His Marriage to Remember - By Kathie DeNosky Page 0,37
that was good in his life. That he might lose her was something he wouldn’t allow himself to consider.
When she shivered, then tangled her legs with his and pressed herself closer, Sam knew she was as turned on as he was. But as ready as he was to make love to her, she wasn’t yet ready to take that step with him. Knowing her the way he did, he knew as sure as the sun rose in the east tomorrow morning, Bria would think of her acquiescence as a moment of weakness and regret her actions, instead of viewing it as the natural act between two people who cared deeply for each other. Having her regret anything they shared together was completely unacceptable.
“I don’t tell you nearly often enough how honored I am that you’re my wife, Bria,” he said, easing away from the kiss. He nibbled tiny kisses along her soft cheek to her ear. “Or that I consider myself the luckiest man alive to have you,” he whispered.
Raising his head, he watched a small tear slip from the corner of her closed eyes to slowly slide down her temple. As he kissed it away, he hated that his words caused her to cry, hated himself for not telling her sooner and more often. If he had, maybe she wouldn’t feel as uncertain as she did now.
“You know, I’ve been thinking this forced downtime isn’t all that bad,” he said, smiling at her.
She slowly opened her eyes to stare up at him. “Are you feeling all right?”
Grinning, he nodded. “I like spending time with my best girl.”
She looked worried. “Seriously, Sam, are you dizzy or having a headache?”
He couldn’t blame her for doubting that he was enjoying his time off. He was a little shocked by it himself.
“I’m fine,” he said, kissing her chin. “Do you want to know what I think we need?”
“There’s no telling what’s running through that mind of yours,” she said, sitting up.
“I think we need a date night.”
“Are you serious?” Clearly stunned, she shook her head as if trying to clear it. “Where did that come from?”
“You’ve been wanting us to spend more time together as a couple,” he said, remembering one of her main complaints about their marriage. “What better way to do it than to have a date like before we got married? Remember how much fun we had?”
“I remember,” she said slowly. “But I wasn’t aware that you did.”
“I guess all this time here at home with you reminded me,” he said, shrugging one shoulder. “Will you go out with me this evening, Mrs. Rafferty?”
She smiled and he could tell she was warming to the idea. “That depends on where you want to go and what you want to do.”
“I noticed there’s an old classic on one of the satellite movie channels that you mentioned wanting to see and I thought we could make some popcorn and watch it,” he said as a plan began to take shape. “Of course, we may have seen it in the past six months and I just don’t remember.”
“What movie is that?” Her tone didn’t sound quite as doubtful.
“It has Clark Gable in it and he’s stuck in a motel with some woman.” He shook his head as he lay back on the blanket. “I don’t remember the title.”
“It Happened One Night,” she said, smiling. “It’s hilarious and I’d love to see it again.”
“Sounds like we have a plan, sweetheart,” he said, smiling at her.
“A date night with the television in the family room?” she murmured.
He nodded. “Remember the dates we used to have just hanging out at your apartment, watching that old twenty-inch television you used to have?” When she nodded, he folded his arms behind his head and stared up at the tree limbs. “You go ahead and read. I think I’m going to take a nap and rest up for tonight.”
“Why would you need to rest up when we’re just watching a movie in the family room?” There was a hint of a panic in her voice and he knew she remembered how the evenings had ended when they stayed in at her apartment. He usually spent the night making love to her.
“The movie doesn’t come on until after the nightly news,” he said reasonably. “I don’t want to fall asleep in the middle of it.”
Before she could respond, he reached for his hat to cover his eyes and while Bria read, Sam lay on the blanket beside her planning his next