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“Was that here in Cheshire Bay?”
“No. I commuted in from Stewart Surf.”
A bit of a drive, but not ridiculous.
“Then I bought this place. But I was angry. So angry. At everything and everybody. My lawyer screwed me over, and I ended up having to cut the ex a cheque, until I found out, via another lawyer, who was amazing, how the ex was actually screwing around on me.” He spit out the words, and he tensed harder beneath my body.
My head rose and fell with his quick breaths.
“However, her parents were a different matter, as they were investors, and I needed to buy them out as the divorce proceedings went through.” He sighed, and I tightened my grip around him.
“To make matters worse, I went into heavy debt and was a wreck. A train wreck really. I yelled at everyone; employees included. My turnover, at that point, was sky-high. In three months, I think I went through fifteen staff, which maybe doesn’t sound like much—”
“But considering the town…”
“Yeah. Good help is hard enough to find, but when the boss is a dick? No one wanted to work for me, and I was stretched as thin as could be. Complaints came in left and right, and I dismissed every single one of them.”
“And when was that again?”
He faced me and without skipping a beat, had his answer ready. “First quarter of the year, seven years ago.”
I did the quick math in my head. That’s when I was pregnant with Vera. That’s when I got food poisoning from undercooked chicken, and nearly lost my baby. That’s why when I called to complain and demanded restitution, he shot me down. Not only was I at the end of my rope, but he had also nearly wrapped his own around his neck.
Suddenly, I felt like shit.
I kissed his shoulder and held him tight. “I’m sorry your wife and her family put you through the wringer.”
“I’m better now. I’ve had time to heal and make amends. That’s all I can do, right?”
I swallowed. “I guess.”
“Now you go.” He twisted onto his side and searched my face for the passage into my soul.
“Say again?”
“That’s how this works. I open up to you and share something dark about my past, and in return, you do the same thing.”
My internal gates slammed shut. “I don’t have anything dark in my past.” At least nothing I’d ever give voice to. He didn’t need to know all my secrets, it was traumatizing recalling them as it was, and this moment didn’t call for a flash flood of raw, painful emotions.
“No, nothing at all?”
I shrugged, playing innocent. “I hate to admit it, but I’m pretty damn boring.”
“You most definitely are not. Last night was…”
His kiss robbed me of rational thoughts, as his deft tongue and lips aroused me, building a deep throbbing sensation between my legs.
His palms slipped under the sheet but over my hips. “What do you say we have a little fun, and then I whip you up a breakfast.”
“As much as I want to, I can’t.” A grimace leaked out of my soul and onto my face. I so wanted another round of feeling him move inside me, or that deep connection, that moment of losing yourself to the experience. “I’m meeting my family for brunch. In an hour. I really should get home and changed.”
“I’ll take you home, on one condition.”
“What’s that?”
He kissed me quickly. “Can I see you again tonight?”
“Like after Vera’s in bed?
