GHOSTS OF ST. BARTS a totally addictive romance read (St. Barts Romance Books Series Book 5) by EMME CROSS Page B

you always fall into the same pattern. You never meant to harm her in any way, you’re certain of that? I wouldn’t be able to counsel you if I thought otherwise.”
    “Never,” said Sven emphatically. He’d spent much of his time in the past few weeks going over the night Henry died. He knew he’d been drunk and needed Sunny but he also knew he never wanted to hurt her. She had fought back because she’d had a flashback to Clyde’s attack on her. If he hadn’t been so drunk and upset none of it would have happened. He would have been able to contain himself. That was why, ever since that night, he had barely touched her. He’d stayed away, avoiding going to bed at the same time as Sunny, ignoring her unspoken pleas for intimacy. He was running out of excuses. He didn’t ever want to hurt her again and if that meant that their sex life had gone from boil to simmer, so be it. That was the price you paid to protect the ones you loved.
    Reverend Nelson studied his face. “I believe you. Besides, there’s no way Sunny would stay in an abusive relationship; she has too much self-respect. People always make the mistake of thinking that because someone’s nice, they must also be weak. I’d suggest you talk to someone about your father’s death. It seems to have been some kind of trigger and you need help dealing with the trauma. Let me think on this for a while. What’s that?” He pointed to the book in Sven’s hand.
    “It’s from Henry. He willed me his old edition of Romeo and Juliet, signed by Sir Laurence Olivier.”
    “Quite a legacy. Apt. I always think of you and Sunny like that.”
    “But they died!”
    The Reverend smiled and patted his shoulder. “They always do. But before they died, they lived, passionately. I can’t imagine asking for anything more.”
    * * *
    While Sven was confiding in Reverend Nelson, Sunny was pouring her troubles out to Linus. It all began when he asked for a kiss.
    “What?”
    “I’m here to deal with the past, and a huge part of that is Mimi. I’m dealing with the fact I couldn’t save her from the tsunami. But another big part of my past on St. Barts is you.”
    Linus stared with compelling eyes at his companion and Sunny stopped, the spoon halfway to her mouth. “I fell in love with you.” He waved way her usual protestations that he’d been mistaken. “I need to deal with my feelings for you before I can move on. I want to move on, Sunny,” he said, holding both of her hands and gazing into her face, willing her to understand. “I need to move on. You were right. I am missing something in my life, some connection. Love, I guess. Anyway,” he said with a shake of his head, “I can’t move on until I put the past behind me. That means being certain I’m over you.”
    Sunny was lost for words. She loved Linus, but she’d never looked at him in a romantic light until the day before the tsunami, when he’d kissed her. She’d been seven months pregnant with Bliss at the time, separated from Sven by geography, time and circumstances. She blushed, remembering her response — the heat, the gush of moisture between her legs, her tingling breasts. Her shock that Linus — Linus! — could arouse such an erotic response. She’d put it down to hormones and locked it away in a corner of her mind.
    “This is a lose-lose proposition. If I kiss you and feel nothing but you feel something for me, then our friendship will collapse. If we both feel something, then I’ll have cheated on Sven. Things may not be great at the moment but I can’t do that. Plus, the way things are between my husband and me right now, I’m liable to feel something for you just because I’m so frustrated. I’d rather just leave things as they are.”
    She took his hand and looked straight into his eyes. “I love you Linus, but not that way. And whatever you may think, you don’t love me either, not really.”
    “We’ll have to disagree on that point.” He sighed and changed the