Page 33 of Our Now and Forever

“Yes,” she conceded, “but I’m struggling to remember why at the moment.”

Twisting a curl around his finger, Caleb said, “I liked you, too. And I still do. Based on what just happened in the bedroom, I’d say we still have a spark.”

Snow pushed his hand away and tucked the curl behind her ear. “We always had a spark, Caleb, but sexual chemistry isn’t enough to build a marriage on.”

“We have more than that, and you know it. This morning, after the auction, you felt it, too.” Caleb took her hand in his. “Let me remind you, Snow. Let’s see what would have happened if we’d never boarded that plane.”

She didn’t look happy, and she sure didn’t look like a woman about to change her mind. But then she shook her head. “I knew this was going to happen.”

“Is that a yes?” he asked, hope filling his chest.

“We go back to dating. We talk about kids and life and where we each see our lives going, as if we never took those vows,” she said. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“Yes,” he answered, feeling the sweet thrill of victory.

“But what if we don’t see our lives going in the same direction? Are you prepared for that?”

He wanted to tell her that of course they’d see things the same, but that would mean he really was the guy she’d described. The one who didn’t listen and dished out platitudes that meant nothing. Though the words tasted bitter on his tongue, Caleb said, “If we don’t see our lives running together, then we’ll go our separate ways. That’s the deal.”

As she had that morning, Snow visibly relaxed. The girl he’d whisked off to Vegas was back.

“Okay, then,” she said with a nod, “we’re back to dating. But there’s one issue.”

After gaining so much ground, Caleb didn’t like the step back. “What’s that?”

“We weren’t living together before we left for Vegas.”

“Right,” he agreed. This was a bump he hadn’t seen coming. “But we were spending so much time together that we were practically living together.”

Snow hemmed and hawed over that statement for several seconds. “I suppose it would look odd to the locals for me to bring you here on the premise of getting engaged, but then make you stay in a hotel or something.”

“Considering you left with no warning, sent me on a wild-goose chase, and then dragged me up to this hole-in-the-wall town to find you?” he said. “A little room and board is the least you can do.”

“Hey, now,” Snow said. “We’re pretending none of that happened, remember?”

“Now who’s looking for a do-over?” he asked with a smile, happy to be standing on lighter ground. “As of right now, we’re a couple who really like each other, who’ve been conducting a long-distance relationship.” Holding up one finger, he added, “Which is technically true.”

Snow picked up the story. “But now we’re considering something more permanent, and you’ve come to live with me so we can see if we really are cut out for each other.”

“Again, all true,” he said. And if they were still in the considering stage, he could keep the ring to himself until the time was right. Snow deserved a real proposal. A story she could tell their children someday that was more than them sitting on a couch after a fight and him sliding a ring on her finger for looks alone.

Brushing his damp hair off his forehead, Snow said, “Then I guess we have a plan.” She still looked like a woman waiting for the sky to fall, but at least she wasn’t demanding he get out. “Now, are those dumplings as good as they smell?”

A smile split his face as a warmth spread through his chest. “I was waiting for you to get here to find out.”

“I’ll get the bowls,” she said, hopping off the couch.

Caleb watched his wife go through the motions of dishing up their dinner, her moves graceful and compact. Tonight had been a close call. If he wasn’t careful, Caleb would find himself eating crow and having to admit that his parents were right. That he was a spontaneous fool who leapt before thinking.

Going forward, Caleb would make sure he listened to everything Snow had to say. Though he had a funny feeling that picking up on what she didn’t say would be the real challenge.

After dinner, during which she’d managed to stay relaxed through sheer force of will, Snow slid off to the bathroom for a long, hot bath. Caleb’s determination was hard to resist. He’d said, in no uncertain terms, that there was nothing that would make him change his mind about wanting to be with her. Short of her carrying another man’s child, of course. Which was crazy. At least she hadn’t screwed her life up that bad.

They’d been crazy for each other before the trip to Las Vegas. And though she’d blamed her spontaneous marriage on mind-numbing lust, the truth was she had liked him. Liked Caleb, the man. The guy who surprised her with flowers for no reason. The one who gave the most amazing foot massages and listened to her talk about her day as if he really cared.

He’d been dependable, coming to her rescue when her car got a flat. And the time she’d tried to make him Granny’s fried chicken and started a fire. Her then-boyfriend had known exactly what to do, bounding into action and saving the day.

It seemed Caleb was always saving the day for her. And now he was determined to save their marriage by offering to date her. The truth was, he was offering to court her. To earn the vow she’d made to love and cherish him ’til death did they part. What woman would turn down a man willing to go to such extremes to get something he legally already had?

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