Page 82 of Colt
I set the phone down and looked at the photo again. Both of us young. Both of us certain. Neither of us knowing what our future would hold.
I did now. A reckoning was coming.
Chapter 33
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— Colt —
The meeting with Dutch had been early and brief. By nine I was back on my bike with nowhere I needed to be, but the destination already in my head.
I told myself I was just checking in.
Betty answered the door in her coat, keys in hand. “Boys are at school. I have errands.” She stepped past me without breaking stride. No smile, no instruction. Just Betty moving through her day.
I found Lilac in the kitchen, both hands wrapped around a mug, looking out the window. She turned when she heard me.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey.” She set the mug down. “I was hoping you’d come by.”
“You could’ve texted.”
“I know.” She looked at me for a moment. “I needed to see if I still felt the same this morning. In the daylight. After I’d had time to process.” She paused. “Without your mouth on mine making it hard to think straight.”
I stayed where I was.
“I do,” she said. “Feel the same.” She crossed the kitchen and stopped in front of me. “I told you I wasn’t ready last night. I think I was wrong. I think I was ready and just scared of how ready I was.” Her hand came up flat against my chest. “I’m not scared anymore.”
I kissed her. God help me, I couldn’t hold back another second. I pulled her into my arms and kissed her.
She kissed me back. Her arms wound around my neck, her body pressed against mine.
When we finally broke apart, both of us breathing hard, I rested my forehead against hers.
“I love you,” I said. “I’ve never stopped loving you. Not for one second of these seven years.”
“I know.” She smiled—that smile I’d spent seven years trying to forget. “I remember.”
“What else do you remember?”
Her smile turned mischievous. “I remember that you were very, very good at certain things.”
Heat shot through me. “Lilac—”
“The boys won’t be back for hours.” She pulled back slightly, her eyes dark with want. “And I’ve been waiting what feels like a very long time to remember this part.”
I should have been a gentleman. Should have suggested we take it slow, make sure she was ready, give her time to process everything.
But I was only human. And mywifewas looking at me like she wanted to devour me.
“Bedroom?”
She took my hand and led me down the hallway, pushing open a door to reveal a small room with a neatly made bed and morning light filtering through lace curtains. The moment we crossed the threshold, I pulled her back against me, my mouth finding the curve of her neck.
“I’ve dreamed about this,” I murmured against her skin. “Having you in my arms again.”
She turned in my embrace, her fingers working at the buttons of my shirt. “Then stop talking and show me.”
