Page 9

Saturday…

I t was early morning when Lily made her way into the kitchen.

The house was quiet, so Blake was probably still sleeping. They’d spent the last week skirting around each other—no wait…they had spent the last month and a half at odds with each other.

She started her morning espresso and waited impatiently for it to brew.

When it was done, she lifted the mug and took a slow, grateful sip. She moved a few steps over to her favorite spot in front of the window and cupped her mug between her chilled hands.

She should probably turn up the heat, but she had too much on her mind at the moment.

Mainly, her thoughts centered on the fight she’d had with Blake back in early October.

That fight kept returning over and over. Especially that part where he’d yanked her inside of the apartment. And Blake might not think he used his strength against her, but the reality of it was that he had.

She couldn’t allow that.

After her blow-up about the coffee the other day, Blake had disappeared into his office.

Lily had had enough of the cold silence between them and had taken over the guest room. Carrying her toiletries and several loads of her clothing into the room that also had its own bath, she set herself up in there.

Turning on the TV that sat on top of the long dresser, she immersed herself in her favorite nighttime drama. At the moment, it was Dynasty.

Sometime during the evening, Blake had tried the doorknob, but she had locked it from the inside.

Her husband didn’t call to her, and after a moment, she heard his footsteps shuffle away and back to the master bedroom. She hadn’t slept at all because in truth, she had been waiting for Blake to kick down the door.

And that was all kinds of wrong.

And she wasn’t sure if they’d ever fully come back from this.

“Lily,” Blake said softly from the doorway, pulling her from her dark thoughts into the bright kitchen.

She ignored him and kept her eyes on the view.

After a week of silence, now he wanted to talk? She would talk when she was damned well good and ready. And that was only after she made a decision…but so far, she didn’t have squat. She didn’t have any idea of how to fix this and frankly, she was tired of this whole damned thing.

Six long weeks of fighting had worn her out.

Blake sighed and moved closer to place an espresso pod into the machine.

“Can we please talk?” he asked roughly.

Blake sounded like he hadn’t slept a wink in days. Well, welcome to the fucking club, buddy, she thought.

“About what, Blake? The fact that you intentionally hit me or not? Or the deeper underlying problem of your insecurities?” she said waspishly, pointing to her cheek to remind him.

Blake closed his eyes, deep furrows grooved between his brows, and stress tightened his mouth. Or maybe it was anger, she didn’t know nor at that moment did she care.

“Lily,” he whispered, careful not to crowd her. “I’m so sorry for that.”

What the hell? Was she hearing correctly? Had Blake just apologized to her? The man who had not once admitted he was wrong was actually saying he was sorry?

Okay, she’d give him a moment of her time—after all, he was her husband.

“Okay, you have the floor,” she said, waving her hand between them for him to speak.

“I’m a controlling jerk,” he began and paused as if waiting for her to protest.

Her moving into the guest room seemed to have woken him up, but she said nothing and he gave a sad, rueful grimace.

“I’ve been an asshole to you for the past month.”

Okay, the apology was about a B+.

“A month and a half,” she pointed out.

He nodded. “You have to know, this past year has been the happiest in my life,” he admitted roughly.

“Are you living in a dream? For the past eleven months, we have fought consistently.” The words came out heavy with sarcasm, but she didn’t take it back. Her eyes narrowed and she bit her tongue to keep quiet. And for something to do, she took another sip of her coffee.

“Our marriage has been…rocky,” Blake admitted.

“And then some.”

“And then some,” Blake parroted.

“You manhandled me,” Lily said, reminding him of how he’d jerked her inside the apartment that day.

“I should not have grabbed you, yanked you, and I sure the hell should not have shoved you down on the couch.”

Okay, that was better. Maybe an A- now. But an apology didn’t change what had happened.

“I didn’t mean to hit your cheek that day. And If I could take it back, I would. I should have apologized that second.”

“You should have, but better yet, you should have never treated me that way in the first place.”

“I know.” He had moved a bit closer, but not too close as if he was afraid she would bolt.

Slowly, he lifted his hand and brushed his fingers lightly against her cheek. The touch was so light that Lily barely felt it. This was the gentleness of the man she’d married.

“Does it still hurt?” Sorrow filled his eyes.

“No, but it hurt for well over a week,” she admitted with a tip of her chin.

“I’m so fucking sorry.” Blake dropped his hand and stepped back. “How do we fix this?”

The hoarsely spoken words sent a pang of sorrow through her.

Damn Blake. He had some really good qualities that were swallowed up by his controlling nature.

What she needed to do right now was to figure out if she could stay. She did still love him. And was their love worth fighting for?

She might not be able to forget, but perhaps she could forgive if Blake began working on his behavior.

“How can I make this right?” Blake drew her attention back to him.

“You can start by looking for a job. I seriously feel that our relationship would be so much better if you had a job.” Lily sighed. “It would take you outside and you wouldn’t be stuck here waiting for me to come home.”

“I can do that.”

“And I need you to work on your control issues. Granted, possessiveness can be attractive, but yours is overbearing.”

Blake set his cup aside and moved closer. She couldn’t help it, she took a step away from him.

He stopped, frozen. Agony in his eyes as if he only just realized that she was afraid of him.

“I wish you would have told me months ago.” Regret thickened his voice.

“I was trying to keep the peace.”

“That’s not solely your job,” Blake said softly, picking up his coffee to keep from reaching for her.

“You’re right, it’s not,” Lily whispered. “I would never dream of telling you who you can hang out with for however long, or how much coffee you can drink. I need you to give me the same courtesy.”

“I will,” he said gruffly. “I swear, I won’t tell you how to dress, eat, or what to drink. Or how long you can visit your friends.” Blake crossed a finger over his heart.

“I’m going to stay in the guest room for a while,” she told him. “If you’re really sincere about this, then we can work on things.”

“Why won’t you move back to our bedroom?” Blake sounded a bit petulant.

“I’m half a mind away from moving into Sara’s place. So take what you can get,” she told him, her tone letting him know that she meant business.

“How will we work on our relationship if we’re apart?” His bottom lip poked out.

Lily snorted on a half laugh. “You’ll find a way.”

“It’s Saturday, will you spend the day with me?” Blake asked.

The thought of being locked up in here with Blake all day sent her stomach plunging. Something must have shown on her face, because Blake hurriedly spoke again.

“What say we get out of here and visit the boardwalk or that downtown place you like so much with all the shops and restaurants?” Blake gave her a quick brief smile and ducked his head.

“Okay, now that’s something I’d like to do.” She gave him a small smile back and he reached for her, but she stepped lightly away from him.

He stared at her. “Jesus, Lily. I really fucked up,” he choked out.

Seeing the pain in his eyes and the slight sheen, she relented. For now, she would put their fighting out of her mind.

For today and onward, she would see how he did.

“Okay, now you can kiss a boo-boo,” she teased, pointing to her cheek.

Dutifully, Blake stepped forward and brushed his lips tenderly against her cheek.

And although he had never given her butterflies, she did love him.