Tomorrow.
If only I’d known it would mark the beginning of the end… just not the one I’d planned for.
Chapter 01
June
Five months and fourteen days earlier
wonderful family
Cecily
“Alicia, Ethan! Dinner will be ready in less than twenty minutes. You’ve got ten to finish what you’re doing and come help set the table,” I call out from the kitchen doorway.
I turn back to the counter, to the half-finished salad, crisp lettuce, sliced tomatoes, the faint scent of basil lingering on myfingers. I’m wiping my hands on a dish towel when a familiar presence closes in behind me.
Strong hands wrap around my waist, pulling me flush against a body I’d recognize blindfolded.
“So that gives me, what… eight minutes to get my hands on my wife before the kids come down?” he murmurs against my ear, warm breath teasing.
I didn’t even hear him come home. One second I’m alone, the next I’m being turned, spun, breath stolen, until I’m facing him. My gorgeous, exasperating husband.
He kisses me like he’s been waiting all day.
His mouth is urgent, his hands relentless. Sliding over my waist, tracing my spine. He presses me against the island, hard, his arousal unmistakable against my belly. When his fingers find the hem of my blouse and brush over my breast, I break the kiss on a shaky inhale.
“Colin—” My voice comes out thinner than I intend. “We shouldn’t. The kids will be down any second.”
He hums against my neck, his smile clear in the sound. “Wouldn’t be the first time we’ve christened the kitchen. Maybe we should start revisiting old habits.”
I try to glare, but my laugh betrays me. I slap his shoulder gently, and then we both freeze at the unmistakable sound of footsteps on the stairs.
A perfect reminder of why all suchactivitiesbelong in the bedroom.
In a blur, we’re teenagers again, guilt-stricken and scrambling in opposite directions.
I catch him shrugging off his jacket, and when he holds it in front of his trousers, I realize exactly what he’s trying to hide. I bite my lip to keep from laughing. He shoots me a look, eyes dark with warning, his voice low and edged with promise.
“You’ll pay for that later.”
“I certainly hope so…Mr. Montgomery.”
He pauses at the doorway, throws a look over his shoulder. “You will,Mrs. Montgomery.”
A second later, the kitchen bursts into life. Alicia rushes forward to hug him, her “Hi, Daddy!” bright as sunlight, while Ethan mutters that he’s not a kid anymore. Though he leans into the touch all the same. Colin kisses the tops of their heads before disappearing upstairs.
Without me needing to say another word, they fall into rhythm, setting the table with their usual playful banter, always helping each other. The air fills with the scent of garlic bread and the murmur of their laughter.
I stand there for a moment, spoon still in hand, watching them. Then I finish the salad and add the final touches to dinner, a smile lingering on my face, my heart full of gratitude for this imperfect, wonderful family of mine.
Colin
"Open your eyes, sweetheart," I say as I keep thrusting into her, slowly at first, then harder. "I need to see you."
Ceci's eyelids flutter, her body arching and shifting beneath me, with each thrust.
Earlier, I had woken her with my mouth, teasing her senses and drawing out waves of pleasure before I entered her, her body still trembling from the orgasm.
