He smiled at her. “You know what? I think you’re right.”
Eight
It had been ten days since Nick had married Harper and she’d moved into his place, and a week since he’d adopted Frank, and already he couldn’t imagine his life without them. He spent his days with Frank—there was a deluxe dog bed in the downstairs office for Frank’s naps while Nick worked on Tate Armor business, then when they needed to work out the kinks, they’d go for a walk together. He hoped to build that up to a run as Frank’s fitness increased.
The evenings were for Harper. They’d been taking turns cooking, then sometimes they’d watch a movie. Other times they’d talk about the smaller details of their lives—getting to know each other. But they’d avoided ice cream, and they’d especially avoided all unnecessary touching.
And that part was slowly driving him insane.
Each day he wanted her more. Each hour. Each minute.
He wanted her with a ferocity that surprised even him. And it wasn’t just about making love—he wanted the casual intimacy that lovers had. Stealing a kiss when they crossed paths in the hall. Gathering her close when she arrived home from work. Simply touching her, being near her. He wanted it all.
So that night when they stood on his back lawn in the moonlight waiting for Frank to have his final toilet stop before bed, Nick decided he needed to broach the subject.
“I’ve been thinking about something,” he said, gaze on Frank. “You know that if we’d just met tonight, I’d want to date you.”
She shrugged. “But we didn’t just meet. Our situation is far too complex already.”
He turned to face her and dug his hands in his pockets. “What if we kept it simple? And agreed that whatever happens, we wouldn’t let it affect our parenting of the babies.”
She turned to face him as well, the moonlight catching on her dark hair, making it shine. “What exactly are you suggesting?”
“That we start dating,” he said simply.
She arched an eyebrow. “You want to date your wife?”
“More than you can imagine.” So much that he’d been having difficulty concentrating on anything else but her.
“I don’t know, Nick.” Harper folded her arms tightly under her breasts. “There’s so much risk, especially for the babies and Ellie.”
“But there’s also so much potential to have more,” he said. “More for us, the babies and Ellie.”
For one hopeful moment, her eyes sparkled, then she winced and shook her head. “I think our window of opportunity is gone. Maybe if I hadn’t gotten pregnant and we’d met again in a supermarket or socially...”
Her voice trailed off, and she wandered farther into the yard, pausing to rest her hand on top of a dense shrub. Part of him wanted to leave the topic there, but the bigger part of him couldn’t let it go, so he followed.
“It’s crazy that the one woman I want to date is off-limits because we’re already married.”
“We had good reasons for putting that intimacy rule into place,” she said, her voice sounding strained.
That was true, but there was something undeniable between them. Something that wasn’t fading away by ignoring it. “My last tour taught me is that life is short and unpredictable. And I don’t want to live with regrets.”
“But that’s my thinking, too.” She ran her fingers through her hair, pulling it tightly back from her face as she spoke. “I don’t want to move our relationship into new territory and come to regret that.”
“Harper, we’re never going to be a couple who only react to each other like friends.” He reached for her hand and laced their fingers together, relishing the sizzle as her skin slid along his. “We have chemistry. If we continue like we are, the tension will eventually explode. The best way forward is to manage that tension as much as we can.”
There was silence for three beats, four.
“Okay, if—and I’m only saying if—we tried to manage this, how would you see it workin
g?”
“We’d date. We’d treat it as a totally separate thing from our marriage. The marriage is the legal agreement that we entered for the sake of the babies, and Ellie, and Tate Armor, and to ensure you had support.” He took an infinitesimal step closer. “Dating would be just for us.”
Frank came ambling over, finished with his nightly business. Nick gave him a short pat, and, obviously realizing the humans might take a while, Frank lay down at their feet.
“How would we date, though?” Harper asked. “We’ve just watched a movie together on the sofa. Our life together has moved past dating scenarios.”