Page 9 of Crossing the Line
She just hoped that Bixby would hurry up and come over to hear whatever it was that Moira had to say about their oak tree.
Theirin that it was in both of their halves of the yard.
"Bixby?!"
Moira's voice climbed a little higher in tone and volume.
Janice winced a little and wondered if the glass doors on her refrigerator case were vibrating from the sound.
"Moira Lundin..."
Bixby's voice had a way of making her tremble, not that she'd say that in front of him, or even out loud.
There was this delightful rumble of sound when he was holding back a laugh that had always tickled her, especially when they were alone together on quiet nights.
Now, she only got to hear it once in a while during the day at the market.
He walked up to within a few feet of her and Janice took a moment to look at him, really look.
Damn him.
He was aging well, not that she wasn't, but she didn't normally have a chance to look at him up close or have an opportunity to really study him.
When they first started dating and in that 'golden time' after their marriage, she'd love his thick brown hair, almost black.
She'd use any excuse to touch it, run her fingers through it.
Sometimes when he was sleeping, she'd gently splay her fingers through his hair and imagine how he'd change through the years.
His ruggedly handsome features didn't disappoint.
His jaw wasn't so sharply cut anymore, but the laugh lines around his eyes had deepened and it looked good on him, really good.
Bixby lifted a hand to his head and rubbed it over the crown. A gesture that used to be so familiar to her, but she'd forgotten it.
It gave him a certain boyish charm but the dark brown hair that she'd loved so much when they were younger was now more salt than pepper, but wow... it made him look... hot.
"Janice?" Something tugged on her sleeve, and she looked down to see Moira frowning at her. "Are you okay?"
The last thing she wanted was to be caught ogling her ex.
There was a reason why he was her ex!
There was...
She just couldn't quite remember what it was.
"Janice?"
Slowly, she turned her head and saw that Bixby was talking to her.
Bixby.
And that deep chuckle she loved?
Grudgingly, she had to add.
Well, now she had a new favorite tone of his voice.
