They were both smiling rather dopily as they pulled apart. “So do you still want to go home?” he asked, putting his truck back into drive at last. Fortunately, no one was on the road, and so they hadn’t gotten honked at.
“Maybe we should just go back to your place. We still have that wine to drink. And I left those beautiful flowers. And poor Marlowe is probably crushed that you just ran out on him.”
“He is. He was crying like a baby at the door when I came after you. He knew we were both upset, and there was nothing he could do about it.” Ken made a U-turn in the intersection and headed back toward his house.
“Poor little thing.” Madeline felt like giggling with an overflow of feeling, but she figured that was better than crying any more, which was the other thing she felt like doing. “He’ll be happy to see us come home.”
MARLOWE WAS HAPPY. In fact, he was so ecstatic at their return that he ran gleeful laps around the kitchen, dining, and living rooms.
They pet the dog and drank the rest of their wine and cuddled on the couch for a long time, both of them too emotionally exhausted to do much talking.
But Madeline could feel Ken’s affection. His understanding. His devotion. And it was everything she felt for him too. And she was starting to see how bringing it out into the open—changing their relationship—wasn’t going to transform the way they were together.
Ken wasn’t going to become Josh, just because they were no longer no strings attached. Of course they wouldn’t always be this blissfully happy, but Ken would always be who he was.
And he was one of the best men she’d ever known. The kindest. Most generous. That wasn’t going to change just because they now had ties between them.
Since she’d been so messily emotional, she took a shower before bed. Ken got in with her, and he held her under the hot spray. Not kissing. Not caressing. Just holding her tightly for a long time.
She felt safe. Warm. Loved.
When they got into bed, he held her some more, but eventually the hug deepened into more. He kissed her for a long time. Stroked her body until she was hot and wet and deeply aroused. Then he sank inside her. She wrapped her arms and legs around him. They rocked together, sometimes kissing and sometimes gazing at each other in the dark. Eventually the delicious friction tightened into a climax, and she came with a broken sob. He came after her, jerking and rasping words that sounded like “baby” and “always” and “love.”
They lay tangled up together, naked and replete, for a long time. Until finally the sticky discomfort urged Madeline to her feet so she could go to the bathroom and clean up.
She put on one of Ken’s shirts before she came back to bed. He was sprawled out naked with his head on the pillow, grinning at her endearingly.
She laughed and climbed under the covers beside him. “Why are you smiling like that?”
He nuzzled her hair and wrapped an arm around her. “Why do you think?”
“I think maybe you’re happy.”
“I am. That’s exactly what I am.”
She shifted so she could peer up at his face. “And you’re sure it’s okay if we don’t—”
“Stop it, Madeline.” His smile turned into a frown. “Stop worrying about me. I’m happier than I ever thought I would be again. I’ll tell you if that changes or if I need more from you. For now, this is more than enough.”
She sighed, believing him. Adoring him. “Okay. In that case, I’m happy too.”
THREE WEEKENDS LATER was Ken’s weekend with his daughters, so Madeline had resigned herself to not seeing him much for a couple of days. She’d spent every night with him since they’d gotten together for real, except the first weekend he spent with his daughters. That weekend had felt empty. Going without him for those two days felt like a hole in her life. So she wasn’t looking forward to the next one.
They hadn’t made any public announcements about their being together. In fact, they hadn’t made any announcements at all. Madeline’s friends knew. Ken’s ex-wife knew. And she was pretty sure whispers were going around town about what might be going on between them. But Ken had been as good as his word. He wasn’t trying to make her his girlfriend. They were together the way they’d been before.
Only more.
It was good. She’d been incredibly happy. But the idea of spending another weekend without him grated on her as the days approached.
Finally, on Friday around lunchtime, the idea was bothering her so much that she knew she had to do something about it. So she called Ken.
“Hey,” he said, a smile in his voice as he picked up the other end of the call. “I didn’t expect you to call. Is everything all right?”
“Yeah. It’s fine.” She was smiling now because she could hear that he was.
“Did you just want to say hi to me?”
“Maybe. Are you busy?”
“No. Just doing a lot of annoying paperwork for the end of the month. What’s up?”
Despite her attempt at casualness, he must have realized she had a purpose to her call. “Nothing really. Just...”
“What’s the matter?” His tone had changed now. He sounded worried. He thought she was going to say something bad.
His concern pushed her into an immediate admission. “It’s... nothing. It’s silly. I just don’t want to go all weekend without seeing you.”
He hesitated for a few seconds before he replied, “That’s always nice to hear, but I don’t think I’ll be able to get away—”
“I know. I know. I’d never ask you to give up any time with your daughters for me. I just wondered...” She cleared her throat, wishing she’d taken the time to think through exactly what she was going to say before she’d called him. “Do you think... I mean, how would you feel about me coming over for a little while this weekend? While they’re there. Would that be weird? Would you be uncomfortable about me—”
“Oh my God, baby, come! Please come!”
He sounded so awed and overwhelmed that she giggled stupidly.
It was his turn to clear his throat. “I mean, of course you can come over. If you want. I’d have invited you, but I didn’t want to put any pressure on you.”
“I know you didn’t. And I appreciate it. But I think it would be all right.”
“Just know that if you come, then I can’t promise the girls won’t talk. About you being there. I guess I could ask them to keep it quiet, but I’d rather not put the pressure of a secret on them.”
“Oh no, Ken! I’d never expect them to keep it a secret. I think people are starting to talk anyway. It’s okay. It really is.” The thought should have terrified her, but it didn’t. She felt okay about it. Having a few people know that they were together hadn’t changed anything about the way they were together, so there was no reason to assume that having more people know would turn their relationship into something different. Something less good.
She wanted to share her life with Ken, and that meant sharing everything.
He let out a breath so deep she could hear it through the phone. “Okay then. You want to come over for dinner tonight? They’ve got dance class today, so we’ll be getting home around six thirty.”