Page 32 of Yours, Forever

"Weird?" Ale grinned. "Are you kidding? This is the kind of gossip that a small town thrives in."

"And we'd do much more for the capital you're bringing to the town." Daniel started collecting our empty plates.

"More than anything, at this point," Eva said. "I just want to make sure your dad doesn't get his way."

I didn't think I'd done enough to earn her loyalty, but hope scattered in my diaphragm regardless. It competed with everything else, but I latched to it. For any loyalty to be there, she had to see something good in me.

A realization like mine had to have crossed her mind, because she gazed at me with uncertainty.

She cleared her throat. "You know, because that's what we agreed to."

She gave me a little and closed right back up. How I wished to change that.

I supposed it was to be expected in our situation, especially only a few weeks in. It was left to be seen, if loyalty, joy, and trust grew out of our circumstances. As much as I hoped they would, Icouldn't ask more from her. I had to be happy with whatever she wanted to give.

I might make an exception for getting her to give me a full smile.

Chapter 10

Max

It had been acouple of months since I'd come to meet my wife, and I still hadn't gotten used to the bed I called my own.

My watch showed 2:28 am. I did my best to stretch, my feet escaping to the side of the bed to find enough room.

I was wide awake. A normal occurrence, but I hated it regardless.

A short walk to the kitchen for water, then maybe stepping out to the backyard, let the cold get into my bones. So when I came back into bed, I'd fall asleep as warmth seeped back into me.

A wild plan, but one I was willing to try.

As silently as I could move, I made my way to the dark kitchen and filled a glass. The water went down my throat like a balm.Except the liquid detoured down the wrong pipe when Eva's bedroom door opened and she came out.

Worse, when I realized she only wore panties and a tank top. Water flooded my lungs.

She yelped. I coughed like I'd smoked a pack of cigarettes a day since I was ten.

The glass clanked against the stone on the peninsula when I left it there haphazardly. I hit my chest with one hand and lifted the other, trying to get rid of the water and take a deep breath again.

"Max!" she yelled.

My eyes watered and I kept them closed. She reached me, warmth radiating from her skin to mine, but I didn't get to enjoy it. She slapped my back a few times, then rubbed the sensitized patch of skin between my shoulder blades with an assertive hand.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'll be okay." My voice came out hoarse. "You surprised me."

"You surprised me, too."

We stood face to face in the kitchen, scantily clad, ceiling light still off. She cast her eyes up and down my body; enough light came through the windows and electronics that she would have no issue noticing that I only wore my black boxers.

It felt like permission. I gazed down at her body; the two pieces of clothing did little to hide her curves. In the shadows of the mostly-dark kitchen, her thick thighs, rounded hips, and belly tempted me in shades of gray. Her bluish tank top didn't do much to hide the fullness of her breasts, or the pinpoints of her nipples.

My throat seized up... purely a reflex after everything. I didn't know if she'd noticed my eyes, but the perusal ended when she turned to the other counter and flipped the switch on to boil water.

Oh, the way her ass looked in her panties.

I gulped. My throat still wasn't at a hundred. "I hope I didn't wake you up."