The door was moving up her back. No…wait….She was sliding down the door. It was really over.
Who was she kidding? This was over before it ever began. Michael was the same person now he’d been five years ago. Holding onto some false hope he might ever be hers was insane. It was masochistic.
It was heartbreaking…all over again. Read more »
The air between them sizzled and popped with electricity. “Look…I don’t know what’s wrong with you all of the sudden today, Michael, but my mother’s kitchen table is on fire.”
“They’ve got it under control out there.” His hands skimmed her waist.
“Maybe someone needs to come get things under control in here then.”
“Oh, I’m working on that, Sara.” Read more »
The room was suddenly stifling. His breath was like fire on her skin and his eyes burned with the same intense glow as he stared at her. Her mouth was dry; breath was impossible. What was happening just didn’t make sense. She should put a stop to this. Read more »
Still fighting her nerves, she continued to play the game, attempting to guess the contents of the gift bag. It would be markedly easier if Michael’s intense blue gaze wasn’t boring into the side of her head while the seconds ticked by on the kitchen clock. Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock…each resounded in her head like the stomps of an elephant, smashing the fragile hold she retained on her sanity. Only the unwavering gentle kindness she found within the calm blue depths of Paul’s eyes kept her fingers steady as she held it in her hands. One would think playing a guessing game would be easy when the contents was known, but now that she knew what the bag contained there was little else she could think of. All she had to do was make a guess – any guess – and she could get on with this yet nothing came to her mind except for the diamond ring she was sure was inside. Read more »
After the giggles wore off, conversation died down while everyone ate. Sara focused on her plate as best she could, but Michael’s eyes were on her while she ate. Why did he insist on doing this to her? What, if anything, did he want from her? Was his intention to drive her mad? He was doing a damn good job of it. Read more »
Rather than bother with the formality of the dining room, Nika ordered the guys to grab some extra chairs to put around the circular kitchen table while she served enchiladas. For all her faults, Nika was an amazing friend, always ready to diffuse tension when needed. After everything that came out in that brief exchange, Sara was grateful for that. Read more »
Once dressed, Sara fluffed her hair and inspected her appearance in the mirror. Her skin was flushed and her lips were swollen from being kissed. On the outside, she had it together enough to rejoin her friends and share a meal. Sure, they’d all know by looking at her what had gone on in her room, but considering how long she’d been behind closed doors with Paul, anyone would be hard pressed not to know. Read more »
An unnatural quiet, even for the solitude of her room, settled over them. No wind snarled against the window panes. No muted laughter drifted in from the other room. The sound of her heartbeat pounding in her ears should have deafened her yet it was muted next to the sizzling inferno scorching through Paul’s eyes, the heat emanating from them threatening to engulf her, consume her, if she let him set her ablaze. Read more »
Paul didn’t miss a beat. “I don’t have a problem in the world with that.” He held her a little tighter. “And I will do exactly that in another 17 days.”
“No. I don’t want to wait anymore.” Read more »
Though there had been nothing decent on any of the channels for most of the night, Sara was able to find her favorite movie, An Affair to Remember, on one of the classic movie channels. A chill had entered the room when Michael crawled through the window and it had yet to leave. Seeking warmth, she pulled back the covers and snuggled underneath, forgetting that Michael was due back with hot chocolate until the moment he walked into the room. Read more »
The instant the words passed her lips she regretted them. If she could have reached into the frozen air between them and plucked the words away before they reached his ears then she would have in a heartbeat. This wasn’t a conversation she could have with Michael. It wasn’t fair to him and it wasn’t right. Their chance had long since passed. That window was forever closed. Read more »
Time stopped. Breath was impossible. A million things yet nothing at all raced through her mind.
Veronica’s stool scraped against the tiled floor. “I think I’ll just go freshen up before dinner.”
Silence lingered long after Veronica’s rushed departure. Sara flicked her tongue over suddenly dry lips. “I didn’t think anyone knew about that.” Read more »
Leaden legs that trembled as would a seismic anomaly made the rounds through the living room so that Sara could mumble a few uncomfortable words to the men watching the hockey game before escaping to the easy solace of the kitchen. An exchange of words with friends shouldn’t have been a chore, not in a perfect world, but this was far from a perfect world. In a perfect world, some random blonde wouldn’t have been planted on Lincoln’s lap, nibbling on his neck, while Paul and Michael tossed around player stats. She even found herself ill at ease while leaning over the back of the couch to give Paul a quick kiss while Michael’s eyes were on her. Read more »
Michael pulled away from the kiss so that she could respond to Paul’s concerned request yet when she opened her mouth to respond, lukewarm water rushed in to fill her lungs. Rather than words, she sputtered and coughed. Her hazel eyes flew open as her head broke the surface of the sudsy water. Read more »
Gravity sucked the lingering scented water down the bathtub drain with that telltale glurg glurp as Sara ran the comb through her damp auburn locks. She didn’t want to think about the rollercoaster ride her life had become over those three months all those years ago. It didn’t matter anyway. What mattered was Paul. He was here and he loved her. Read more »
