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I know that too—We love each other, and it doesn’t feel half as scary as it did when I first thought about telling him the truth.
David glances at me once more before leaving the hospital room, and I think,this is the best I’ve ever felt in my life.
David
ONE YEAR LATER
Predictably, I had a plan, and then Laura’s presence threw everything for a loop.
Laura steps forward, her eyes wide as she takes in the absolute explosion that’s happened in the château.
“I can explain,” I say quickly, hands up.
Laura slides the pink beret off her head, belatedly smoothing down her bright red hair as she plucks a piece of tulle off the fireplace.
“I sincerely doubt that,” she quips, raising a brow.
Laura and I have only been in France for a week, but she looks Parisian already. Her simple makeup, boxy clothing, and effortless beauty help her not stick out as a foreigner. Or at least, that’s what it seems like to me. Perhaps this ease is what she always experiences.
Either way, I’ve decided that the French air suits Laura.
It’s why, God and Laura willing, I want to marry her here.
Lewis and Angie live here most of the year, and I split my time. The kids do as well, though in the last few months, they’ve been choosing to spend longer and longer in France. After deciding to try for a baby, Lewis and Angie are staying after the original fifteen-month contract, so the kids have committed.
Laura and I have decided to move in together—and we’re considering having that new place here in France, so I can be with the kids all the time.
From around the corner, Benji and Lewis walk in with balloons. They see us and, without saying a word, turn on their heels and leave.
“Where are they going!” Laura laughs, shrugging out of her jacket. She slips off her shoes and drops her coat and purse. Nervously, I watch her move across the château’s entryway and into what has become a formal living room. She touches the tulle and silk and ribbon with her fingertips as she glides over to me.
“Hi, honey,” she says, a wide, cheesy smile on her face as she lifts up on her tiptoes to kiss me.
I kiss her back, half from desire and half from habit.
“Hi, sweetheart,” I say, a beat too late.
Laura grabs me by the tie and then, carefully enough not to choke me, drags me down to the couch. She laughs at my surprised face, and then she kisses me.
This kiss takes my breath away.
Despite over a year of being with Laura, I am no more used to her than I was that first morning we woke up together. She still sends shivers down my spine, still makes my heart skip a beat, still makes me feel a decade younger?—
Laura still makes me feel like I can be anyone.
Even a husband.
I move my hands to her waist, holding her to me. She cocks one leg up, not quite to my hip but right below my ass, just comfortably keeping me close. My mouth is almost tingling from the heaviness of her kisses, and it makes me feel like I’m overheating. As she slows our kisses, things become languid. She begins to pet my hair, soft and gentle, while her other hand finds mine, and she intertwines our fingers. I kiss her slowly, lips and tongue soft as we just explore each other.
If I was a younger man, I would have married Laura the day she got out of the hospital. As it was, I’m not so young—or naïve. Marriage is hard work, and it’s hard work I’ve failed at already. I couldn’t just jump into something—not with someone my kids knew, not with Lewis’ sister, not with someone as important to me as Laura James is.
But now…
Twelve months was almost too long to wait. Now, with her in my arms, her brother and father’s blessing, and the kids going ahead, it’s almost impossible to keep my mouth shut any longer.
“Ow,” Laura mumbles against my mouth.
I pull back, frowning, as she wiggles beneath me. “What’s wrong?”
