He pours two coffees, setting one down on the counter beside me. Then he leans in and kisses my cheek. “You are spoiling me.”
“Hardly.” I glance up at him, trying to tamper my giddiness. “You have been doing all the heavy lifting in this marriage. It’s my turn to pull my weight.” I stretch up and kiss his tempting lips. “Go relax. I’ll bring breakfast out.”
“Okay.”
He lingers by my side, and I laugh. “What?” I inquire.
“I’m finding it strangely hard to tear myself away from you,” he admits, twirling a lock of my messy hair.
Be still my heart. “You will have to tear yourself away from me at some point today. I have an important meeting, and Nic is coming over in an hour for a run on the beach.”
“I have a couple of meetings myself this morning, and that suits. Considering we slept in, I won’t have time to go with you today.”
“I like running with you,” I admit. Our early morning jogs are when we have been most at peace with one another. I think he likes that I can keep pace with him and I’m naturally quieter first thing in the morning and less likely to pick a fight.
“Perhaps we can meditate together before I leave and Nic gets here,” he suggests, and my mouth hangs open in shock.
“How do you know I meditate?”
He waggles his brows and grins. “You left our bedroom door open one morning, and I caught you.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
He shrugs. “It seemed like you didn’t want me to know. You have seen me meditating outside. You could have asked to join me. The fact you didn’t told me you preferred to meditate alone, which is cool. I get it.”
“I have never meditated with anyone else, but I could do it with you.”
He looks pleased. “Where did you learn to meditate?” he asks.
“After I got free of Paulo, I started seeing a therapist to help me to deal with the trauma of the things that had been done to me. She suggested meditation and recommended a local group. I didn’t like the group, but the instructor pointed me toward a few self-help aids, and I taught myself how to do it.”
“Does it help?”
I vigorously bob my head as I set the mushrooms aside and begin chopping spinach and dicing the tomatoes. “Enormously. It helps to keep me grounded, and I regularly use breathing exercises to remain in control in stressful situations or when I feel a panic attack coming on.”
I glance up at him. He’s intensely focused on me, lapping up every word, and it’s strange being the center of someone’s world in a positive way. It will take some getting used to.
“How and when did you learn to meditate?”
“I spent a couple of years training with this specialist group in the mountains in Nepal. One of the first things they teach you is meditation and how to use breathing exercises to control your body and your mind.”
“What kind of specialist group?” I inquire, instantly intrigued.
“I went there after graduating college to learn how to fight.”
My eyes pop wide. “I have heard of those places. They train warriors and snipers.”
“I wanted to learn from the best. I knew one day I would have to immerse myself in this world. I wanted to be prepared.”
“I have the feeling there is a lot more to you than you show the world.”
“I could say the same about you,” he coolly replies.
Though there is no real heat behind his words, I detect an undercurrent of something that goes beyond mere curiosity.
Something strong enough to send chills tiptoeing up my spine.
ChapterTwenty-Three
