by Lynn Galli
She made a disbelieving sound. “Do you know he still thinks we’re moving back to his loft when Ainsley leaves in a couple days?”
“I’m going to give you the only advice I’m qualified to give about marriage.” I went to the desk area in the kitchen and reached for the business card I’d been holding for two months.
Dallas studied the card and looked at me in confusion. “You’re seeing a therapist?”
“She’s a marriage counselor.” I watched my friend’s eyes go wide and stand from her seat. “Listen, just listen for a sec. She can help you figure out how to communicate with each other.”
“We communicate just fine. He just chooses not to listen.”
“And what if he’s telling his best friend the same thing about you right now?”
Her mouth dropped open. She clearly hadn’t thought about that.
“How many times have we been out together, you guys disagree on something, and I come up with a solution?”
“A few.”
Try almost every time. “I’ve been a mediator at times. That’s a quick fix, but I don’t have the skill set to help you both mediate for yourselves. I can come up with suggestions for whatever issue you’re debating, but I don’t know how to get you to the point where you recognize that you’re going in circles, you’re not hearing each other, and you need to come to a solution together.”
“He won’t like this.” She sighed and tapped the card against the counter.
“Too bad. He’s half the problem. Use the house thing as a reason to go to one session. You’re not backing down and he doesn’t sound like he’s backing down. That’s not a problem that can be fixed easily.”
“I guess you’re right. I mean what am I going to do if he just drives me to his place after we have dinner one night? I don’t want to live in that cold, impersonal place.” She shuddered.
“A therapist could make him realize how much you love your place and how he doesn’t love his as much. Or she might make you realize that you could turn his place into the warm, lovely home you have now. It’s also possible she could suggest you both sell your places and buy a home together. Any suggestion she has will force you to understand that what you want isn’t necessarily what he wants and you’ll have to make accommodations from time to time.”
“So you think I should just move into his place?”
“That’s not what I’m saying.” Because she looked devastated by her question, I added, “Actually, I think he should move into yours. I know how much work and love you put into your house, and I don’t think he did the same with his. But if I were in this situation, I might think that the only real compromise is for you both to give up the places that you love and find a new place together.”
“You’d do that? You love your place, too.”
I took a seat, considering her question. “I’ve never thought about it, but yeah, I think if I loved someone enough to marry her and my home wasn’t her ideal, then we’d find a place together.”
“You make me sound like a selfish bitch.”
“You’re not, and that’s not at all what I’m saying.” I squeezed her forearm. “I just think you both need to learn that the way you solve differences on your show isn’t how you can solve them in your marriage. Floyd, Van, and I won’t be there for marriage disagreements like we are for story or production disagreements. You have to learn to express your feelings even when it’s difficult for him to hear.”
“Yeah, like he wants four kids and I only want two.” She blew out an exasperated breath. “He thinks we’re already trying.”
“Dallas!” I admonished. “He thinks you’re trying to get pregnant?”
She shrugged. “Sort of. I mean he said we should try for a baby, and I didn’t really say no, but I’m still taking birth control.”
“And how do you think he’s going to feel when he finds that out?”
Her face fell. “You’re right, but I don’t want to be pregnant yet. I want us to enjoy married life first.”
“Then tell him that. Tell him why. He can’t object to you wanting to spend more time with him alone before you add a baby into the mix.”
Her eyes misted. “You always see things so clearly.”
“It’s because I’m not involved. That’s what a therapist can do for you.”
“I’ll talk to him. He won’t like it, but you’re right. We do need to figure out a way we can communicate our feelings without just stating what we want.”
“I’ll help you paint the garage next weekend if you want.”
“Thanks, but I’ll get him to help. He needs to learn that you can’t hire someone to do everything for you.”
“Good luck.” I squeezed her arm again. It made me sad that she was having such difficulty so early on in the marriage. I’d heard the first year of marriage was the hardest. Maybe everyone has to go through these stumbling blocks.
Forty-One
Coming back to the living room after I’d cleared our coffee mugs, I caught Dallas scolding Colin. “We are not using Ainsley’s last night in town to address thank you cards.”
Ainsley was set to leave tomorrow. My feelings were no longer mixed about it. I didn’t want her to leave. We’d grown to be good friends over the past two months. I didn’t want to give that up. Emailing, webcams, and phone calls weren’t the same. Even knowing she’d be back next summer for a few weeks wasn’t the same. I almost wished she hadn’t been Colin’s cousin. I would have been perfectly happy to go through the rest of my life remembering her as an antagonistic housemate who found me really irritating. Instead, every time I thought of her now, I’d miss her. Desperately.
“But her handwriting is so much better than mine.”
“Lazy arse,” Ainsley scolded him. “It’ll be good for you.”
“You know you want to spend your evening helping us,” he goaded.
“You know I don’t.”
“We should get going,” Dallas said, probably noticing that I was fading from a full day at work when none of them were back to work yet.
I didn’t want the evening to end. More specifically I didn’t want my time with Ainsley to end. It was stupid. I’d gone thirty-five years without her friendship including a year we spent together when she couldn’t stand me. I should be able to go thirty-five more without any issues.
“Probably, since we have to drive in the opposite direction to drop Ainsley off at my place,” Colin agreed. “It’d be better if we just stayed at the loft tonight.”
“Babe, we talked about this with the counselor,” Dallas said calmly. “Until we come to a resolution, we stay where we are.”
“Fine. Oh, and thanks for the head shrinking by the way, Skye.”
I shook my head and rolled my eyes. He’d be thanking me when they finished all the sessions and he’d learned to communicate with his wife.
“It may turn out to be the best advice we’ve ever been given. So shut your trap.”
We laughed at her clear lack of learned skills from the one counseling session they’d gone to. I hoped they’d stick with it. They had a temporary solution to their housing disagreement, and Dallas had broken the news that she wasn’t ready to start having babies yet. So at least two issues had been discussed. From what I’d seen, they had twenty or thirty more, but baby steps.
“Yes, dear,” he joked. “You ready, Ainsley?”
I practically sprang off the couch. “I’ll take you home. It’s out of the way like Colin said.”
Colin’s eyebrows rose, but he turned to his cousin. “Cool with you?”
She nodded and shot another sideways glance at me. My request surprised her. It seemed to have surprised everyone, including me.
“We’ll be by just before ten to take you to the airport,” Colin told his cousin. The melancholy in his expression made a lump form in my throat. “Unless you want to take Georgetown up on their offer?”
My head whipped around. Georgetown had made her an offer, too? She blushed and stepped bac
k. Her head shook but her eyes sought mine for a moment. Was that a question in them? Or regret that, like me, she’d miss being here with us, with me?
“Had to try. Are you going to meet us at the loft, Skye?”
“You don’t have to,” Ainsley insisted.
“You should have a proper sendoff,” I said and walked Dallas and Colin to the door. We stood on the front stoop and watched as they got into Dallas’s car. Colin was driving because he apparently had trouble letting Dallas drive. Yet another of their issues they needed to work on.
“You made them go to therapy sessions?” Ainsley kept her eyes on the car as it pulled away.
“I know, I’m an asshole. You don’t need to say it.”
“I wish I’d thought of it. I think we might have done them a disservice by planning the wedding for them. If they’d had to go through all the steps, they might have learned to work through some of these decisions.”
I shook my head and blew out an amused breath. “It amazes me because they work really well together. They have to agree on the stories they want to pursue. I didn’t realize the extent to which it wasn’t carrying over into their personal lives.”
“Honeymoon phase,” Ainsley said as she followed me back inside. “Ever since they got together he’s been off his head about her. They weren’t together long enough to get past that phase before the wedding.”
“Want some tea?” I offered.
“We just had coffee.”
“Right.” I searched for something else to say. Anything that would extend our time together. “I can take you to the loft if you’re ready.”
“I’m okay for now.”
I let out a relieved breath when she took a seat on the couch and hurried to join her. “Are you ready to get back home? You must be missing your friends.”
“Most everyone I know is a professor. We usually stay out of touch over the holiday until the big bash before term starts.” Her eyes met mine. “This year, I’ll have a lot to tell.”
I smiled. “Yeah, like how you were ambushed into planning a wedding with a woman who used to irritate you no end.”
“No one would believe it.” She laughed and the sound surrounded us.
“Anything you didn’t get to do or still want to do before you leave? Some places are still open.”
She gazed at me for a moment. “Yes.”
I waited for her to say more but nothing else came. I flipped my hands up, asking her to tell me. She stood and went to my stereo, flicking through the music selection until she chose something. One of my favorites started playing. No surprise that Ainsley liked her since the singer was a Brit who could belt out soulful songs better than almost anyone.
She turned to me and held out her hand. “Another dance.”
I blinked and had to remind myself to breathe. “What?”
“I’d like another dance before I leave.”
“With me?”
A sly smile inched across her face. “Do you see anyone else here?”
“I’m sure my neighbor’s home. I can see if she likes to dance.”
“Arse,” she chuckled and flicked her fingers to beckon me.
“I’m leading this time.” I had to say something to make it seem as casual as she was being, but I couldn’t talk much or she’d hear my voice shaking.
“How do I know you can lead?” Blue eyes sparked with daring.
Her challenge had me off the sofa and closing the distance between us. I slid my hand onto the small of her back and held my other out for her to place hers in. As soon as we joined hands, I took a step to the side. Her free hand came up to curl over my shoulder blade. We still had several inches between us as we began to move. I avoided her eyes because I wasn’t sure what I’d do if I looked into them. With every step we inched closer together until there was barely a breath between us.
Halfway through the song, I felt like my skin was going to incinerate. I couldn’t deny this attraction any longer. My hand pressed onto her back, fusing her body to mine. Her scent pulsed over me. I closed my eyes and breathed her in. When I opened them again, she was looking at me. Her blue eyes sending messages I didn’t know if I was reading correctly.
“You’re very good at this,” she said in a soft voice.
“As are you.”
She shifted both arms to wrap around my neck. I slid my other hand around her waist and held her close. The length of her body pressed against me as we moved together. Every surface, every curve, every softness she possessed teased my senses with each step and turn in my living room. I never wanted to let her go.
“That photo.” She cleared her throat. “The one of us dancing together.”
I swallowed. My heart was pounding so hard I was sure she could feel it thumping against her chest. I waited for her to say more. Although I was sure anything more she said would make me combust. Just mentioning the photo made my knees weak. “Yes?” I prompted, my voice raspy.
“You know the one I’m talking about?”
“Yes.”
“It looked like…”
My chin tipped up, and I stared directly into her remarkable eyes. “Like?”
“You wanted me.” She glanced at my mouth. “In that moment.”
I blinked slowly, unable to form a response. She’d blanked my mind. My eyes slid down her face to her mouth and out to her hair. A single thick braid kept it tamed tonight.
“Skye?”
My eyes shot back to hers.
“The photo?”
I didn’t see the point of denying it. “Yes, and you wanted me.”
“Aye.” She gave a slight nod. “So very much.”
My stomach felt like a blazing inferno flared and spread out engulfing every part of me. “And now?”
She slid a hand down my back as the other gripped my nape. “Even more.”
“Ainsley,” I whispered. My heart was about to explode from anticipation. “You’re so beautiful.”
I barely had to lean forward to brush my mouth against hers. Smooth, pliant lips met mine in a brief graze. A groan slipped from me as my eyes fluttered open and searched hers. They glittered with emotions that left me breathless. She came back and kissed me this time. Lightly at first, then more insistent. A proper kiss, not a brushing of lips. No tentativeness, no hesitation. It was as if she’d been hoping for this moment for weeks. Since our dance at the wedding. My stomach felt like it was riding a rollercoaster without knowing which direction we’d fling next. My heart revved and dryness parched my mouth. I wanted to explore every inch of her lips and plunge my tongue inside. I wanted her mouth to touch every part of me.
I pulled back to try to gather some moisture in my mouth. Ainsley was breathing heavily. I slid a hand over her heart and tested the rapid beat. “I can’t catch my breath.”
She smiled but didn’t look any more put together than me. She moved her hand to press it over mine on her heart. “I like you breathless.”
“Your heart is beating so fast.”
Her hand switched to slide onto my chest. “So is yours.”
“Kiss me again and see what happens.”
She grinned and followed my order. Her mouth slid over mine, applying just the right amount of pressure. Lips coaxed mine open and her tongue slipped over my bottom lip. Mine reached out to meet hers. At the first touch, she moaned and pressed closer, her tongue pushing inside. My hands clutched at her back, trying to get as close to her as possible. I accepted all that she had, pouring every wish and hope and desire I’d had since seeing her again into our kiss. When I felt my head get fuzzy from the sensations, I pulled away and rested my forehead against hers. Her rapid breath pushed against my wet, swollen lips.
“I don’t want to stop,” I admitted.
“Then don’t,” she whispered.
I shook my head once. “You’re leaving tomorrow.”
“Don’t think about that.”
My hands slid down to grasp hers. Our fingers interlocked, sparking tingles up and down my
arms. I should take her back to Colin’s. Not allow us to start something that couldn’t be finished, that would only lead to greater disappointment by things that couldn’t be changed.
But then her thumb slid over my knuckles and my mind filled with how much I needed her hands, and mouth, and body on mine. I tugged on our joined hands and watched her beautiful smile flare.
Forty-Two
I should have been nervous. Should have been in my head worried that we were letting a lusty haze dictate our actions. Might have fretted over the fact that this woman was so beautiful, always had been, always seemed so mature when I’d felt like a geeky college kid. But none of that occurred to me. Not with her hand clutching mine, thumb stroking my knuckles and our hurried steps to get to my bedroom. I didn’t have even a moment’s hesitation.
Ainsley pressed me into the doorjamb before we entered the room. Her mouth followed, sliding over mine. I leaned into her, pushing my hips against hers, and gripping her waist. My head tilted for a better angle as my tongue explored her mouth.
“Mmm, Skye,” Ainsley whispered as she pulled me with her into my room. “You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to do that.”
“As much as I have,” I breathed out and reached for the buttons on her shirt. They came away easily and my hands were sliding inside, touching her smooth, hot skin. I’d never felt anything better.
“Never stop touching me.” Her hands dropped down to grip my top, pulling it up and off. Her eyes slid down my torso. Heat bloomed in their wake. “You’re as sexy as I imagined.”
“You’ve been fantasizing about me.” I was half teasing half satisfied.
Her eyes narrowed at my tone. She shoved me and I fell onto the bed laughing. She swooped down on top of me and slanted her mouth over mine to silence me. The skin bared on her stomach slid against mine. I groaned and pushed up against her. My hands reaching to push her shirt from her shoulders.
She sat up and helped. My hands slid up her sides, but she knocked them away with a determined look in her eyes. Her hands plucked the button on my pants open. I felt a grin flare at her tenacity and pushed up onto my elbows. I watched as she undid my pants and tugged. I lifted up and let her drag them off my legs.
