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I rush to explain about Dad looking pale and his new meds, and the look of concern on her face has me trailing off.
“Is he all right?” she asks.
“Yeah, it was nothing, but that’s why you didn’t hear me jump in and tell them to go fuck themselves.”
“And you did?” she asks, tilting her head. “Tell them to go fuck themselves?”
“Basically, yeah. I told them that from now on, we’re a package deal. That you don’t get one of us without the other, and if they have a problem with that, then they don’t get to be a part of my life, because you are the most important person in the entire world to me. You are the only person in this entire goddamn universe who I’m unwilling to live without, and I am so fucking sorry it took us getting divorced to make me realize that.”
She turns the new information around as she drinks, and damn, she has the world’s best poker face. “Do you believe me?” I ask.
She stares at me over the coffee steam, and I genuinely have no idea which way she’s going to jump. “Baby,” I say, my voice low. “I love you, and I will turn my world upside down to make this thing between us work. But I need to hear your words.”
Her tongue darts out, and she licks her lips. Then she places a twenty-dollar bill on the table, more than enough to cover our coffees, and steps out of the booth, pulling the belt of her coat tighter around her waist.
This is it. I’ve fucked up one too many times, and it doesn’t matter that I stuck up for her—for us—tonight, because all of those times that I didn’t can’t be undone. I was a shitty husband, and this is the price I am paying for it.
“Where are you going?”
Her eyes are full of emotion as she pins me with her gaze. “Home.”
My heart shatters into a million pieces.
Then she holds out her hand to me, and for a few seconds, I simply stare at it. Is she inviting me to join her, or this a final goodbye handshake? Her gentle laugh snaps me out of my stupor. “Aren’t you coming?”
Am I coming? Home? With her? Hell the fuck yes I am. I slide out of the booth and take her hand in mine, and we walk out of the diner together.
Standing at the corner, waiting for a cab, I wrap my arms around her waist.
“I didn’t hang around to hear you telling your brothers about us, honey,” she says, resting her hands on my shoulders. “I didn’t want to hear their objections, and I trusted you to stand up for us.”
Relief washes over me. “You couldn’t have told me that ten minutes ago, before I convinced myself you left because you heard all the bad stuff and none of the good?”
She looks up at me, grinning mischievously. “Did Maddox also tell you what I was wearing when he opened the door?” Her voice has been dipped in sin.
I flick the end of the belt on her trench coat. “No, but given this sexy little number, please tell me it’s nothing but underwear, mi amor.”
“I guess you’ll find out soon enough.” She gives me a wink.
I hail a passing cab and practically shove her into it, making her laugh again.
I am desperate to get my wife alone—not only to find out what’s going on beneath that coat, but so I can tell her and show her all the ways I cannot live without her.
ChapterForty-Six
AMBER
As soon as my eyes flutter open the next morning, I see him staring down at me, propped up on one elbow. Our bodies are flush, my leg draped over him and his arms around me. My muscles throb with a delicious ache, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt so happy. After Elijah discovered what I was wearing under my trench coat, he tore every scrap from my body and fucked me on the stairs. And then again in bed. Inourbed. Twice.
“You do know it’s creepy to watch someone sleep, right? Like serial killer creepy?”
His lips twitch into a smirk. “You do know how much I love your smart mouth?” He presses a soft kiss on my lips. “But I would very much enjoy spanking a little of that sass out of you.”
I run my hands through his thick hair and tug him back for another kiss. I know from experience how much we would both enjoy that. His tongue slides against mine as he deepens the kiss and rolls on top of me, and all we do for the next however long is make out like a pair of teenagers. He’s always been an incredible kisser, and I forgot how much pleasure could be found in this simple act.
The sound of Elijah’s cell phone vibrating on the bedside table interrupts us. At least it interrupts me, and I pull back. “You should probably take that.”
He shakes his head and goes back to kissing me, and for a few blissful seconds, I let him before pushing him away again. “You can answer your phone. Your work and your family are important to you, Elijah. I don’t expect you to change who you are.”