Page 22 of Married in Misty Mountain

“Sorry that happened.”

“I was awake for a while, thinking about things.”

I bite into a pineapple ring, and the flavor explodes in my mouth.

“You’re not eating,” I say, pushing an empty plate at him, and I notice he fills it with mostly fruit and bread. No eggs, no meat, no butter. Maybe he has a nervous stomach. I watch him push the fruit around with his fork, looking troubled.

“What’s on your mind, Hurley?”

“Today starts the rest of our normal lives, and there are things we need to navigate carefully, especially if we’re going to be together all the time.”

The honey butter is incredible, and I wish he would try it. “What are you getting at? Just say it.”

“I mean, we need to set boundaries around sex. I’m worried that that kiss yesterday sent the wrong message.”

I raise an eyebrow and nibble on the bacon. “What kind of message were you trying to send?” I ask teasingly.

He clears his throat and looks away. “I got caught up in the moment. I was relieved that we were married and you were under my protection, and I guess you could say I was feeling happy. And you smiled at me, and you smelled so good, I gave in to the urge that I shouldn’t have.”

“Kissing is normal at a wedding, as far as I know.”

“But after our conversation last night, it seemed like you were, um, very curious about, you know, physical stuff.”

“Gee, Hurley. I’m not interested in jumping your bones. Calm down.”

“Good.”

That “good” came out of his mouth too quickly, and it stings a little. “You really know how to make a girl feel like some kind of nympho just by asking questions.”

“Shit, I’m an idiot,” Hurley says, touching a closed fist to his forehead like he’s trying to activate a clearer connection between his brain and mouth. What I’m trying to say is I enjoyed the kiss. I like sharing a bed with you. I like how you toss and turn in your sleep and then calm down when I touch you. I like waking up and feeling your legs brushing against my legs. I like …just…being with you.”

My goodness. What is the problem? “Isn’t that a good thing?”

“We have to be careful with the physical connection. We have to set a boundary.”

I smile. “But we’re married.”

There goes that ticking jaw.

We engage in a brief stare-down, and I can’t tell who wins.

He sighs, and it feels like the whole room expands with the force of it. “You don’t understand what men are like.”

I add some bacon to his plate because he simply has to try it. “There’s no need to talk down to me, Hurley. I know about sex. Just because I’ve never had it doesn’t mean I don’t understand how it works.”

He removes the bacon from his plate, and I eye him curiously. Not a bacon guy. Okay, then.

“You’re the kind of girl who marries for love. And I convinced you to marry for convenience. For protection. We need to set some ground rules.”

I think about that for a second. And then I choose sarcasm. “Hi, Hurley. I’m Shenna. Have we met? I don’t know if you know this about me, but I was raised in a high-control cult, and I don’t take kindly to men setting rules and controlling me.”

“I’m not trying to control you. I’m trying to keep you from getting hurt. So, from now on, we’ll look like a normal married couple. But at night, we’ll have to sleep in different beds.”

I nod slowly, digesting this information. “So I’ll keep my apartment, and you’ll keep your little mountain lair, wherever that might be.”

“No.”

“No? Then what? I can’t move my bed to your house. It came with my apartment.”

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