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“What?” I almost spit my mouthful of champagne. Barely manage to cover my mouth and swallow, because it sounds ridiculous. “Which one? Where?”
“Elsa,” he says. “You were dressed as Elsa. And in the ass.”
“Really?” What happened that he took a bullet? “Show me.”
“You seriously want me to show you my war wounds?”
“Yes.” I practically shout it.
He considers it. “Okay.”
Turning around he pushes his sweats and boxers down a couple of inches until I can see the puckered scar where a bullet was lodged.
It must have hurt. “Is that the only one?”
“I was shot twice,” he says.
“And I can’t see the other? Why? Is it because it’s somewhere… lower?”
“I can’t believe you’re trying to get me naked.” He drags his pants back up and settles against the counter again. “On our date.”
“This is our first date.” At least it is for me.
“Our second first date,” he says. “Though there are no bunny ears and I’m not sleeping alone in the park this time. But this is the meal we shared that night too.”
He slept in the park? Why was I dressed as a rabbit? “What kind of relationship did we have?”
“Some would say it was a Disney movie in the making.” He winks at me.
“Tell me more.” I lean forward and touch his chest. The cotton that covers it is soft, but his muscles are hot and hard underneath it. Am I flirting with him like this is normal for me? My cheeks heat. “I’m all, er, human ears.”
“Only if you let me sign your cast.” He grins as he grabs a marker from on top of a stack of take-out menus and notepads.
“All right.” I stretch my arm out for him and he uses one hand to hold it while he draws on the plaster. His name and mine joined together in an infinity symbol. “Tell me everything.”
It’s late when he helps me down from my perch on the counter. We nibbled on tacos while he filled me in on how he came to be shot and how I happened to be there when he needed me, though I wouldn’t give him my name.
He tells me about how he went to Adira for help finding me, only to work out later that I was right under his nose the entire time.
We laugh about Adira pushing him into being a part of his show.
He walks me to the bedroom and we stand outside the door. One arm on the wall above my head, he leans in until we’re face-to-face. Breath mingling. He reaches out and takes my hand.
It feels so right as he closes the gap to kiss me. And I could see in the memories he shared with me how it would be so easy to want him. Want us. It would be so easy to give in to the feel of his mouth brushing over mine.
But the truth is, he cheated on me. He admitted it only hours ago. And I moved out. I did. And then I… Maybe it’s not a bad thing that I can’t remember. I don’t think I could handle recalling how I must have felt that night. “What was our marriage like?”
He blinks and his gaze shutters. The same way Adira’s did when I asked him earlier. “Baby, it…”
I can feel the lie coming from a million miles away. Perhaps it’s the disconnect that suddenly seems like a gaping chasm between us. Or maybe it’s in the way his jaw bunches at the hinge and he can’t look at me straight on despite opening his eyes wider. “Please just tell me the truth.”
“You were my everything,” he says on an exhale.
And that is not a lie. It’s right there, written in his touch and his voice and the way he stares at me. I want to believe it. But it doesn’t answer the question. It doesn’t tell me what our marriage was like. Or where we stand now. Or if I can trust the way my body craves him. “Why did you cheat then?”
He wets his lips and swallows hard. A grimace flashes across his face as he stares at the panel above my head. He blows out a breath. “I wish I’d never been so stupid. I wish I could take it back. You’re my everything.”
Again I believe him. I just don’t know if I feel the same.
