Page 15 of Forever Mine

I stare at my phone, waiting for the bubbles to pop up that she’s texting me back.

I timed my text to send when I knew her class was over.

I let out a breath when the bubbles appear and then shortly after, a text.

It’s ten in the morning.

I laugh and type out a response.Fine, breakfast, brunch… whatever.

I look through the window of the gym, hoping for just a glimpse of her, but when I don't see her, I stare down at my phone.

Give me a few minutes to get cleaned up. Meet me at Sugar Glaze Bakery?

YES.

I then take the next three minutes, watching the clock on the dashboard of my car. When it gets to two minutes remaining, I’m out of my SUV, pacing out front of Work It Out. I had intentions to play it cool and just meet her at the bakery, but I want more time with her. Hell, I want all the time with her, so I wait for her to come out so we can walk to the bakery together.

She comes out of her gym, wide-eyed. “Hey, I thought we were meeting at the bakery.”

I shrug, reaching for her hand. She tenses, but she doesn’t pull away. “I thought we could walk together. If you have time, there’s a book fair in the square. We could go there after.”

She stops and looks up at me. “You want to go to a book fair?”

Offended, I lift my shoulders. “I read.”

She laughs and starts walking again. “Oh, I know you read. You’re probably the smartest person I know. But this is a used book fair, and it’s known for having romance books, children’s books, and things like that. They don’t usually have textbooks or hardly any nonfiction books.”

I pull her closer to my side. “That’s fine. You like to read romance.”

She seems surprised. “Yeah, I do.”

I nod my head at a person passing by and nudge Nat with my shoulder. “What? You don’t think I know what you read?”

She avoids my gaze and is looking at the pavement in front of us. “I mean, I thought you might, but we never talked about it. You never asked me about it or anything.”

I stop walking, and since we’re holding hands, I pull her to stop next to me. I release my hold on her, but just for an instant. I palm her shoulders and take a step toward her until I can feel her pressed against the front of me. Already, my manhood is stirring, but I don’t dare let go. “I know I’ve screwed up, Nat. Fuck, I almost lost you because of how I’ve behaved. I’m a fool, but I promise you I’m going to do better.”

She finally lifts her eyes to mine, and she’s looking at me skeptically. I’ve never lied to her, but I don’t blame her for looking at me the way she is. Already in the span of just a few minutes, I’ve been more attentive and affectionate to her than I have in our whole marriage. Why should she believe me? I lean down until our lips are mere inches apart. “Trust me, Nat. Give me another chance.”

She takes a step back, and I drop my hands from her shoulders. My heart nearly plummets to my stomach, and I’m about to reach for her when she grabs my hand. “Thirty days, Beau. We’re going to try this for thirty days, and if it doesn’t work, then we walk away.”

She starts to turn, but I stop her. “Could you just walk away, Nat? Would it be that easy?”

She shakes her head and drags in a breath. Her chin quivers, but she seems to pull herself together. “No, it wouldn’t be easy. It would be the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

Satisfied, I lean down and kiss her lightly on the lips before doing the same to her forehead. I wrap an arm around her and pull her tight against my body. “That’s good, Nat. Because letting you go would be the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

We walk the rest of the way to the bakery in silence. As soon as we’re inside, I point to a corner booth. “Have a seat. I’ll get us some food.”

Her eyes widen, but she nods her head and goes to sit down. I’m third in line, and when I get to the front, I order, pay, and watch as the woman behind the counter places my items on plates. She has to go back to the back to get a fresh batch of apple fritters, and I turn to look at Nat, hoping to catch her eye.

My hands fist at my sides, and the smile on my face drops when I see the man at the next table talking to Nat.

She’s smiling and nodding her head, and I keep my eyes glued on her until the woman places the fritter on the tray and says, “That’s everything, sir. You need anything else?”

I grumble, “Thank you,” and her eyes widen at the tone of my voice. I smile, hoping to soften my tone and then stalk over to the table. I set the tray down, and before taking a seat, I lean over, pulling Nat’s head back to kiss her thoroughly. Her moan of satisfaction has me pulling away. My cock is hard, but I force myself to sit across from her and then glare at the man at the next table. He gets the picture fast, smirks at me, and then loads his tray up with his trash. “It was nice talking to you, Natalie. I may see you at the gym soon.”

She nods and smiles at him before turning to me. With her hands on the table, she leans forward and whispers loudly, “What was that all about?”

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