“This is good. Really good steak. Mushrooms are good too.”
They were—earthy and smoky. Heat crept into her cheeks. “Sorry about earlier. I get the idea I want something and I have to have it.”
“I know.” He smiled.
She reached for the bottle of wine and poured the last of it into their glasses. “I love food.”
“Good thing you’re skinny.”
“I’m not skinny!”
“I mean…I thought girls liked to be skinny.”
She frowned. “Slim, maybe. Slender. Skinny sounds…bony. Ugly.”
“Okay, good thing you’re so slim.”
She smiled at him. “That’s better.”
“You’renotbony. And you’re definitely not ugly.”
Their eyes met and held, his just visible through the dark lenses. Her cheeks heated, and she bent her head, letting her hair fall over her face. “Thanks. You’re definitely not ugly either.”
He groaned. “When you say it, I realize what a lousy compliment that is.”
She lifted her head. “You’re fun to be with, Nate.”
And she really meant that. He’d taken her mind off her misery, and his mild flirting made her feel better about herself. Not like a failure, a nagging wife, a woman who would never be a mother. She actually felt good.
“Strangely enough, I’m having fun, too. I thought I came here to wallow in self-pity.”
“Thisisthe Pity Palace, right now.”
He laughed again, a dry, dusty sound, and she had a feeling he hadn’t laughed a lot in the last couple of years.
He helped with the dishes after dinner and they wandered into the family room. Krissa clicked through the many channels on TV until she found a movie they both wanted to watch. Shortly before ten o’clock, Derek arrived home.
He’d been drinking, she could tell immediately, smelling it on him, but he wasn’t drunk. But then, she’d been drinking, too, she and Nate having finished off the bottle of Pinot Noir and started in on the Sauvignon Blanc.
“Long day.” Derek yanked his tie down and off, then undid the top buttons of his shirt. He sat down on the couch beside her, Nate having moved to the arm chair across from thesofa when Derek had come in. Derek slid his arm around her and pulled her against him to kiss her head. “How was your day?”
“Good.”
“Really?” He drew back and looked at her. “You’re not mad still?”
She sighed, pasted on a smile. “I’m okay.”
“Love you, Krissa.” He hugged her and kissed her mouth.
She closed her eyes. She loved him, too. He was her husband. For better or for worse. How could she leave him?
But she couldn’t deny the aching sadness still lingering deep inside her.
Nate watched Derek embrace his wife and kiss her, and shifted in the armchair. He’d almost been hoping she’d still be pissed at Derek. He deserved it. He should have been home with his wife.
For some reason, Nate was annoyed at his friend. He’d hurt Krissa. And then he didn’t even come home for dinner. Again.
Hell, it was none of his business. If Krissa was okay, he shouldn’t be worked up about it anymore either.
