“Nah. I had workout clothes in the car but nothing else. I’m going to head home to change.” Then he’d drive back over to Sarah’s.
“I’ll shower at home too.” As they walked out, David said, “Look, man, I know this is none of my business, but seems to me that Sarah never got the romantic stuff women like. You two hooked up, got married, and that was it.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m going to fix that.” He’d made up his mind to give Sarah what she needed this time around. “Thanks for tonight.” He held out his fist.
David bumped it and they went their separate ways.
HE WAS HALF EXPECTING SARAH’S HOME to be dark when he finally drove up, but the windows upstairs glowed with light and the gate opened seconds after he pushed the buzzer. The garage door began to lift up almost at the same time. He’d just finished parking beside her zippy red car when the internal access door opened, Sarah haloed by the light on the other side.
She was dressed in pajama shorts and a T-shirt, her hair loose and wild around her head. She looked all sleepy and soft.
Jogging up, he shut the door after nudging her inside and cupped her cheek. “You were asleep.” He nuzzled her.
Yawning, she kind of cuddled into him, her hands folded up against his chest. “I nodded off while I was reading.”
Abe loved holding her, wanted to do it all night. “Come on, let’s get to bed.”
She led him upstairs, crawling into bed and watching him with sleepy eyes as he stripped and dropped his clothes on top of his duffel.
“You want me to wear pj’s?” It was the first time that had come up—they were usually naked when they tumbled into bed.
A slow smile. “Do you even own pj’s?”
“No,” he admitted. “But I brought a pair of sweats.”
“I like you barefoot and bare to the skin.”
Grinning at the cheeky response, he got into bed with her, then reached over to turn off the bedside lamp; it plunged the room into darkness but for a little diffuse light that came in through the curtains.
That was enough for him to see Sarah’s face when he stretched out his arm so she could pillow her head on his shoulder. Turning to brush her hair off her sleepy-eyed face, his heart this huge, tight thing in his chest, he said, “Good night, sweetheart.”
Sarah’s lips curved. “Good night, gorgeous.”
He pressed a soft kiss to her lips as her eyes closed, brushed his hand over her abdomen in an unspoken good night to their baby, then he held her close and they slept.
ABE WOKE UP WITH THAT HEAVINESS in his limbs that came from a long, deep sleep where he hadn’t been chased by endless dark dreams. Stretching out, he reached for Sarah. She was gone, her space in the bed cool. “Sarah?” It came out a gritty rumble as he lay on his front, still not quite fully awake.
“Good morning, sleepyhead.” Walking out from the bathroom dressed only in a thigh-length robe tied at the waist, Sarah leaned over to kiss the back of his shoulder. Her hair was dry but damp at the ends and around the edges, her scent of some feminine soap that made him want to tug her freshly showered body into bed and make her dirty all over again.
“You were sleeping so deeply I didn’t want to wake you,” she said with a smile.
Happy now that he knew she was all right and not suffering from morning sickness or something, he reached for her. “Come back to bed.”
Avoiding his hand with a chuckle, she walked over to the vanity. “I’m starving.”
Turning his head, he saw her pull her hair into a neat knot on top of her head, then stick a bobby pin through it to hold the curly mass in place. He loved watching her do stuff like that. Normal stuff. Everyday stuff a wife would do in front of her husband. He wanted to wake up to such sights every damn day for the rest of his life.
“Want to go out for breakfast?”
“You’re as slow as a snail in the morning.” Affectionate words, laughter in her expression when her eyes met his in the mirror. “I’ll have pancakes and bacon ready by the time you make it down.” Blowing him a kiss, she headed out. “Don’t be late or I’ll eat it all.”
Forcing himself to move, Abe yawned again, stretched, then walked into the shower. His muscles ached slightly from last night’s lifting session, but nothing unusual. Just the good soreness that came from a session where he’d pushed himself until things were no longer easy. The hot spray felt good on his body, the water pressure just right.
Making quick work of it because he wanted to be with Sarah, he cleaned up, then dug out his toothbrush and brushed. He didn’t want to give her any reason to hesitate to kiss him—a man had to cover his bases when he was trying to win back his wife. He thought about shaving, but right now he was still in stubble territory and Sarah didn’t mind stubble.