He adjusts himself in his seat and slips his sunglasses over his eyes, looking smug as hell.
Back at home, Tanner carries a fake sleeping Winnie up to bed and I watch from the doorway as he lays her down and pulls her comforter up over her shoulders. I am thankful this doorway is keeping me standing because I have nothing but weak knees, a pounding heart, and a sudden and very real desire to have this be a regular sight.
Tanner turns once we leave her room. “Do you want to nap for a little bit? I’ll stay up and listen for her.”
“I don’t think I could sleep even if I wanted to,” I tell him and head to the kitchen.
“How about a beer then?” he asks.
“You don’t have to stay. You’ve already done more than needed.”
He stands there with his hands in his pockets. “If you want me to go, I’ll go. If you want me to stay and have a beer, I am happy, if not inclined, to stay and have a beer. In fact, I would prefer it.”
I swallow. What the hell has gotten into me? The sight of him in his crumpled clothes alone has me more hot and bothered than I can even comprehend.
“A beer would be great,” I say eventually.
“Go sit.” He nods toward the couch. There’s a commandment in his voice that flushes through me. A commandment that has me following his order.
Tanner turns to the fridge, then finds the bottle opener in the drawer without even searching around. He walks over, hands me one, then turns and sits on the opposite end of the couch.
“Really?”
He tilts his head, amused at my tone. “What?”
“You’re going to sit overthere?”
“Would you prefer to come sit over here with me?”
I take a long drink of my beer and shake my head. “No sir.”
“Sir?Did you really just call me sir, again?”
“Oh, should I call youhusband?” I push his leg with my foot and he grabs it, then pulls both of my feet into his lap and begins to massage them.
“Did you expect me to just sit around the waiting room?”
I drop my head back onto the pillow because I cannot meet his eyes when his thumbs are sending a borderline orgasmic sensation through my body.
“No,” I admit. He moves his hands from my feet to my calves and then back to my feet. “Holy shit this feels good. Never stop.”
He laughs quietly, “I’ll never stop takin’ care of you.”
I fall asleep knowing he means it.
26
The sound of the giggling wakes me from my tangled dreams. I’m asleep on the couch, my pillow from my bed now under my head and a proper blanket is draped over my body. I see Winnie sitting at the counter and Tanner leaning across from her, whispering softly to her.
Rain pelts off the cloud darkened windows and the warm lamp on the kitchen counter glows over the now tidy apartment. The thunder roars and I know, that when I’m eighty, this, right here, is what I want to remember. No matter where I end up, I want to remember that life once looked like a warm stormy summer evening with soft giggles from my two favorite blondes.
“Good morning sleepy head.” Tanner smiles at me and Winnie turns in her seat. Other than looking tired, she is almost back to herself.
“Hi Mommy,” she says sweetly.
“Hi bug, what time is it?”
“Dinner time.”
