“Well, to be specific,mywife.” I retrieved the eternity band from my pocket, sitting lonely without its box. “Tonight, at least. Will you?” I held up the ring.
She turned toward me. “And what would you say to me?”
I kept the ring between us, her beautiful eyes on me. Her blonde hair pinned up, showing off her neckline, the perfect sweep of her shoulders. “If I were proposing?”
“No, if this was the moment we said our vows. What would you say before you slid that ring on my finger?”
No longer was she standing before me tempting my flesh; she was connecting with my spirit. “Audrey.” I inhaled.
“Just amuse me, please. Let me buy into the illusion for a little longer before you risk ... risk yourself for me. For our country.”
“Are you worried I won’t make it out of this?” I didn’t blame her if she did, given everything that’d happened to the men she’d married.
First with Trevor. Then with Mitch.
And had she processed yet that Mitch was gone for good? Where was her head about that? I didn’t want to ask now, but something told me that if he was an obstacle for us, she wouldn’t be standing here before me with her heart on her sleeve.
“Of course you’ll make it out.” Her hand covered mine as her gaze lifted to my eyes. “And while I know this ring is a lie, what it symbolizes for us isn’t.”
I swallowed, my emotions catching in my throat.
“Which is how we feel about each other.”
I shifted her hand to the side so I could take hold of her other one. I brought the eternity band to her finger, but didn’t slip it on yet.
In a shaky voice, I confessed, “I’ve spent my whole life second-guessing what I see, never trusting my own eyes. But then you walked in with that incredible laugh and adorable son, and you somehow made everything feel real. And because of you, I now know it’s possible to have everything I ever wanted that I stopped believing in.”
“I, um,” she said with a sniffle, “feel the same.” She blotted her tears with the back of her hand, trying not to ruin her makeup.
I gently snatched her wrists and kissed her before murmuring something in Spanish.
“Translate, please.”
“Mmm. How about after?”Afterwas becoming my least favorite word.
“After, okay.” Her brows furrowed as her hands went to my shirt. “We shouldn’t, I know,” she whispered, undoing two buttons anyway.
And I should have stopped her.
Should have done a lot of things.
I didn’t do a damn one.
She bypassed my open suit jacket, her hand settling on the buttons of my dress shirt as she pressed up onto her toes to kiss me.
I reached around to unhook her strapless bra, letting it fall between us.
Two more buttons undone as she continued talking about why we should wait.
Then she freed my shirt from the dress pants as I echoed her words back.
Wait.Andafter.All the things.
We ignored every last word as she undid my buckle asnowhappened.
My lips found the curve of her neck, one hand teasing her nipple while the other gripped her ass cheek.
With my white dress shirt open, belt free, and pants officially shoved down by the ravenous woman, I had to slam down on my back teeth as she reached through the hole of my boxers to wrap her hand around my hard-as-a-rock dick.
