Page 57 of Embracing Us

“Always,” I say, my mouth only millimetres from his. Where Rhiann is sitting, I can’t see her face, but I know her eyes are fixed on us. “I have never loved someone more completely than I love this man. He is my absolute world.”

“The feeling is mutual, Beautiful.” Jackson’s cries interrupt the moment. Max startles, smirks, then retreats to go care for his son who was sleeping soundly in his pram beside the counter. I turn back to my friend who smiles at me with genuine pleasure.

“I’m so happy for you, Linda,” she says. “You do have it all. I think you were one of the lucky ones who found the magic formula to life.”

“Or maybe it found me?” I suggest.

“No, remember that day in the staff room, when you told me about Max.” I nod, unsure where she is going with this. “And I told you, you were an idiot for walking away.”

“Yes, you were right as well.”

“That day, you made the decision to go after what you wanted. I could see it in your eyes. You maybe didn’t act straight away, but you knew what you needed.” Her eyes hold mine, daring me to contradict her. I don’t. I can’t because she’s right. That day, when she told me bluntly that I was an idiot, it stung, but it also made me consider my future. Finding out I was pregnant just meant I had to find Max, but with or without Jackson, I believe I would have always asked him for a second chance. I need him, and he needs me.

“Shall we finish these drinks and then go dancing?” I say, and she nods enthusiastically. We both lift the over-large wine glasses to our lips, tip our heads back and drain them. They land back on the bar with a perfectly synchronised clink. “Let’s go.” We jump down from our perches, take each other’s hands and stroll off into the Spanish evening to have some fun.

*

“My head,” I whine. Max wanders into our bedroom and proceeds to open every fucking blind. The morning sunshine streams in the windows, burning my eyes. My head pounds as if ready to explode. “No light, please.” He chuckles under his breath.

“Did you overdo it, Beautiful?” he says. I can hear him trying to stifle the laughter threatening to explode from his throat. I blink my eyes open, trying to clear the fuzzy feeling in my brain. He’s standing beside the bed with Jackson in only his shorts. “Fancy a quickie?”

“Oh my god, no. I’d spew.”

“Thanks,” he mutters. “That does wonders for my confidence, my wife telling me that fucking her will make her vomit.” I run a hand through my hair, my fingers becoming tangled in the knots.

“Where’s Rhiann?” I ask. My mind is completely empty, I don’t remember getting home last night. My last memory is leaving the crammed club and jumping in a taxi.

“I assume she’s in her bed,” he says. “I sent her in that direction after I convinced you both that standing on the bar top and singing Barbie Girl at four in the morning perhaps wasn’t the best idea.” I throw my hands to my eyes.

“Tell me you’re making that shit up,” I snap. The familiar tune by Aqua starts to play. When I look up, Max is holding his phone, showing me video evidence of my attempt at karaoke. “You took a video. You’re an arsehole.”

“I am, but I’ve paid penance for it.”

“How?”

“I never got the chance to fuck you in that dress,” he growls, sitting down on the edge of the bed. He looks incredible with his golden tan, bright eyes and freshly ruffled hair. The hand that isn’t holding our son slides under the covers and squeezes my breast. “I had a hard-on all fucking night, and you just lay there, dead to the world. It was excruciating.”

“Maybe I can make it up to you later,” I suggest. His grip tightens on my tit.

“There’s no maybe about it. You have a non-negotiable appointment with my dick this evening. Your husband is needing some relief due to the bad behaviour of his cock-teasing wife.” His eyes fire, the thoughts in his mind so clear I can almost see them. “And you’re wearing that red dress. Rhiann won’t be getting it back. I have a list of positions I want to utilise it for.”

*

My friend stays with us for a week in total. By the time she leaves, I’m ready for our little Spanish sanctuary to return. Rhiann is fun and free, but exhausting. Every day has been filled with nights out and copious amounts of alcohol. I’m looking forward to it returning to being only my little family here, enjoying each other. Our time in the hotel will be precious. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to only concentrate on ourselves. I’m grateful to have been offered the chance for my son to start his life here, for my husband to be able to support a woman who means the world to him, and for me to have the time to work on myself without the familiar stresses of life in London. I hope when we return to the big smoke, we can continue to live as we do here. Happy, content and together.

---