He’d felt the disappointment in her when she’d asked if he was going to leave. He knew he should have just said no, but he didn’t want to lie to her.
“You got too much sun today,” he said. “Your cheeks are red.”
“I always do,” she said, the same cold shoulder she’d been giving him all afternoon. “No matter how much sunscreen I use.”
“I just get more tanned,” he said.
“Have we really come down to banal conversation? You don’t have anything more to say to me than that?” she asked, and he heard the anger in her tone. She wanted a fight and he got that, but he wasn’t sure he could accommodate her.
“Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood,” he said. “I’m not good at this kind of thing. You should know that by now.”
“Yeah, you should try harder. You don’t encourage anyone to talk to you.”
“It’s not my scene,” he said. “I never know the right thing to say and I always end up feeling like I’m an idiot.”
“You are the furthest thing from an idiot that I’ve ever met.”
“That’s not what you were thinking earlier,” he said.
“True,” she said with a laugh. “Do you want to come inside?”
“Yes, but I thought we agreed we’d played this suburban fantasy long enough,” he said. He didn’t want to have to walk away again but they both knew that...what?
“Let’s talk inside. I really don’t want to sit out here in the car and have a long conversation.”
“Okay,” he said. “You go open the windows and I’ll get all the stuff from the trunk.”
She looked as if she wanted to argue with him, but then she just nodded and got out of the car. He watched her walk up the path to her cute little house and thought how idyllic this place was. The house was comfortable and cozy with a neatly manicured lawn. The neighborhood was friendly butnot intrusive. The lady was sexy, sweet and just not right for a man like him.
He cleaned out the car and then walked up to the house. She’d opened all the windows and a nice breeze welcomed him as he stepped inside. He heard the sound of Jimmy Buffett coming from the patio and dumped the cooler in the kitchen before pausing on the threshold between the house and the patio to watch her watering the hibiscus which grew around the edge of her water feature.
A part of him craved this life more than he knew was safe. She’d become an obsession for him and he wanted her. He wanted to say to hell with all the people in her life and just scoop her up and take her away to somewhere special, just the two of them.
But that wasn’t ever going to happen.
“Jay?”
“Yes?”
“Do you want a beer?” she asked.
“Nah, I’m good. This place is nice,” he said stepping onto the patio and going to sit on one of her Adirondack chairs. She took a seat next to him and then stood up and paced around the garden.
“This isn’t really working out, is it?”
“No, it’s not. You were right when you said we were playing house, and the last week has been fun though it’s not any different from our marriage.”
“I know. Do you realize if you spend the night with me tonight it will be the longest we’ve ever been together?” she asked.
He hadn’t realized that. But it explained why he’d been so restless and jittery all day today. “You know you’re the only woman I’ve ever been with for this long.”
“That’s sad, Jay,” she said. “You don’t even want to stay longer than a week with me.”
“I do,” he said. “I’m just not sure how to do this. I want this to be real but for some reason it just isn’t.”
“I think part of the problem is me,” she said. “Earlier when I was talking to Staci I had an epiphany about myself.”
“What was it?” he asked when she was quiet.
