my frozen face, I feel fine. I’m pissed they wouldn’t let me play the rest of the game.”
I glanced at him. He had a long thin bandage over his cheek, and his eye was swollen shut. “It hurts me to look at you.”
A smile played on his lips. “Were you worried?”
“I cried, didn’t I?”
“Baby Krista showed emotions.”
I started the car and glanced at him. “It was only for show.”
His smile widened. “You’re a pretty convincing actress.”
When we got home, I could tell Mica was in pain. He changed into a pair of sweats and a T-shirt and lay in bed with the remote so he could watch the rest of the game. I brought him a cold compress and watched him lay it on his swollen eye.
“Want some food?”
He raised his arm up. “Come cuddle.”
I crawled across the bed and tucked myself under his arm. I sighed as I felt his big arm come around me. This was my version of bliss. Together we watched the rest of the game. Well, he watched. I continued to let my thoughts drift around where we were heading. I felt like I was on the edge of a cliff. If I threw myself off the precipitous point, there was no climbing back up.
When the game was done, he untangled himself from me and sat up.
“What do you need?” I asked anxiously.
“I feel nauseous. I think it’s the pain meds.”
“I think you need to eat.” I wanted to help him. “Let me cook for you. What do you want?”
“I’ll come with you.”
Mica sat at the island while I heated some soup for him.
“So how was dinner?”
I shrugged. “I had a steak.”
“How was dinner with Andrew?” His voice shifted. I knew he disliked Andrew, and I had been doing my best to distance myself from our neighbor. Only because I knew my friendship with him bugged Mica.
I reached down to refill Sniper’s water dish. “It was fine. I ran into Sabrina at the restaurant. She came over to say hello.”
Mica’s good eye looked at me, assessing me. He didn’t ask about her, so I didn’t talk about our encounter. She was the reason I was stressing about where we were going. She had reminded me where Mica had come from before we married.
I let him off the hook by changing the subject. “Your mom was telling me how your dad always came to your games.”
His gaze dropped. “Only when I was little.”
“Does he ever come to Canada to see you?”
“We don’t talk.”
Before I could ask more about that relationship, Yelena flew in the front door and strode up to Mica. Her jeweled hands carefully grabbed Mica’s face so she could look him over better.
“Am I going to live?” His tone was dry.
She lifted her chin. “Yes, but I thought your bride was going to collapse. She was that upset.”
That made him smile.
Chapter 18
MICA
Charlie stood at the bathroom door, a T-shirt hanging down to her thighs, covering the most delectable parts of her. From my place on the bed, I looked at her with interest. She blushed as she crossed the room and climbed in beside me. I wanted to laugh as she primly slid into bed and covered herself to her chin with the blankets.
I rolled over onto my side and lay one hand on her stomach. “Be honest. Is your new Frankenstein husband a turn-off?”
Her eyes widened. “No.”
“Oh good.” I leaned forward and dropped a kiss on her mouth. It hurt my face like hell, but I didn’t care.
“Wait.” She pulled her head back, putting unwanted distance between us. “We should talk.”
Words a man never wants to hear. We should talk.
I nodded and propped my head on my elbow. “So, talk.”
The sooner we got this talk over with, the sooner we could pick up where we left off this morning.
She stared at the ceiling, thinking. “I’m not sure if we should, you know…”
Her glance skirted across my face before moving somewhere over my shoulder.
I wanted so bad to tease her, but I could tell that this conversation was costing her. “You don’t think we should finish what we started this morning?”
Her cheeks stained hot. “I was thinking.”
I waited a few moments, but she added nothing to her cryptic statement. “What were you thinking?”
“You know.”
I brushed an errant curl off her forehead. “I don’t know unless you tell me.”
She took a deep breath. “We decided this marriage would be more of a roommate situation.”
Before I realized how much I wanted you. “Right.”
“And this situation is