Page 23 of The Man I Love

He’d made love to her three times in his office last night, then taken her again in his bed.

Now she was pouring milk into a blue mixing bowl, and he never wanted this moment to end.

He’d taken things like this for granted in the past. The little things. Like watching her make breakfast in their kitchen and seeing her disheveled hair in the morning after a night of their lovemaking.

He vowed to savor every second.

Taking a deep breath, he pushed himself from the door jamb and stepped over the pile of clothes they’d left on the floor in their wake. He wasn’t sure what time they’d made it home last night, but the evidence of their lovemaking was scattered all over the house.

He smiled as he moved toward her like a panther stalking its prey.

She yelped when he grabbed her from behind, but in a second her back melted against him—butter as soon as he touched her.

It was moments like this that he missed her most. The real moments. The unbrushed, unwashed, hopefully soon-to-be-undressed-again moments.

“Hey,” she whispered into his ear. “Did I wake you?”

Her face was clean and smelled of soap. “No,” he replied. “But you should have.”

Her head fell back to his shoulder as she laughed. “You looked too peaceful.”

“And I was.” Last night was the best sleep he’d gotten in months.

He gripped her a little tighter, knowing she was the reason for it, and peaked into her bowl on the counter. “Are you making me pancakes?” he said, forcing her departure from his thoughts.

She turned to face him again, flattening both hands on his chest as her face grew serious. “Yes. I was going to bring you breakfast in bed, but you ruined it.”

He tightened his grip on her hips and grinned. “I can go back,” he suggested, but then his cell phone pinged from the bedroom and his back stiffened.

She tilted her head to the side, eyeing him curiously. “Everything okay?”

He paused for a second, silently cursing. “Yeah.” He forced a smile. “It’s probably Penny wondering why I’m not at the office.”

Sam searched his face, as though sensing something wasn’t quite right.

His cell phone pinged again.

“You should probably answer that,” she suggested.

He nodded his head, “I’ll be right back.” Then he turned toward the bedroom.

He paused when he rounded the corner, thankful to be out of sight, as anticipation grew in his chest. He picked up his cellphone off the bedside table, opened his notifications, and let out a sigh of relief when it wasn’t his father.

Penny:Hoping you just turned off your alarm and you’re not dead on the side of the road somewhere.

Penny:We have a problem.

Penny:Call me

His immediate relief was replaced by dread.

“Pen, it’s me,” he said as she picked up the phone on the first ring.

“Thank God, Tris! Did you forget to make a payment? Collections was here asking to talk to you. What’s going on?”

Fuck!He sat on the bed, needing to steady himself. “What did you tell them?” he asked. “What did they say?” He couldn’t get the questions out quickly enough. He was trying to sound calm but failing miserably.

Penny told him they’d thrown around words like “repossession,” and “final notice.” He’d known this was coming. He’d put them off too long––but he still felt numb inside.

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