“Yeah…”
“And you keep saying you miss me.”
She nodded. “Ihavemissed you. So much.”
“Well, I missed you, too. Stay over. We can hang out for a while in the morning, too. I’m not taking Shane to Lenore’s until noon tomorrow.”
“But, Josh, I…” She tried to find the right words.
“Riley. Just say whatever it is you need to say.”
“I don’t want to mislead you…”
“About you and me, you mean?”
She felt so very naked right then. Folding her arms across her breasts, she nodded. “Yeah. About you and me.” He looked at her for the longest time. Until she begged, “Please. Just say it. Whatever it is you’re thinking, just tell me.”
“It’s okay, Riley. I know where we stand.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive,” he said firmly. “Yeah, I want more than you do, but that doesn’t mean we can’t meet in the middle and just…make the most of the time we have.”
“Josh, I…” She really didn’t want to say it again. But she needed to be certain that he understood. “I’m not going to change my mind about the marriage thing.”
“Got it. Loud and clear.” He held out his hand. “Come here.”
She hesitated. But only for a moment. And then she covered the short distance back to the bed and took his outstretched hand.
He pulled her toward him. She went, sliding under the covers with him, sighing in contentment when he wrapped her up in his arms.
“Look,” he said quietly. “I’m not going to lie to you and say I’m over wanting to marry you. I’m not. But I don’t want to lose you, either. I miss what we had. I want it back for as long as you want it, too.”
Her throat clutched, and her eyes misted over. “Oh, Josh. I’ve been missing you so much.”
“And I’ve been missing you,” he said. “I don’t see why it has to end. Not now, anyway. Yeah, the day may come when one of us, for any number of reasons, honestly wants out. But that day isn’t here, not yet—not for me, anyway.”
She answered truthfully, “Not for me, either.”
“Stay the night,” he whispered.
“Yes.” She dared a smile then. “I’ll stay.”
“That’s what I needed to hear.” He stroked a hand down her arm.
She thought of the boys and reminded him, “I don’t want the kids to be confused, so in the morning—”
“No problem.” He nuzzled her neck. “Same game plan as last time you stayed over. When they come knocking, I’ll send them downstairs. Then when you come down, they’ll assume you slept in the spare room—if they assume anything at all.” She wasn’t sure she approved of his plan. And he knew it, too. “Riley, come on. Don’t get all morally conflicted. Some things a five-year-old just doesn’t need to know.”
That made her smile. “You’re right about that.”
“Good, then. That’s settled—and there’s something else I’ve been meaning to tell you…”
She snuggled in closer to him. “What now?”
“Lenore told me about your little conversation in the grocery store.”
She jerked back enough to look in his eyes. “She did?”
