“Did it help?”
She places a glass in front of me and the other beside her. I sip a generous amount of water, not realizing how thirsty I was.
“Yeah, I mean, they would swim naked in a pool, but since you don’t have a pool, I figured I could continue making you grilled cheese sandwiches.” A sexy smirk curled at the ends of her lips.
My dick twitched at the thought of going skinny dipping with Mel. Even though our marriage was fake, I still was a man with blood running through my veins and any man would look at her and want to fuck her. She was so damn beautiful I probably would cum at just the sight of her alone.
“Why do I feel like I’m getting duped now that I know he got tits and ass, and I’m getting a grilled cheese sandwich.”
“Beggars can’t be choosers,” she tips her glass toward me before taking a sip.
“So it’s a date?”I brought my glass up to make a toast. She clanks her glass against mine, following my gesture.
“It’s a date. Two a.m. sharp.”
“I’ll be there,” and we both drank to that.
21
MELANIE
Ajolt ran through me—a hand on my shoulder, shaking me just hard enough to snap me out of sleep.
“Mel, time to get up. We have to get going.”
I blinked, disoriented, Nick’s face slowly sharpening into focus like a photo coming into frame. My limbs felt heavy, skin chilled from the night air. I rubbed my eyes hard, dragging myself into consciousness.
“Here’s some coffee to help wake you up.”
The mug was warm against my cold fingers. I gripped it tight, desperate for the heat. One sip—smooth, creamy, burning just enough going down—and I exhaled like I’d just come back from the dead.
“What time is it?” I muttered, still squinting against the sunlight stabbing through the windows.
“It’s 10 a.m.,” he said.
“Do you hate me that much? Why can’t I sleep in? The restaurant is closed on Sundays.”
A shiver rolled down my spine like a warning.
“And I know you like sleeping in the cold, but can we turn the heat on now that it’s getting down in the thirties at night?”
“I never knew fighting over the thermostat was real in a marriage.”
“It’s a real thing unless you have a huge house where each division has its own thermostat.”
He cocked an eyebrow, half amused, but I was too tired to play along. I clung to the coffee, trying to chase the fog out of my brain. Last night, I’d passed out after stuffing my face, but I’d also lost sleep talking with Nick, tangled up in the warmth of our messy attempt at connection.
“You didn’t answer my question. Why can’t I sleep in? Are we going somewhere or something?”
“Yes. Church.”
I froze mid-sip, eyes locking on him over the rim of the mug.
“You’re fucking kidding me, right?”
“And this is why you need Jesus.”
“I don’t need shit, especially from you.”
