But he was unreachable. Closed off.Shutters down – Cherry prohibited.
She’d never seen him like this before. It was always a thinly veiled attempt at resistance from both of them.
This was cold, hard glass.
He was giving up.
Like she’d been terrified he might all along.
Still not talking, they crossed the road from the beach to the house. Sean put his board in the garage while Cherrywent inside. She stood in the lounge, considering the place that had become home.
Home she would never see again after tomorrow.
A minute later, Sean appeared, closing the door behind him.
He was soaked through in boardies and rash vest, feet bare, dripping seawater onto the kitchen floor. His face was as striking as ever, and though she preferred the happy Sean, the pensive, brooding man was beyond breathtaking, too.
He pulled his rash vest off and threw it next to the washing machine, where it landed with a wet slap. But this was no body tease. This was Sean living his life in his own house, making no accommodations for her presence in a place where she was no longer welcome.
Cherry was glued to the spot watching him. She should go upstairs and give him space, pack the last of her things, numb herself on her phone, but her husband’s energy consumed her.
Despite knowing she was there watching him, Sean didn’t seem concerned with Cherry at all, and she was certain that was what drove him to do the thing he did next. The thing she was not expecting.
He reached for the gold band on his left hand.
In a stride, she was on him, coming from behind and grabbing him.‘No, Sean, please don’t!’ Cherry tugged his right hand away from the left. ‘Please don’t do that. Not yet.’
He spun to her, his face set with challenge. She let her hand fall.
‘Please,’ she said, breathless.
‘Please, what? What is it that you want so badly, Cherry?’
‘Please don’t take your wedding ring off.’
The electricity between them crackled with such intensity she could almost smell the burning. They held each other there. She was powerless to move, even if she wanted to.
‘You’ve never taken it off…and… We’ve never.’ Her words tangled on her tongue. ‘Please, Sean, please, don’t.’
‘Why not? We’re done.’
‘Because we’re not done. Because I promise you I’m coming back. Because I love you, Sean. So, so, so much, and the idea of life without you now is unthinkable.’
All she saw reflected back was disbelief– shock, turbulence, the muscle in his jaw ticking, his throat bobbing violently, fingers still hovering over the wedding ring.
He shook his head.
Why did he not believe her? She mouthed back,Yes, the words like a silent prayer. Of course it was true. Of course she bloody loved him.
Then, as if Sean understood everything in the small movement of Cherry’s lips, he took a step towards her, grabbed her face in his hands and crashed his mouth into hers, the ferocity of the kiss nearly knocking her off her feet, before driving them up against the kitchen wall.
Oh my God!
Interlocking her right hand with his left, ring still on, Sean pinned them together against the wall, the symbolism not lost on her. His tongue was hot and desperate against her own, a counterpoint to rough stubble on cold skin grazing against her.
She slid her free hand to the cold, damp small of his back, dragging him closer, every hot inch of him pressed against her.
Her husband, hard and primed.
