Did she want the safety of marriage … the sweet gentleness of her husband?
Her hand was trailing over the carved head of the carousel horse when the phone rang.
It was Lauren-Claire, back in Texas from her honeymoon.
“How does it feel to be married?” Zoe asked.
“Oh Zoe, it’s wonderful! And guess what … we’re not living on the north forty. Blade’s agreed to our living in Dallas and visiting the ranch on weekends.”
“How did you convince him to agree to that?” Zoe asked, pretty sure of the answer.
“I got him at a weak moment,” Lauren-Claire said on a giggle.
“A very weak moment,” Zoe heard Blade call out in the background.
“How is Blade?”
“Oh, the doctor said without lots of bed rest specifically, he may live.”
“Without lots of bed rest specifically, I may not want to live,” Blade called out, loudly enough for Zoe to hear.
“Hush, Blade. Zoe and I want to talk. Have you decided what you want to do, Zoe? Are you going to stay on in. Paris or return to the States?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Zoe lied.
“Well, you can come stay with us anytime you want.”
“Thanks, I appreciate your offer.”
“You have to come to the christening, for sure.”
“What?”
“I said…”
“I heard you … Are you pregnant, Lauren-Claire?”
“Well it’s a little soon to tell, but I hope so.”
There was a scuffling sound and giggles, then Blade came onto the line. “L.C. has to go now, we have to make sure she’s pregnant. Bye, y’all.”
Zoe hung up the phone.
She knew what she had to do, had known it since Lauren-Claire and Blade’s wedding.
She had to return to the States and give her marriage another try. She still loved her husband.
ZOE TRIED reading the magazines she’d brought with her. The best she’d been able to do was look at the fashion magazines. Pictures didn’t take much concentration.
Since the plane had lifted off, she’d been a bundle of nerves.
Was she doing the right thing? Would she regret giving her marriage another try?
What would her husband think? Did he want her back?
Or did he just miss having a wife? Someone to be there for him when he needed her. Had he learned a wife had needs, too? Would he be willing to make the real changes necessary for their marriage to work? Or would he only slip back into his old habits.?
She knew she could never go back to how her marriage had been. She’d had a taste of living independently in Paris, and while it was sometimes lonely, freedom was exhilarating. Something she wasn’t willing to give up.
She wanted a marriage of equals. She was no longer the little girl her husband had married, but a woman. A woman capable of finding satisfaction … and giving it.
The Fasten Your Seat Belts sign came on as the pilot announced the plane was about to land.
Putting the magazines into the rack in front of her, she fastened her seat belt and closed her eyes, praying for a safe landing.
HE STOOD at the terminal window, watching her plane land. He almost hadn’t made it in time. The case he was working on had blown wide open at the last minute, and he’d had to commandeer a police car to get to the airport.
He couldn’t believe she was returning—to him. He’d been so afraid he’d lost her.
When she’d made the reservation and his source had notified him, he’d almost wept with relief. Once she was on American soil, he had her. She’d never escape him again. After all, she was his wife. He’d make her love him again.
The plane landed and taxied down the runway to the terminal door where he waited.
Flashing his badge, he went ahead, before the plane could begin to empty. When he entered the cockpit, the pilot nodded, indicating that he’d been informed and made the announcement over the speaker system.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please remain in your seats. There is a policeman who has just boarded to take off his prisoner.”
A mutter of interest swept through the passengers as they looked around to see who the prisoner might be.
“Nothing to be alarmed about folks, this is just a formality.”
“Oh my God,” Zoe said, sure her face had grown pale when she saw him heading down the aisle toward her, handcuffs dangling.
“Will you please come with me, ma’am?” he said, cuffing her, while the planeload of passengers looked on in amazement.
Her face was beet red as he grabbed her carry-on bag and led her from the plane, the badge he’d flashed the only thing identifying him as a cop in his jeans and bomber jacket.
“I’m going to kill you, Grey,” Zoe said when they exited the ramp to the terminal.
“Now is that any way to talk to your husband?” he whispered into her ear, continuing to lead her handcuffed from the terminal, while the crowd gawked openly.
“You don’t resemble the husband I left behind at all.”
Grey chuckled. “I don’t recall you complaining when I picked you up in that bistro in Paris. What made you go along with the fantasy that I was a stranger?”
“You were a stranger. The husband I left behind would never have thought of it. Why did you decide to play my fantasy lover?”
“I remembered all those romantic movies you rented when I was away so much. I decided to rent a few myself when you left and got a pretty good idea about what you were longing for in our marriage. I was listening when you voiced your unhappiness. I just didn’t know what to do about it. Watching the movies you’d rented gave me the idea.
“I’d already discovered I had a darker side. Being a cop forced me to open my eyes to the world, a world that was more than my background. When I thought about it I realized you should be allowed to have more than one dimension to your personality too.” His chuckle this time was very naughty. “Besides, I enjoyed the fantasy one hell of a lot.”
“What were you thinking when you tried to pick me up in the bistro?”
“I was thinking that if you went along, life as we knew it would never be the same … and I was glad.”
“You know we can’t go back to the way it was before I left.”
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t think of it. And what were you thinking when I tried to pick you up in the bistro?”
It was Zoe’s turn to laugh. “I was thinking … well, actually I wasn’t thinking too well. You were so hot … it was exciting and scary and you know, Grey.”
“Yeah.”
“Can you take the cuffs off now?” she asked, trying to smile through gritted teeth when she noticed the crowd staring.
“I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“You owe me one, as I recall.”
“Grey, if you don’t take these cuffs off now, I’m going to scream!” she vowed.
“Why don’t you keep that thought until we get home?” he said, looking at her with eyes that were hot with desire.
“You’re not going to live that long. Grey, I’m warning you.”
But he did live.
They both lived happily ever after.
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Forbidden Fantasy Page 16
