Page 30 of Accidental Theirs
“Then you don’t have to be. What do you have in the fridge? You need help?”
She doesn’t even open her eyes. “Two eggs and maybe some mayonnaise.”
“Yum,” I drawl, and she bursts out laughing.
It feels good, making her laugh, sitting down next to heron the couch. It’s something to hold on to when I’m alone at night.
She sighs. “I can order pizza.”
“I’ll do it. Pepperoni and mushroom, right?”
She smiles, still with her eyes closed. She looks exhausted.
“You remember.”
“I remember everything.”
She opens her eyes, finally lifting her head to look at me.
“You’re really determined about this whole thing.”
“About what? About you?”
“Yeah.”
I snort. “Of course, I am. You don’t let a beautiful, wonderful woman like you slip through your fingers without a little determination to get her back.”
“You weren’t determined about much, before.”
“I wasn’t.” I draw her legs into my lap, and she doesn’t protest.
I rub at the arch of her foot, and she moans, arching her back and sending a shiver of pleasure down my spine.
“So, why are you now?” She sounds sleepy but still determined.
I chuckle. “Figured out what I lost.”
“You didn’tloseme. You left me.”
“I know. It was a mistake.”
“Why was it a mistake?”
“Because I’m miserable without you.” I rub her foot harder, and she wiggles in my grasp.
“Tickles.”
I grin wickedly and tickle her some more until she nearly kicks me in the face.
“If I’d kicked you, you’d have deserved it.”
I laugh. “Maybe so.”
I keep rubbing her feet until she shifts again, lying on her side to watch television.
“The merger,” she starts, her words slurred with exhaustion. “It’ll be okay?”
“It’ll be okay.”
