I’ve got to admit, life is sweet these days. As a starting NFL quarterback, I do okay, and I haven’t been lacking for female companionship. But I’d give it all up in a heartbeat if I could get back the woman I loved and lost—my ex-wife, Katy.
Now I’m at a wedding, watching one of my best friends tie the knot. I’m happy for him—really. I just wish things had turned out better when I’d taken that walk down the aisle. Still, those days are over.
I’m on my way up to my room when I run into my ex in the elevator. It’s like karma. Has to be. Only she’s with some random guy, who’s getting a little too handsy for my liking. I can’t help myself—I have to say something. Something that ruins her night…and mine, too.
Now, I’m sitting alone in my hotel room, when suddenly, Katy’s at my door, complaining that I ruined her 30th birthday. Her solution—that I give her the night of sexual adventure I’d derailed in the elevator.
I never was very good at saying no to her…
EXCERPT
She
continued staring straight ahead, but her gaze didn’t seem to focus on
anything. “You didn’t see the bedroom in
the condo.”
Just
as well he hadn’t. He really didn’t need
to be reminded of everything they’d done in there.
“I
re-did it all,” she said. “Gave the bed
away to charity. New paint, new
curtains. I changed the carpet.”
“I
would have done the same thing.”
She
dropped his hand and rose. Then she did
the damnedest thing. She crawled into
his lap and rested her head on his shoulder.
What else could he do but wrap his arms around her and kiss the top of
her head? “Katy, Katy, Katy.”
She
didn’t talk or make any move to caress him.
She just sat there like a warm lump while the gulls kept calling and the
breakers rolled in and crashed against the shore. He’d arranged for this cottage so they could
continue their explorations of uninhibited sex.
He’d reserved it because she’d love the luxury and because she could
walk right up to the water from here. He
hadn’t meant for confessions or deep discussions. He hadn’t expected cuddling. That sure hadn’t been any part of his sex
life since the divorce.
“I
still sometimes wake up and expect to find you next to me,” she said.
All
right, this had to stop. If he sat here
long enough with her in his lap like a lost puppy, he’d start hoping for things
that weren’t going to happen. He’d go
back to thinking everything could work out if only he tried hard enough. He’d want to protect her from anything that
could harm her, including loving him.
But
he could show her how much her missing him meant. He could do it without rehashing their entire
relationship, including the pain of separation.
He could enjoy the present she’d given him and make sure she enjoyed it,
too. They could cuddle some more
afterward without any of the sadness.
He
scooped her up in his arms and rose. As
he did, she twined her fingers behind his neck and gazed up at him out of her
deep, brown eyes. She stared at him with
complete knowledge of what they were about to do and what it would mean. Yeah, they’d have sex, but there were better,
more profound, words for it. Like making
love. Words he was not going to use.
He
carried her into the bedroom and laid her on the comforter. In this space, they had no history, good or
bad. They only had these moments. They’d be real. They’d be intense. But they’d stay behind when he and she had
left.
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