship. How
could she have been so stupid, so blind, so slow to act?
    Cara swallowed hard. She was too ashamed to say any of that,
but Jonah’s quiet attention made her want to keep talking. “Even when two people
love each other—or think they do—it can go terribly, terribly wrong. You know?”
She raised her gaze to his.
    “That’s true.”
    “For you, too?”
    He nodded slowly.
    She felt a rush of relief. He understood. He hadn’t been
through what she had, but his marriage had crumbled. Cara and Jonah inhaled as
one.
    “If I’d only figured it out sooner, you know?” she said. “If
I’d paid more attention. If I known what to watch for, the warning signs. If I’d
known better. ” Her voice trembled.
    “Knowing better isn’t enough. You have to act better. I knew I
wasn’t built for marriage, but I put us both through it.” His voice was rough,
his eyes burning with regret. “Whether you know better or not, people get
hurt.”
    Their eyes met again. “I’m sorry that happened to you,” Jonah
said.
    “Me, too. About you.” For the first time, she didn’t feel alone
in her pain. Her whole body was alive to the moment, the man, what they’d
shared. Without thinking, she pushed her hands across the table toward him. As
if by reflex, he covered them with his own.
    That touch turned the moment inside out, made it
physical…intimate.
    This time, the zing was a rush, a steady current that turned
some places soft and others tight and hot. She hadn’t felt this with Barrett,
even at the beginning. She’d had a teenage crush. She’d hardly known her own
body when they married. This was adult sexual desire. It came from deep within
her. She ached to be touched and to touch him in return.
    Cara lifted her eyes to meet Jonah’s, his dark pupils wide and
shining with desire. He was tense, hardly breathing, his jaw muscle taut,
holding himself back from what he wanted to do.
    And what was that?
    To lean across the table and kiss her? Lift her from her chair
into his arms? Tear off her clothes and make love to her?
    Did she want that?
    She wanted something. Not quite
meaning to, she leaned in and tilted her head. Jonah did the same. When their
lips met, an electric thrill coursed through her, a wash of heat and need that
made her whole body shake.
    It was too much, too intense. Cara feared she’d be swept under
and drown. She broke away, yanking her hands from under his, jumping up so fast
her chair tipped and hit the floor. “I have to go.”
    Jonah righted her chair. “I frightened you. I’m sorry.” He
looked stricken.
    “No. It’s just been a while…” forever “…since I felt…” sexual. Say it, you
idiot. “…that way. I was…” terrified “…surprised.”
    He considered her words, but he didn’t look convinced.
    “Really, it was me,” she said, backing toward the hall. “All
me.” She banged into the wall. “Night.” She took the corner so fast he said good night to an empty kitchen.
    Cara leaned against the hall wall, cringing and dizzy,
breathing in great gasps that didn’t bring one molecule of oxygen into her
lungs. He’d looked stunned and sorry. It was awful, awful. She was so
embarrassed.
    She listened for him to leave.
    There was a long silence. Jonah had to be shaking his head over
the crazy woman who’d bolted from the merest kiss.
    Finally, he exhaled loudly. She heard a metallic rattle as he
picked up his toolbox, then his slow tread to the door and the click when he
shut it.
    Cara rushed to her room and into bed. What had she been
thinking? She’d forgotten who she was and what had happened to her. The thrill
of desire was one thing, actual sex totally different.
    Just the thought of it made her break out in a sweat.
    Sex with Barrett