Page 120 of Finding Forever

“Your eyes,” he admitted truthfully and she stared at him owlishly.

“What?”

“And your lips. And did you know your nose scrunches up right here”—He stroked the bridge of her nose with his index finger—“when you’re excited?”

“Are you saying thatIdistracted you from me?”

He blinked at her in astonishment as he recognized that yes, that wasindeedthe excuse he was making. Trust Fern to go straight to the heart of the matter.

She laughed, the sound containing genuine amusement.

“Oh, well played, Cade, that’s the ultimate snow job.”

“As long as my skills are recognized and appreciated,” he replied without missing a beat and she laughed again.

“Fine, I’ll stop going on about the decorations but I’m just so excited.”

“I know, you are,” he said. “And I’m happy you’re excited. You’ll have to bear with me though. I haven’t done the whole Christmas thing in a while, so I’m a bit rustywith all of this.”

“What did the family do last year?” she asked.

“Dad and Kenny spent Christmas with Beth and Gideon.”

“And you?”

“I uh…” He swallowed and tugged at his collar. “I spent it on my yacht in Ambergris Caye in Belize.”

“Alone?”

“No. I—there was… someone. A woman.” He felt his cheeks heat and felt like a damned fool for being so damned awkward about having a sex life before her.

“Aah, okay.”

“What about you?” he asked quickly, hoping to smooth over the damned uncomfortable moment by diverting the attention to her.

“I spent it at Blessed Heart with a couple of the teachers for company. They were both annoyed to be stuck at the school for the holidays and spent most of it cloistered away in their rooms, FaceTiming their families.”

“What was Abernathy doing last Christmas?”

“Granger, Toni, and Allie holidayed in the Caribbean last year.”

Cade swore viciously beneath his breath, his hands curling into fists beneath the table.

He looked around for the waiter, in an attempt to get his temper back under control and when he caught the guy’s eye he gestured for the bill.

“Fern, I’ve been wondering about something,” he said grimly and her eyes widened at the somber tone of voice.

“About?” she asked.

“Uh… well.” Fuck he had to tread very,verycarefully here. “If you’re thinking we’ll be together for another year, minimum… what about, y’know,intimacy?”

Her eyes widened as she immediately understood to what he was referring. Widened, then sparked with amusement.

“It’s just that I don’t think either of us would want to remain celibate for that length of time,” he muttered awkwardly.

“So, are you saying we should be not-celibate with each other?” she asked, and recognizing the words as the ones he’d spoken the night they’d married, his eyes narrowed in warning.

“Don’t you dare,” he muttered.

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