Page 167 of The Bad Husband

He has a new tattoo on his neck, and a fresh scar on his lip. Some things must’ve happened in prison as he predicted.

His teeth absorb the light between his arched lips.

“I missed you,” I say, absorbing his energy.

“I missed you, too,” he says, and then he presses his lips onto mine.

Our first kiss is cold like winter, our lips made of snow. But then we part our lips and kiss for real, and summer flows through our blood again, a hot night of July wrapping around our shoulders.

I break away from him, dizzy.

He takes my hand, and looks down.

“You look nice,” he says, after finishing looking me up and down. “I like your hair.”

It’s longer, and a shade lighter, more blonde than brown now.

He kisses me again, with the fervor of someone who can’t wait to taste his favorite meal.

“Your place or mine?” he asks.

I chuckle.

“Where is your place?”

He signals to a skyscraper in the distance.

“There’s a penthouse over there.”

I look at him, my eyes wet.

“What about my place? I have cupcakes and a Christmas tree. And a gift for you,’ I say, clenching my phone tight in my pocket.

His eyes soften.

“I know you’ve waited for me,” he says quietly as we freeze in the middle of the sidewalk, so many things wanting to happen first.

Getting used to each other again, filling the lost moments with our individual memories, catching up on all the trivia.

And then kissing each other.

Quenching the hunger in our bodies.

“ You knew I’d be waiting for you, even back then on that Halloween night. You always knew I’d be waiting for you. You just wanted to be cautious.”

“Maybe.”

“Or you wanted to test me. See whether I was convinced I wanted you or not.”

A pensive look slides over his face.

“You had your chance, Lila Skye. I thought it was only fair for you to have enough time and think about what you wanted.”

I lift my hand to his scruffy face and run my fingers along his jawline.

“You did the right thing. Although I couldn’t use that chance much since I was already yours.”

I push up onto my toes and kiss him again. He smells like fresh mint and winter.