Page 258 of Mangled Memory
“Are you cold?”
“No. I’m content. And after how crazy the last twenty-four hours have been, I’m not complaining about content. I havequestions. I have things to sort through that make no sense. But, in this moment, here, with you, the only word I have is content.”
“At some point, you need to tell me about what happened with your mom and dad.” He sees my protest and holds up a hand, his fingers barely breaking the surface. “Not tonight. That’s certainly not mundane. Tomorrow?”
“Maybe.” I grab his arm and lean in closer. It’s not sexual. It’s intimacy. It’s closeness for the sake of closeness. I eventually drop my head onto his shoulder. “Thank you for today, Honey. It was shit and it was worth it. And I’m grateful.”
He shakes his head as if he can’t understand but keeps me there, glued to his side, as the sun plays hide and seek with the Rocky Mountains.
We sit in companionable silence, staring out over the vibrant orange spray of the sunset until only the palest pink remains, giving way to the dance of stars.
“It’s well after six thirty,” he murmurs to my temple. “Are you ready for dinner?”
I nod against his skin. “Is Corinne still here?”
“She was leaving within minutes of me coming out here. And that was at least an hour ago. It’s just us.”
“Didn’t you have work you needed to do? I assumed you’d be in your office until we ate.”
“My gorgeous wife stripped and walked naked, bold as brass, outside to climb in the hot tub. I was… distracted.”
“Your wife was tired and sore and wasn’t trying to distract you.”
He turns, our faces so close our breaths mingle. “Everything about you has always distracted me. From the moment we met, and it’s never dampened. I see you or even a picture of you and I have to fight my brain to focus on anything else. Tonight wasn’t worth the fight.”
29
anything but mundane
Christian
I don’t mention the bruises on her upper arm. The sight of those on the cameras as she strutted her gorgeous ass out here provoked me in a way her nakedness couldn’t. And it was doing enough.
There’s so much she needs to understand. And there are things I need to be clued in to, too, but she’s on overload and more isn’t better. At least, tonight.
“So these mundane things? What are we discussing tonight?” I stand, extending a hand and can’t stop my blatant stare as she emerges naked from the water like a goddess shucking her immortality.
“You keep staring, we won’t discuss much.”
“I won’t argue that.”
The words are barely out when her stomach growls as if she’s never eaten. A blush paints her from cleavage to hairline and she looks away.
“But first, let’s get you fed.” I look to my hand and wait until she accepts the offer before helping her out ahead of me. Following her swaying ass for the umpteenth time today, I’m reminded how good my life is—that is, aside from the drama surrounding my wife. Which reminds me, I have calls to make tonight after she falls asleep. Calls to discuss things that are anything but mundane.
Dinner is delicious, though everything Corinne makes is.Conversation is light and obviously avoiding the topics we both need to dive into.
“Do you want to watch a movie?”
Her head pops up. “I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.”
I can…her.
Everywhere.
Anywhere.
But, since I made the offer, I follow through. “Let’s go then.”
