He took a shower and while the spray ran over him he closed his eyes and remembered the last shower here, in the middle of the night, with Katie. And with the help of a little soap and shower gel, he had her up to seven while he lingered around four because she couldn’t keep her soapy hands off him and he didn’t have a condom in the shower and he lost his mind and damn! She really was going to kill him. And he was going to die with a smile on his face.
But how did she do that? Show him the sex goddess when they were alone and that primly amused young mother in the light of day? She was like two completely separate women in one skin. He was going to have to get out of here before it became any more obvious he couldn’t be without her in his life. Over breakfast they would talk, he would thank her for being the best sex of his life, tell her truthfully that he’d never forget their “date” and then he’d head for L.A. or Montana.
When she walked in with a brown paper bag, she was smiling. “Preacher’s omelets are so huge, we can split one…”
“Okay,” he said weakly.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” Everything.
“You have a very strange look on your face.”
“Crap,” he said. He took the bag from her hands, put it on the counter and threw her over his shoulder, her laughter pealing out through the little cabin as he carried her back to the bedroom. Once there he pulled off her clothes, put his hands and lips on every inch of her body and took her to eight. And nine.
“My God,” she said, breathless and glistening. “This has to stop! At least long enough for nourishment!”
He laughed at her and said, “That omelet’s cold anyway. It’ll keep ten more minutes. I have to ask you something.”
“Shoot.”
“How screwed up are your kids going to be about finding me in your bed?”
“They didn’t even mention it, Dylan. I suspect they thought nothing of it.”
“But we’re not married or anything…”
“Neither are Conner and Leslie, where they spent the night last night, although they are an established couple who live together. But the boys are very curious—if they’d had questions, they would’ve asked. It was a first for them, however.”
“A first?”
“You’re my first sleepover since they were born. They never even witnessed their own dad in my bed.”
“Oh,” he said. “You got your guys out the door before the boys were up?”
She laughed softly. “You’re my first since Charlie. I was open to the idea, but never met anyone who qualified. I hope that’s not too much pressure…”
He leaned toward her until his forehead was resting against hers. “Nine,” he said.
“I was faking seven and eight,” she said.
He smiled at her. “Good fake. Your whole body shook. So, can you talk about him? Can you explain about your marriage? Even though we’re…” He ran a hand down her naked body.
“Of course. I’m not cheating on him. What would you like to know?”
“How was marriage? Romantic?”
She laughed. “Sometimes, but not always. See, Charlie was a soldier, and not just any soldier, but Special Forces. Highly disciplined, expertly trained and dangerous in many settings. To say he was rough around the edges would be an understatement. He was a man with a very special commitment. It took remarkable strength and conviction for him to do his work. And, it took a unique kind of commitment to be married to him. For example, one night at a bar a young soldier saw pregnant me and said something off-color—I think it was, ‘Holy fuck, mama.’ And Charlie slapped him around. Almost knocked him out without leaving a mark—Green Beret. He knew how to do scary things like that, but with me he was so gentle, so wonderful. He was upset that the man used that language in front of me. Yet just a few hours later he yelled, ‘Katie! Where’s the fucking towel!’” She shook her head and laughed. “His language—the worst. I’m afraid if Charlie was still alive my boys might be saying things like, ‘I can’t fucking tie my shoe.’ But there was never any question about how he felt about me.”
“Do you think you’d still be married today if he was alive?”
She took a moment to think. “Some groups like Green Berets, Rangers, SEALs, that sort of thing—they do have trouble in marriages—they were gone a