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Suddenly, I’m happy to be home.
“How was it?” she asks, pouring herself some water and drinking half of it down. “Sorry, I just rode the bike for an hour.”
“No worries, I don’t mind looking at you.” I lean against the counter, heart pounding. “Trip was fine.”
“Fine? That’s all?” Her eyebrows raise. “Give me more. Come on, you’re going to move there, you have to have something to say.”
“Honestly, it’s hard to think clearly with you looking so good.”
She laughs, face flushed. “There’s the Gareth I remember. Why do you always do that?”
“Do what? Tell you the truth?”
“Flirt with me.”
“I like flirting with you. It feels good.”
Actually, it feelsright. But I can’t say that out loud.
“You’re a tease, Gareth Kane.” I expected her to be angry, but instead, she’s smiling. She’s easy and free in a way the Crowleys aren’t. Theirs is a dark world, a dangerous world. Fiona’s light and life. She’s pleasure and laughter.
I always thought I wanted the pain—the struggle, the fight—but maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I never wanted that at all.
“What can I say? I must’ve missed you.” I walk closer, intending to get myself a glass of water too, but she doesn’t move out of my way. I end up inches from her, breathing in the smell of her sweat. I forget all about the drink. All about everything but her.
“The apartment was lonely without you,” she says, mouth open, lovely lips parted. “I actually found myself wishing you hadn’t left. Stupid, right?”
What’s happening right now? Why do I feel like I’m spinning, falling into a vortex, unable to break away?
“Not stupid. Well, maybe a little, but I feel the same way. All I thought about while out in Boston was coming back home.” I touch her face. It’s a mistake, we both know it’s a mistake, but she doesn’t stop me, and I don’t stop.
“You just like to sleep in your own bed.” A coy smile. Daring me.
“I like to sleep in it when there’s another body next to mine.”
Her eyebrows raise. “You’ve been sneaking girls in here behind my back? Gareth Kane, are you cheating on your wife?”
I shake my head slowly. “There isn’t a woman on this planet that comes anywhere close to matching you.”
“What a gentleman,” she says, leaning back against the counter, fingers curling around the lip.
I put my hands on her hips. I shiver, aware that I’m crossing a line, but unable to turn back. She looks at me, lengthening her neck, eyebrows quirked. A little challenging smile on her lips.
“We both know I’m not a gentleman,” I say, voice husky. “There’s nothing gentle about me.”
“But you are oh, so manly.” She waggles her eyebrows, grabbing onto both of my biceps.
“This is what I missed. Your sparkling wit.”
“Wrong. You missed pinning me up against the counter in our kitchen. You missed seeing me down on my knees in front of you.”
I release a soft, strangled growl. “Yes, wife, that’s exactly what I missed.”
“You missed watching me while I work out. Don’t pretend like I haven’t noticed. Not that I mind. It’s flattering, the way you look at me. I’ve never felt seen before.”
“I can’t help myself.”
“You have very bad self-control, it’s true.” She cocks her head.
