Page 7 of His Secret Wish

“This weekend.” She glanced at him quickly, and then back down at the seatbelt buckle. “And I think we need to set up some ground rules.”

Okay, that wasn’t so bad. “That sounds fair.” He fired up the engine and pulled them back onto the highway. “What were you thinking?”

“Well, I was thinking that this weekend could kind of be like a bubble.”

“A bubble?” He glanced at her. She was sliding her thumb through the condensation on the outside of her bottle of diet soda. His mind instantly went to a dirty place, and his cock jerked behind his fly again. He tore his gaze away, willing his fucking body to relax.

“Yeah. You know, like a separate thing.”

“I’m not sure what you’re getting at.” He wasn’t trying to be an asshole, he really had no clue what she had in mind.

She sighed, that same exasperated sound he’d never confess to missing. “So, this weekend is about us pretending to still be a couple, right?”

Disappointment, the same that always happened when he thought about the end of their marriage, stabbed at him, but he tried not to let it show. “Right.” His voice sounded weird, and he looked over quickly to see if she noticed. If she did, she didn’t give a reaction.

“Well, I think we should treat this weekend like it exists outside of reality. Like it’s a different dimension, or something. Does that make sense?”

It took a moment for the idea to thunk together in his brain, like two cogs finally meshing. “So, what you’re saying is we should treat this weekend like there are no consequences? Is that right?”

“Yes, to a certain extent.” There was a string of uncertainty in her voice. Which he could completely understand because he wasn’t sure that was such a great idea.

That being said, part of him was panting excitedly at the idea. A no consequences weekend with the love of his life? Where did he sign?

“But,” she said, tossing a bucket of ice water over his enthusiasm. “As I said, there still needs to be some ground rules.”

He briefly thought about arguing with her. Mostly because he wanted to have free rein this weekend to pretend there wasn’t a massive wedge of hurt and disappointment shoved between them. But he didn’t want to piss her off, not when he was about to get the fucking gift of a lifetime, so he stopped himself. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well, we’re going to be there until Tuesday morning, right?” Out of the corner of his eye he saw her glance in his direction, so he nodded. She chewed on her lower lip. “So, from now until we get back to Redding on Tuesday, I say we just go with flow. Do what feels right, especially for a couple that’s supposedly still together and in love.”

He didn’t think it was possible to be overjoyed and hurt by the same sentence, but here was the universe, proving him wrong again. The two emotions warred within him for a moment, and he stayed silent, unsure of what would fall out if he opened his mouth.

“Are you okay?” The concern in her voice knocked him back to the present, and he nodded quickly.

“Yeah, sorry, I was just thinking about something I need to do at the ranch.” His voice was hoarse, the lie slipping out a little painfully. “I’m okay with the idea of letting this weekend be a moment in time, as long as you are.”

She sat back in her seat and rubbed her hands on her pants. A sure sign she was nervous as hell. Not that he could talk. His stomach was rolling around faster than the wheels on the truck.

“Yeah, I’m good with that, too.” She blew out a quick breath, one he probably wasn’t supposed to hear. “We’ll let whatever happens, happen, and then it’s back to regular life on Tuesday.”

Right. Back to regular life on Tuesday.

Yeah, because this isn’t a disaster waiting to happen.

He pushed that unhelpful thought away. They were on the same page for the first time in ages, and he refused to screw this up. Her idea had given him the perfect in, the perfect opportunity to show her… well, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to show her. But this opportunity felt too much like a pivotal point in their relationship to let it pass him by.

He just needed to remember to not let his emotions rule his actions. Keep his head screwed on tight and he’d be fine. It was a perfectly acceptable plan. No matter what the voices in the back of mind were screaming at him. Listening to them for most of his life had led to nothing but trouble and pain.

It was time to just go with the flow, kind of like the way his brother, Jake, had lived his life. Not that Jake was a shining example of what to do. His youngest brother had a little girl from a one-night stand, and had spent his time accidentally hurting the one person who’d always loved him. Thankfully, Jake had finally come to his senses a last year and realized his best friend, Claire, was actually the one that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

Yeah, maybe Jake wasn’t the best example. But it didn’t really matter, because he’d agreed to it now, and he couldn’t take it back, even if he wanted to. And he really, really, really did not want to take it back. The prospect of this weekend was just too filled with possibility.

“Izzy, we’re here.”

Someone gave her shoulder a jostle, and she opened her eyes. There was a bit of drool on her chin. She wiped it away with the back of her hand. Lovely. She glanced over at Owen. He was watching her, his handsome face that stupid, blank mask again.

She looked out the truck window. Her bisabuela’s house stood before them, the classic architecture harkening back to a different time. The house was a heritage building, although inside it had been updated with all new pipes and wires and everything over the years.

Her heart gave a flutter. She loved this house, had so many great memories of when her family came to spend time on the farm here during the summers, and sometimes on holidays.