But my words were cut off by my mother’s call. “Gabby! I’ve got the plate ready for you, dear.”
“Coming,” Gabriella called back.
She untangled herself from me.
She didn’t look back. Didn’t want to see the freak of nature kneeling on the floor. Her skirt swished around her legs, the puppy trailing after, and the door fell closed.
Fuck.
The chance was there and gone. I was such a bleeding eejit. The one good thing life threw me was the one thing I could never have.
I bent low and pressed my lips on the floor, right where she’d been standing. “I fecking worship the ground you walk on, and you don’t even see me.”
By the time she returned with one container of meat and another of soggy veg, I stood, holding the door to the garage open. Storm bolted outside, tearing into the dark. The night air whooshed through the great open bay-door, and somewhere in the front lawn, Storm howled in search of a scent.
“Let’s go,” I said tightly.
The moment was gone.
Gabriella couldn’t get away from me fast enough.
The drive was silent, filled with a strange tension that threaded between us. Gabriella kept looking over. But every time she saw the mask, she pursed her lips and retrained her eyes on the road.
At least she hadn’t seen how ridiculous I’d been the moment after she left the mudroom. If she was this repulsed by my helping her into her shoes, she would have been horrified to see the rest.
I couldn’t go to my drink cart fast enough. I poured a healthy tumbler of whiskey and took Storm out back for some basic training drills. It didn’t matter if the pooch was tired. I needed an excuse not to go upstairs.
Not to kiss my wife’s devastatingly beautiful, unsmiling mouth.
Jaysus…I’m going mad.
How was it possible to feel this much desire for one person when it was so fucking painful? I threw back the rest of my drink, tongue watering for another.
Storm sat on command, small body tucked to my side. I took three careful steps and stopped again. The dog didn’t sit.
That was because I’d done the drill wrong.
Cursing, I went back a few paces and tried again. The leash felt like sandpaper in my hands.
Not like the smooth, expanse of olive skin that lay naked in my bed—because yes, that was how Gabriella slept now. Naked. Waiting. And I was the eejit out here trying to train a dog, not nearly drunk enough to shut out the pulse of desire twitching in my pants.
I began the drill over again.
The guest bedroom Gabriella had slept in the first few nights of our marriage faced the front lawn. The master suite? It was right there. I flicked a glance up and saw the rustle of the blinds.
She’s watching you.
She wasn’t asleep. Was she waiting? Did I dare go to her? I didn’t even know what to say. There were no words to bridge the gap. But…our bodies seemed to have a language of their own.
Fuck it.
I unleashed the dog and strode to the French doors. That mouth was mine to taste, to plunder—todevour.
My phone flashed on the dining room table. It blinked out before I could answer. Frowning, I picked it up. There were twenty-five missed calls.
Another came in before I could dial.
“What’s the craic?” I groused.
