Page 43 of Kiss From A Rose

I cupped her pussy, pushing my cum back inside her, which made her moan and made my dick twitch like I hadn't come just a few minutes ago. "Your pussy makes me so fucking happy, babe."

"How about the rest of me?" she asked.

Had I just remembered how vulnerable she'd been when she asked that question? Why hadn't I noticed her need to be seenthen? Instead, I touched each part of her body and told her why and how her tits, her ass, her waist, and her skin made me hot and horny.

She smiled shyly. "I meant, besides my body."

"Your smile makes me happy. Your cooking makes me happy. The way your body moves against mine makes me happy." I kissed her and, like always, couldn't get enough of her. Soon, we were making love again.

How often had that happened? She'd asked me toseeher, and I'd seen her body, only whatshedid forme. But what damned me the most was the question I never thought to ask her in return:Rose, do I make you happy?

It was time for me not just to ask but guarantee her answer would be yes. I picked up my phone and made the call to the one person I knew who could help me. I just hoped she would forgive me for what I'd done to her friend—so I could win my wife back.

CHAPTER 15

Rose

"Malou, you have two rooms booked for the week of Christmas, hon, no names and no credit cards," I called out to my friend as she slowly walked into the lounge where I was going through the bookings on her laptop.

"I know. They'remyfriends."

I raised an eyebrow. "Hon, I didn't know you had friends but for me."

"Flower girl, I got friendsandlovers," she said saucily. "Just leave those bookings there and don't worry about them."

I inputted the rooms for Malou's friends and started looking at the weekly menus, jotting down the groceries I needed to buy on a sticky note.

"When do Willow and Mike get here?" Malou asked.

I smiled, feeling utterly giddy to be seeing my baby girl soon. "This Friday. I can't believe Willow will be at Angel's Rest. I just can't."

Malou put a hand on my arm. "You're a good mother, Rose. Your kids may have behaved badly, but I think once they realize how they hurt you, they'll both come back to you."

"You think so?" I couldn't even dare hope that Jude would forgive me. He hadn't called since that awful conversation we had. I wished I hadn't been so hard on him. I wanted to text him and apologize, but Dr. Mercer had pushed me to maintain my boundaries. My kids would treat me the way I allowed them to. I needed to put guardrails up to protect myself from harsh words. That didn't make me a bad mother, but a good one. Teaching my children to respect people, especially their own parents, was a good lesson worth learning.

Despite all of that, I missed Jude. I missed Willow. I missed Gray—him most of all. I missed his arms around me in bed. I missed making love with him. I missed it when he talked to me about work. I missed his smell.

Malou sat down on the couch as the small walk from her room to the lounge had tired her. "I know for sure that your kids will come back to you, Flower Girl. Being this close to death is making me psychic, I think."

I chuckled.

Her dark face was drawn and pale. It was only a matter of weeks; the doctor had warned me a day ago when we went for her regular checkup. He once again asked me to consider hospice, and I once again told him Malou wanted to die in her own home. I couldn't afford a nurse—but we didn't need one. I was her nurse. I'd bathe her, clean her, do whatever was needed. I'd be there for her.

I sat next to her on the couch, keeping an eye on the clock. I had a pork roast in the oven, and dinner would be served to the eight guests: two couples and one family with teenagers, in an hour.

"You need some painkillers?" I asked.

She shook her head. "They take the pain away but make me fall asleep too. I've got little time left, I'd like to be awake for some of it."

I took her hand in mine, and we looked out from the large windows of the lounge into the front garden and the ocean beyond.

"You hear from Gray?" Malou asked.

"Not since that call when he yelled at me."

"I know you love him, Flower Girl." She patted my hand with her bony one. "But I don't think you believehelovesyou."

"He doesn't." I had alwaysfeltthat, but now it had become a certainty. He was going to divorce me and sign the papers like he said he would. I'd asked Leah, and she told me that Gray's lawyer was looking through everything, and I should hear from her soon. It would take several months to finalize—but since I'd already moved out and wanted nothing from Gray, it was all going to be pretty uncomplicated.

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