Forbidden Paths by P. J. Belden Page A

reality yanked him away from me taking my heart with him.”
    “And you’ve never gotten over him?”
    She shakes her head and I feel a tear hit our hands. Hmm, guess I’m not the only one in the world stuck on someone we can’t have. Nice not to be in the party alone, but sad that this vibrant woman had to suffer. If she’s nearly as bad as I am then I feel for her.
    “You probably think that I’m some sick freak to sell myself to any available man, but the thing is,” she looks up and meets my eyes.
    The sadness in her eyes broke me. Sick freak? Is that what people thought of her? Sure I may not understand her reasoning behind it, but I’ve paid for her services twice… so really we are not much different.
    “It gave me an out. A way that it might be possible to escape and…” Her voice breaks and another tear hit our hands.
    “And find him?” I guess.
    She nods sadly. “That was what I wanted at first. That was the big goal, but then the more that time has passed, I think he’s probably found someone else. He’s too incredible not to have someone amazing by his side.”
    “How long has it been?”
    “Five years, eight months, three weeks and two days, not that I’ve been counting,” she laughs, the heartbreak thick in her voice and laughter.
    “You sound like me,” I laugh cynically.
    Then the date hit me hard and fast. I stare at her, shock registers plain as day on my face.
    “Faith?” I breathe.
    Her head snaps up and our eyes meet. I see the shock, fear, and what… relief?
    With shaking hands, I reach up for her mask and slowly pull it off. There staring back at me is Faith, the woman who has owned my heart for almost six years.
    “Oh my God,” I breathe.
    Pulling my mask off my head and dropping them both to the floor. She stands and backs toward the door, shaking her head.
    “Logan…” she breathes as she continues to walk backward.
    The way my name sounds coming from her lips does the same thing that it always does to me and I shiver.
    “I’m sorry,” she almost sobs and turns and runs from the room.
    I sat there momentarily stunned. She was running again. And I was letting her.
    Fuck that!
    She wasn’t getting away from me again. I love her too much to let that happen again. I wasn’t going to spend six more years wondering what could have been. Getting my bearings, I run after her.
    “Faith!” I yell as I chase after her.
    Running quickly down the stairs, I glance into the living room, but she wasn’t there. Just faintly I hear the front door close. Hurrying around the corner, my feet slide across the rug causing me to fall to the floor smacking my head, but I quickly pull myself up and take off out the front door.
    “Faith!”
    Just ahead running down the drive, I can just make out her figure. I bolt. There’s no way I’m letting her get away this time. It was time for answers, time for… whatever lay ahead of us.
    My feet move quickly toward her. My breathing erratic and not just from the run. How could she run from me? Of course, I thought the same thing when she ran the first time. Maybe we just aren’t meant to be?
    “Faith! Stop, please!” I yell gaining on her.
    Damn she’s in heels. How the hell does she run that fast?
    She stops and turns to face me. I slow and stop just a few steps from her.
    “What? What else do you need to say? You’re shudder was pretty clear enough,” she chokes out.
    My shudder?
    “What are you talking…” Then it hit me. “No, that wasn’t a shudder.”
    She puts her hands on her hips and gives me a look of disbelief. “Then what do you fucking call it?”
    Ah! There’s my girl. The thought makes me smile. When her face hardens, I know she’s misconstruing that too.
    “Sorry. Whenever you say my name it… it…” I’m suddenly embarrassed, which is absurd.
    Faith doesn’t seem to be letting me off the hook either. “It what?”
    If I’m not mistaken there’s a bit of a smirk on her beautiful lips. Looking down at the