Mirror Image

“The same.”

“Did you tell her I was coming home tomorrow?”

“She listened, but it’s hard to tell what she was thinking.”

Distressed that there had been no measurable improvement in the child’s condition, Avery raised her hand to the base of her throat and rubbed it absently.

Tate touched the back of her hand. “That reminds me.” He went for his jacket, which was still lying across the foot of her bed, and removed something from the pocket. “Since the hospital screwed up and lost your jewelry after all, Eddy thought I should replace your wedding ring. He said voters would expect you to be wearing one.”

She hadn’t exactly lied to him. When he had inquired about her jewelry, she had told him that when she had opened the envelope taken from the hospital safe, it had contained someone else’s jewelry, not Carole Rutledge’s. “I gave it to one of the nurses here to handle.”

“Then where is yours?” he had asked at the time.

“God knows. Just one of those mix-ups that can’t be explained, I guess. Take it up with the insurance company.”

Tate was now removing a simple, wide gold band from the gray velvet lining of the ring box. “It’s not as fancy as your other one, but it’ll do.”

“I like this one,” she said as he slid the ring onto her third finger. When he tried to withdraw his hand, she noticed that he was wearing a matching band. She clutched his hand and called his name on a quick intake of breath.

She bowed her head over their clasped hands, holding them between their chests. Bending her head down farther, she softly kissed the ridge of his knuckles.

“Carole,” he said, trying to pull his hand free. “Don’t.”

“Please, Tate. I want to thank you for all you’ve done. Please let me.”

She implored him to accept her gratitude. “There were so many times—even from the very beginning, when I first regained consciousness—that I wanted to die. I probably would have willed myself to if it hadn’t been for your unflagging encouragement. You’ve been…” She choked up and made no attempt to stem the tears that ran down her flawless cheeks. “You’ve been a wonderful source of strength through all this. Thank you.”

She spoke from her heart. Each word was the truth. Responding to the prompting of her emotions, she came up on tiptoe and touched his lips with hers.

He yanked his head back. She heard the swift, surprised breath he took. She sensed his hesitation as his eyes roved over her face. Then he lowered his head. His lips made contact with hers briefly, airily, barely glancing them.

She inclined her body closer to his, reached higher for his lips with her own, and murmured, “Tate, kiss me, please.”

With a low moan, his mouth pressed down on hers. His arm went around her waist and pulled her against him. He unraveled their clasped fingers and curved his hand around her throat, stroking it with his thumb while his tongue played at getting between her lips.

Once it had, he sent it deep.

He instantly broke off the kiss and raised his head. “What the—”

He peered deeply into her eyes while his chest soughed against hers. Though he wrestled against it, his eyes were drawn back to her mouth. He closed his eyes and shook his head in denial of something he couldn’t explain before covering her mouth with his own.

Avery returned his kiss, releasing all the yearning she had secretly nurtured for months. Their mouths melded together with hunger and heat. The more he got of hers, the more he wanted and the more she wanted to give.

With his hand on her hips, he tilted her forward against his erection. Arching into it, she raised her hands to the back of his neck and drew his head down, loving the blend of textures encountered by her fingertips—his hair, his clothing, his skin.

And then it stopped.

He shoved her away, putting several feet between them. She watched with anguish as he drew the back of his fist across his mouth,

wiping off her kiss. She emitted a small, pained noise.

“It won’t work, Carole,” he said tightly. “I’m unfamiliar with this new game you’re playing, but until I learn the rules, I refuse to participate. I feel sorry for what happened to you. Since you’re my legal wife, I did what duty demanded of me. But it has no bearing on my feelings. They haven’t changed. Got that? Nothing’s changed.”

He snatched up his sports coat, slung it over his shoulder, and sauntered from the room without looking back.

* * *

Eddy stepped out into the courtyard. The May sunshine had brought out the blooming plants. Oleander bushes bloomed in pottery urns bordering the deck around the swimming pool. Moss rose carpeted the flower beds.