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Amanda said, “Didn’t you just in your last breath suggest that patience was a virtue to have in a good lasting relationship?”

Well, KAAA-FUCKING-BOOM, Matty!

Nice job. You may as well have just taken a running dive onto that minefield.

“I’m sorry, baby.”

“Well, damn it, Matt! You should be. Because this is really important to me. Because you’re important to me.”

She paused, and she looked deeply, and genuinely lovingly, int

o his eyes.

It was powerful, and he felt his throat tighten.

She truly is a goddess.

And I truly am a complete and utter ass.

“Amanda, I’m sorry.”

“What she said was this: ‘When I hear the tires of his car come crunching up the stone drive of our house in Connecticut, I visualize him and think, ‘Now the fun begins.’”

Amanda stared Matt in the eyes again.

“Do you see?” Amanda said softly. “There was an excitement to their relationship. They weren’t together for any reason other than enjoying one another. Love, too, but enjoyment.”

He looked at her and thought, The way it is in the beginning, when just the thought of your mate makes your heart beat faster.

She added, “Theirs was a true companionship. A real relationship. Joyful.”

He nodded.

“Now the fun begins,” she repeated. “I want that, Matt. I need that. Now, and especially later, when most don’t have it.”

She looked down a moment, then back up at him, and softly added: “I felt that when I heard your key in the lock earlier. Now the fun begins. . . .”

They looked each other in the eyes, and after what seemed like a very long time, Amanda said, “You don’t have any response to that?”

Matt didn’t trust his voice to speak.

He raised his eyebrows, then cleared this throat.

“Only,” he said carefully, “that I really admire Mel even more now. And, yeah, I want that, too.”

They stared at each other for a moment.

“It sounds like there was a ‘but’ coming,” Amanda said. “Do you think it’s possible?”

He hesitated, then rolled his eyes.

“Nah,” he said. “Obviously, only in the movies.”

Her eyes grew wide with shock. “What?”

Then he smiled, held her hand, and said, “Baby, not yes, but hell yes it’s possible.”

He wrapped his arms around her. She rested her head on his shoulder.