Page 42 of Twenty Years Later

She reached her hands up to wrap around my neck. "Alex," she whispered, her sultry voice making me want her even more... if that was possible. I pulled her in tighter, her soft breasts crushed against me. Our breaths mingled as our chests rose and fell together.

Crash!

Gabby's little tower of stackable cups fell over, and she let out a roar.

Laughing, Jayda and I broke apart, and she rushed over to help Gabby. I let out a sigh. Of course, I loved my daughter dearly, but I was dying to get Jayda alone. And I realized I'd have to wait till Gabby went to sleep for the night.

And then... then I'd do everything I'd imagined for those six long weeks that had been filled with cold showers.

Chapter Fourteen

Alex

For dinner, we decided on a Thai noodle dish with vegetables.

"I've never burned noodles before," Jayda joked as she stirred the boiling pot of water. "I mean, I'm sure I could find a way."

"Maybe between the two of us we can manage to make a decent meal."

"One can hope."

After I picked up a fussy Gabby, I walked around the kitchen and helped as much as I could with my one free hand. I also couldn't keep my eyes off Jayda as she cut up a few carrots.

Something was different about her, something I couldn't quite figure out. I'd had that slight feeling right away when I'd first spotted her at the airport. But I'd pushed it to the back of my mind. But now, watching Jayda, the feeling grew. Maybe it was her hair? Maybe she was waiting for me to notice?

"Did you get a haircut?" I asked.

She glanced at me sideways. "Um, yeah, like a month ago I think."

"Ah, okay." So that wasn't it.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, a small frown on her face.

"Like what?" I said, trying to buy time.

"I don't know. Like you're trying to figure something out I guess." She stared at me, a wooden spoon in her hand.

"Just... just there's something different about you, and I can't figure out what," I admitted.

She spun around, her attention back on the stove in front of her, stirring the noodles with determination. A few seconds later, the buzzer went off, and she dumped the noodles and hot water into a colander, the steam making her cheeks pink.

I still couldn't make out what it was, but I decided to drop it. Maybe it'd come to me later.

Together, we finished making dinner, and before long we were sitting at the table, a curious Gabby picking up a water chestnut to munch on. I sipped my water, glancing at Jayda who had been rather quiet since my haircut question.

"Everything okay?" I asked.

She nodded quickly. Too quickly. Maybe she needed some wine to relax or something. I remembered how she'd been so nervous around me at the reunion for some reason, and the wine seemed to help her be more comfortable.

But she hadn't been anxious all these nights of talking to me on the phone. Maybe it was something about being together in person?

"No wine tonight?" I asked.

"Um, yeah, no, not for me. Just kind of not feeling it tonight."

I noticed she was twisting her wedding band, something she had done a lot at the reunion.

"That's fine. It's not like we're in high school and I'm going to peer pressure you into drinking," I teased.

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