“What else do I like?” He narrows his eyes.
He’s thinking about sex again. I use the blanket I’m holding to fan myself.
“You’re hot?” He frowns, then nods at the front door. “Let’s sit on the porch.”
He turns and walks away before I can tell him I’d rather go to bed. Or heck, I’d rather have my eyes pecked out by Billy when he’s on one of his rooster rampages.
I fidget as I follow Gavin out to the porch, the screen door creaking as it shuts behind me. Gavin sits down on the steps and pats the wood next to him. The crickets are loud, and I feel like this is one of those moments when in movies, the characters are silent, and the crickets start chirping, because it’s so, so awkward.
Gavin shakes his head. “What is it? Did we get in a fight before I lost my memory? Is that why I get the feeling you’re not happy with me? You have to help me out. I don’t know up from down.”
I look at the first stars just starting to light up the sky and breathe in the night air perfumed with pine and moss and mountain stone. The crickets are loud tonight, so loud they almost cover the sound of the wind rustling through the trees.
This is the perfect moment to tell Gavin that the reason he doesn’t know up from down is that I lied to him. That he’s actually wealthy, owns a million-dollar cabin up the mountain, has a beautiful former fiancée, and a life that includes traveling the world, and doing hundreds of other things I know nothing about.
That I’m sorry for tricking him, but before it goes too far, he should know…
Gavin smiles ruefully. “You look pretty tonight.”
My hand flies up to my hair, pulled back in a bun. “What?”
He nods. “I didn’t see it at first. I didn’t know why I married you. But I’m beginning to figure it out.”
It’s suddenly hard to breathe.
He nods and leans back. “I think you’re like this mountain. When we pulled up, I didn’t think much of this place. Most people would keep driving, not notice it, and if they did they’d turn up their noses. But after only a day, I’m already noticing all the things that were hidden.” He smiles at me. “It’s a subtle beauty. One that not many people would take the time to notice. I’m grateful my past self was smart enough to take the time to look.”
I drag in a shaky breath. Even in the fresh air, the night feels hot.
He frowns at my expression. “What is it? Did I say something wrong?”
Suddenly, I wish he were still that jerk from before. The world is easier when everything is black and white. He’s waiting for my response, so I say, “No. It’s okay. It’s just been a long time since anyone ever told me they liked the way I look.”
In fact, only a few days ago this same man told me that I was drab and ugly.
“Well, I’ll change that then.” He frowns at the crickets singing loud. “I told Elijah he needed to remind me how to be a good dad. Maybe you could remind me how to be a husband.”
It feels like he’s punched me. Why does he have to be nice? “I don’t want you to do anything. Just go to work. Fix the kids breakfast. I don’t need anything else.”
“Huh.” He frowns and rubs his hand down his face.
After a minute of staring up at the stars, I figure I’m clear to head back inside and bury my head under my pillow, but Gavin pats the steps again. “Come on. I thought you might tell me about myself.”
I sigh. But I can’t refuse when he’s looking at me like he likes me, and he wants to hear what I have to say. I lower to the wooden stairs. They groan as I sit next to Gavin.
A chilly breeze blows past and I wrap my arms around myself. “What do you want to know?”
Gavin peers at me and I shiver. He shakes his head, puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls me into his side. It’s like a rockslide of sensation crashing over me. I’m buried beneath it. I have the strongest urge to crawl in his lap, take his face with my hands, and kiss and kiss.
“Better?”
I nod, swallowing down all the feelings coursing through me at the heat of his body pressed to mine.
He smiles. “I was wondering, what’s our marriage like?”
Oh boy. “I…it’s a normal marriage. The usual.”
He runs his hand up and down my arm, warming me, and my brain melts, like glass in a furnace.