WE WERE LOVERS ONCE
By Madelynne Ellis
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2011 MADELYNNE ELLIS
This story first appeared in The MAMMOTH BOOK OF HOT ROMANCE.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
WE WERE LOVERS ONCE
Madelynne Ellis
We were lovers once…
I know that Ray is gone. I feel it inside me, as if a tight choking grip has suddenly been released. I knew it before the phone rang and a lady with a voice like splintered glass told me so. Twenty-five years. I hadn’t seen him in twenty-five years and still I knew the moment he passed. It was as if in that moment all the bonds we’d formed were suddenly ripped away. And yet, I’m standing here in my black garb and sensible old lady shoes having read the numerous cards that adorn the wreaths and he’s standing right in front of me, just exactly as I remember him—a pretty youth, sultry and self-possessed. Dark unruly hair casts shadows across his narrow face and partially masks the hypnotic silver of his eyes. He’s slightly uncomfortable in his pin-stripped suit. It’s not black, I note, but dandyish navy blue with a black band around the sleeve. Ray would certainly have approved, particularly of the starched white handkerchief that peaks suggestively from the breast pocket.