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She shed her dress and hung it in the closet. As the hot water ran over a washcloth, she slipped out of her gown underclothes and into regular ones before putting on a comfortable pair of pajamas the color of banana skins. She could sleep as late as she wanted in the morning, which was a good thing considering how much exhaustion tugged at her eyelids.
She stepped out of the closet and in front of the sink, finally allowing herself to look into her own eyes. She felt different than she had an hour ago. She wasn’t sure what the difference was, only that she’d finally been kissed by Lee, and that had definitely sent her world skittering off its regular axis.
Her gaze drifted down to her lips, and she saw what Charity had.Your face is funny, Momma.Even Autumn had seen the stain.
Her lipstick had been smeared off her bottom lip, and Rosalie reached up to touch the spot on her face where it didn’t belong. Lee had kissed her so thoroughly and completely that Rosalie couldn’t help the flush as it worked its way up through her stomach, chest, and throat. He’d practically drank her right up, and Rosalie wanted him to do it again, right now.
Instead, she went through her nightly skincare routine, and fifteen minutes later, she returned to her bedroom, her mind still stuck in some sort of revolving thought pattern which could only feature Lee.
Autumn snoozed on her side of the bed, and Rosalie smiled fondly at her. She picked up her phone to make sure her daily alarm was off, and she found texts from Lee. A grin burst onto her face as she swiped to read them fully.
What time is too early to call?he’d asked.I’ll be up to do the morning milking about five, and I’m assuming that’s too early.
The timestamp told her he hadn’t even waited to leave her driveway before he’d sent this message.
Her fingers flew across the screen.Five is too early, Handsome. Aren’t you tired?It wasn’t even her family wedding, and she was exhausted.
Her phone vibrated, and her pulse jumped into the back of her throat. She glanced at Autumn and then tiptoed in a hurry out of her bedroom, swiping on Lee’s call once she made it to the hallway. “Hey,” she whispered. The blue light from the clock displays in the kitchen beckoned to her, and she kept moving. She suddenly felt sixteen again, sneaking away from her parents’ bedroom to take a midnight phone call from her boyfriend.
With a jolt, she realized that was exactly what she was doing.
“Hey,” Lee said in a normal tone. “Is six too early?”
Rosalie giggled and shook her head, finally arriving in her kitchen. “I only saw these texts because I was turning off my alarm.”
“So six is too early.”
“Mm hm.”
“Do y’all go to church?”
“Sometimes,” Rosalie said. “I wasn’t planning on it tomorrow.”
“All right,” he said. “Well, I’ll call you tomorrow, sometime after…seven.”
“Lee.”
“Eight.”
She laughed under her breath again, and he said, “Fine, nine,” with plenty of happiness in his voice too.
“’Bye, Handsome,” she said, sobering. “Drive safe.”
“I’m already home,” he said. “Sitting outside my cabin, talkin’ to you.”
“Go in and go to bed,” she said. “You like to pretend like you’re super-human, but I know you’re tired.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, and just like that, he made her feel like the one in control of this relationship. Rosalie hadn’t realized that she needed a measure of power in her romantic relationships until that moment, and she pulled the phone away from her ear.
The seconds continued to click up, and when she put the device back in place, Lee still wasn’t speaking. “I mean it, Lee,” she said. “I don’t want to deal with you when you’re all surly and sour. And I know that comes when a man like you doesn’t get the proper amount of rest.”
“I’m goin’ in right now,” he said. “Night, my rose.” He hung up this time, and Rosalie let her arm fall back to her side.
My rose.
Oh, how she wanted to be his. At the same time, he gave her permission to be herself too, and Rosalie had never really had that until James had left. Even then, he hadn’t listened to her. She hadn’t wanted the divorce, and just like everything in their relationship, James decided for her.
Lee hadn’t been willing to give up control of their kiss, but he hadn’t seemed like that dominance would bleed into other parts of their relationship. A sigh came from her mouth as she started back toward her bedroom. All she could think about was what life would be like if he’d come inside with her instead of driving back to his cabin.
