Page 28 of Honey Bun

I whispered, “Believe me, I wish you’d been my first time and every time after that.”

He stared at me, and I was lost in the moment until he said, “Come on, then.”

Our cabin for two stopped. Longing to be his, I took his hand. He was the best connection to the world I’d ever had.

Chapter Eight

Arman

As the small cab lifted off, the sweet scent of Maddie’s strawberry shampoo wafted into my nose and made my body tense and ready for a kiss. But she wouldn’t want that from me. Not yet.

Her husband had hurt her. I would have to wait till she was ready. So I stared up at the moon that we were climbing toward and relaxed my shoulders.

She tapped my shoulder, and I gazed down at her. I ached to have our lips meet, but I ignored the feeling as she asked, “When’s the last time you went on a Ferris wheel?”

One like this? Years ago. I shrugged. “Must have been the London Eye when I went for a meeting two years ago.”

She held onto the rack. “I bet that was different from this.”

I laughed as we continued to soar. “Smoother ride, enclosed, and with room to snooze and drink.”

She slipped her arm in mine. “I’ve had more wine with you than I had in years.”

We started the descent, and I said, “Do you not like to drink?”

She bobbed her head and then whispered, like it was a secret, “I have always wondered what being a little drunk and giggly feels like.”

I laughed. No one was as innocent as she was. I playfully bumped into her shoulder. “When you’re recovered from surgery, we’ll make a night of it in New York, then.”

“Sounds good.” She gazed up at me.

The world stopped. I wanted to tell her she still had a sparkle that mesmerized me. No one else had even come close.

We completed our revolution, and the cab bumped to a halt. The attendant opened our gate, and I followed Maddie out. She looped her arm through mine, and my body felt electrified. She had such a strong effect on me that my mind was swirling.

Should I tell her how I feel?She wasn’t ready. I closed my mouth to keep it from crossing a line.

We headed back to find her daughter and her friends, who were riding the bumper cars. We stopped to watch from the side, near the popcorn stand and the whack-a-mole game. An older man with gray hair walked over to us, staring right at Maddie. It took me a second to remember that he was the former pastor of a local church.

He didn’t blink. “Madeleine?”

She jolted and stood straighter. “Reverend Jerry, I didn’t expect to talk to you.”

He stayed back, but I could feel that she was on edge as he said, “Your mother always has beautiful plants for sale, but she sold out fast. How have you been?”

Maddie let me go and lifted her chin. “I’m a work in progress.”

“So is your mother, it seems.“ Jerry quietly added, “You must miss your father.”

Her shoulders sharpened. “My father and my ex did not… never mind.”

Right. Her family was the opposite of mine.

The reverend said, “He wouldn’t want you to break your vows.”

“My vows?” Maddie asked, astonished. “I’m no longer married. Bob and I divorced.”

“You took a vow in front of God. Man’s evil courts cannot remove that vow. In God’s eyes, you are a married woman. You are a fornicator.”