“So you saw her again?”
“Yes, I came right down and told her to go back to her CEO. She didn’t like being rejected. She never has. When we were married, she was forever testing me, wanting me to put up with her crap to prove how much I loved her. Which backfired. Turned out I didn’t love her and I’m not the guy to put up with any kind of crap. So she was wrong on both counts.”
“She said the two of you always laughed together about me because I made it so obvious I liked you.”
“I didn’t even know you liked me, and believe me, I wouldn’t have been laughing. I wasn’t laughing about anything when I was married to Mercia.”
Maybe I shouldn’t believe his explanation. Maybe I shouldn’t accept it so readily, but I do. I can believe Mercia is manipulative much more than I believe Reid is. She engineered the whole meeting with me, and it sounds like she did the same to him. He didn’t run after her when they split, but he came looking for me. He wants me!
Then a stupid random thought comes to mind. “You’re letting the kids have unlimited ice cream? You must have been worried.”
“I was. I didn’t know why you weren’t here when we got back from the hospital. Anything could have happened to you.”
“I’m sorry.” I smile at him. “You should have known. I have a habit of running away.”
“Yes. Terrible habit. I’m going to have to cure you of that.”
*
It’s late after the eating of the ice cream, and the kids show signs of falling asleep soon after we wipe their sticky faces.
“We could stay another night instead of driving back,” Reid says. “Would you like that?”
“Don’t you have to be at the office first thing?”
“I don’t have any meetings that can’t be postponed.”
“In that case, let’s put the kids to bed.”
Reid’s lovemaking feels different this time. It’s fierce and hot as ever, but there’s an intensity to it that wasn’t there before, as if having nearly lost me, he wants to be sure I am his, that I won’t run away again.
He fucks me like a man with demons after him, yet after we both come in a tangle of sheets and limbs, there’s a tenderness to him that I’ve never really seen. I lie in his arms, completely drained, his cock still inside me, his kisses and caresses softer, gentler, more loving than ever.
He can’t stop kissing me, and I don’t want him to ever stop.
“I forgot with all this going on,” Reid says. “There’s another thing that happened when I was in L.A. I didn’t want to tell you until it was certain, but I got a call about it today just before we went into the hospital.”
CHAPTER 26
Reid
I hope what I have to tell Holly will help make up for the awful encounter with Mercia. “When I was in L.A., I bumped into a friend, Pablo; you know, the guy who owns the AltoMirano clothing line.”
“You know Pablo? Wow!”
“I served with him on a charity committee. Anyway, I had ten minutes between meetings and we had a quick drink. I asked him if he would do me a favor and look over your portfolio. No promises, but if he thinks you have potential, there might be the chance of an internship with him so you can learn the ropes.”
“Reid, that’s amazing!” She hugs me tighter. “But would it mean going to L.A. to work if he takes me on?”
“Yes, I guess so. I hate the idea of you going. But I want you to be happy, and it doesn’t have to be forever. If I hold you back, you’ll regret being with me at all.”
“I’ll never regret that. But this is always what I wanted to do.”
“So you’ll meet with Pablo?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Good, because I already arranged a meeting with him and I thought we’d make a long weekend of it. The kids will be with their grandparents.”
“Will Mercia’s dad be up to it?”
“He said I wasn’t to think about canceling, because his wife would kill him if the operation didn’t, and it was so minor anyway he thought it would be no problem. In fact, he offered to take them for longer if I wanted, and he was so adamant it would be fine, I took him up on it.”
*
Next day, my PA books tickets and I hand them to Holly when I get home, as the kids jump up and down around me, creating a din.
“Milan!” she says. “I thought you meant a weekend in L.A. I wasn’t expecting Italy.”
“Good surprise or bad surprise?”
“Good surprise. And we get to stay for four days?”
“Yes, four whole days to get to know you better.”