Excerpt from Chapter 20 of "In His Love."

      On the way to her car the next morning, Sarah saw Daryl
waiting for her in Missy’s driveway, leaning patiently on her
car. She ignored him as she tried opening the car door without
making eye contact. He refused to budge, making her
attempts futile. Instead he pulled away her windswept hair
from her face and gently kissed her cheek. She sighed angrily
at herself for melting the way she did at his slightest touch.
“Look at me, Sarah,” he whispered.
“I don’t want to,” she whispered back.
“Why?”
“Because I’m mortified!”
“No, you’re not. Your pride is a little bent out of shape,
that’s all,” he said in a cavalier manner, which really made
her mad.
“You love that, don’t you?” she said bitterly.
With a grin, he replied, “What I love is you, and the
fact that you finally opened up and let me catch a glimmer
of your emotions, raw and uncontrolled.”
Rendered speechless, she gazed into his hazel eyes,
which, when the light struck them, flickered with green
and gold.
“What about your girlfriend?” Sarah asked suspiciously.
“What about her?”
“I don’t remember you being this arrogant!”
“I have an adult relationship with her. Are you ready
for one of those?”
Sarah’s eyes grew intense, and her lips tightened in
anger as she thought carefully of her response. Daryl
moved towards her; she stood still until his eyes nearly
devoured her by desire, and he placed his lips to where
they were almost touching hers. He could feel her tense
and pant in expectation. He slowly kissed her and pulled
her closer, until he stopped and spoke in a voice soft as
silk, “Right around here is when you left last time.”
Pulling away from him angrily, her voice cracking in
emotion, she asked, “What do you want me to say Daryl?”
“I don’t know, Sarah.” He paused and stepped away
looking up towards the sky and back downwards. He finally
looked at Sarah and faintly said, “It’s hard to be told you are
part of someone’s dream when you were not part of building
it. Back in college I thought we shared a dream, but you
decided it was too risky, so you pursued another. And now
you expect to pick up exactly where you left us. It doesn’t
always work that way, Sarah!” he shouted.
“But I thought we were happy?”
“We were!”
“Why can’t we go back to the way things were before
I left?” she pleaded.
“Because things are a whole lot different, and we’re
different.” He paused and lowered his voice, “Sarah, you
still cannot bear to become intimate with me. There is an
invisible barrier resisting me. And I am not just talking
about being intimate physically; I am also talking about
connecting with me on a deeper level emotionally and
spiritually. I am thrilled you’ve invited me back into your
life and welcome me to be part of your future dream, but,
Sarah, I have dreams and expectations too. And before both
our dreams can become one, you need to allow yourself
to be loved.