Designing Passion by Kali Willows Read Free Book Online

musky scent lingered on it. She inhaled, savoring the last of any joy this adventure had left to offer. Salty wetness dribbled down over her trembling lips. She didn’t want this. She didn’t want to know anything about him. Now, the complications she feared had become reality. Gathering her strength, she rose to her feet, holding the two masks, avoiding his stare.
    “Look at me, dammit. You owe me that much.” His voice broke on the command.
    Confused, she contemplated a witty response, but failed to summon the courage. She didn’t want to see his face.
    “Look at me.” He roared and grabbed her arms and shook her abruptly. “I said look at me, Tawny.”
    Hesitant, she complied.
    “Oh my God.” She wheezed and stumbled backward clumsily. “But you’re dead.” Her eyes widened with horror as she backed away, clutching her blanket to her chest. Tawny’s feet got caught up in the length of the satin material dragging on the floor behind her. She toppled over, striking her head. The sharp pain was overtaken with looming darkness.
     
    ***
     
    Her head throbbed relentlessly. Unwilling to open her eyes, she lay still, gripping the down filled duvet, pulling it up to her aching chin. Focusing on her breathing, the muffled sound of voices in the distance alerted her. Laura, and—him. Arguing.
    Not knowing what was happening; the sudden replay in her head of the events before this moment came flooding back. Waves of remorse and confusion rushed over her. “Why the hell would she do this?” His tone was loud enough to make her want to scream, the throbbing in her eyes increased in proportion to his volume.
    “Wyatt, I’m telling you, she thought you died; she had no idea. She never left you.” Loyal Laura, defending her as usual.
    “Oh no? Then what about the letter she left me?”
    “What letter?”
    “A typed letter, in an envelope with my name on it. That’s all that I found when I climbed up to her window that night.”
    Letter? Tawny searched her memory to no avail.
    “I had my pickup truck packed and running. I did what we agreed on, I climbed the rose trellis. She broke my heart.”
    “Wyatt, her parents told her you died in a car crash. It devastated her. They put her in a boarding school and left her there while they jetted around the world. Tawny has been mourning you ever since.”
    “She really thought I died?” His tone softened with bewilderment.
    “When she lost the love of her life, a part of her died that night.”
    “How do you know so much about it?”
    “Tawny and I went to boarding school together for four years. She is my best friend.”
    “Boarding school? She always said she would never set foot in one. Her parents threatened to put her there; that’s why we decided to elope.”
    “She never would have in a million years, but the moment she thought you were dead, she lost her will to live and had no fight left in her. She never recovered.”
    “Oh my God, I can’t believe all this time….”
    “What?”
    “I thought she—I—”
    “She never said anything about a letter. What did it say?”
    “When I climbed up to her window, I found that envelope taped right to the glass. I took it and put it in my pocket and tried to open the window. The house was dark. Her room was empty. I sat in my truck reading this cold, impersonal note from her, telling me I would never be the man she deserved. It said I would never amount to anything, never be able to take care of her, and could never love her enough.”
    “Why would you think she wrote that letter? Did she sign it?”
    “No, but it was typed on the old typewriter I got her at a swap meet. It had a missing W. ”
    “Oh Wyatt, they didn’t! I knew Bill and Deloris were cold, but I never imagined they would have done something like that.”
    “The night we decided to get married she assured me money would never sway her feelings for me. She promised to always love me and that we would find our way in the world together. She