Daring to Love: A Contemporary Romance (The Armstrongs Book 3) by Jessica Gray Page A

face away from him, but he held her tight. Looking at her brought more wants to his mind. I want to kiss her luscious lips.
    Focus, Evan. He forced her to look at him, and she squirmed as she tried to evade his piercing glance, but finally he managed to get her to raise her eyes and meet his own.  Her eyes are as beautiful as the rest of her!
    He searched her warm hazelnut eyes shadowed by worry, looking for some clue, and almost lost himself in the depths of them. He could see some dark secret looming there, and was determined to find out what it was. "I want to help you, but you must tell me what you're afraid of."
    A glimpse of knowing appeared in her eyes, "You know  already."
    „I know there’s something horrible hidden behind your beautiful face. Something that makes your life a hell on earth. I don’t want to cause you any more pain, but you definitely need to get this off your chest.“
    She made herself comfortable in his arms and they both stared to the faraway mountains on the other side of the valley. He remained silent, wanting to give her time to think and get her thoughts together.
    A few minutes later, she started talking.
    “Graham was twenty-three, just like me. We were best friends and had lots of fun together. But he also had this little devil on his shoulder, that always urged him to be reckless and take unnecessary risks.“ She paused, her breathing spiking up and her voice cracked.
    Evan caressed her arm and back like he’d done a hundred times with his niece, when she’d fallen down and hurt herself.
    “We had been skiing together all day since it was our day off, and the mountain had six inches of fresh powder that had fallen the night before. We wanted to take advantage of it.“
    Her glance was almost apologetic as she continued, “So many times we missed out on skiing fresh powder because we were stuck with students who couldn’t handle the harder terrain. Anyhow it was getting late and snowing hard. The wind had picked up during the day. I was getting tired and wanted to call it a day.
    But Graham wanted to go down the Devil’s Nose one last time. I didn't. We argued, and things ended up as they usually did. With a challenge.
    Graham  called me a chicken and bet me that he'd make it down to the village first. He was so sure of himself. I begged him not to go down that run. He laughed at me and then rushed off.”
    “You didn’t go with him?”
    Charlene shook her head, “No. I fought with myself about following him, but when push came to shove – I chickened out. I took the safe way down. The wind sheltered slope near the gondola, where everyone else went.
    Once I reached the village, I waited for him. And waited. And waited. But Graham never arrived.
    After one hour, I called the mountain rescue team. They found him. Dead. Apparently he’d hit a rock with his head and died instantly.”
    “And you’ve been blaming yourself for his death ever since. Right?” he asked her.
    She nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks, “I should have followed him.”
    “To what end?” he wanted to know.
    “I don’t know,” her answer was a whisper. Evan hugged her tightly. He could feel her pain and guilt. If it had been possible, he’d squeezed it out of her body. But all he could do was to be there for her, hold her in his arms. Her pent up emotions finally burst free and she cried for a long time in his arms.
    When the sobbing faded, she continued, “This was two years ago. Since then, I haven’t  been able to go down Devil’s Nose. I’ve avoided the slope like the plague, or the devil.“
    She tried a to smile but miserably failed. His heart went out to her, she was such a beautiful person inside and out. 
    “I just didn’t have the courage to face my guilt and shame by coming up here. Graham’s dead and it was my fault. I should have stopped him.”
    When she fell still in his arms, he said, “It wasn’t your fault, you know that.” It wasn’t a question, but a