All it would take would be one of his neighbors catching a glimpse of them here together, and their secret affair would be secret no longer.
She didn’t seem as skittish as normal. She didn’t try to hide in the house. She was quieter than normal, but so was he.
Mostly he was tired and relieved.
Since she was still hanging out here, he assumed she wanted to have sex. He hoped he’d have the energy to satisfy her tonight.
He hoped he could even get it up.
When they came back inside, Ken couldn’t think of any other excuse for delay. “You want to stay here tonight? I should probably take a shower, but after that we can...”
She looked down at the floor. “I’d like to stay, but to tell you the truth, I’m not sure I’m in the mood for... for much of anything exciting tonight.” He could tell she was nervous by that confession.
He almost groaned in relief. “Oh, thank God. I’m wiped out. I’d have tried, if you wanted to do some stuff, but I’m not really in the mood either.”
She smiled at him, surprised and relieved and heart-stoppingly fond. “Really?”
“Yeah. You want to watch some TV?”
“Sounds good to me.”
So they stretched out onto the couch together—her body stretched out against his, tucked between him and the back of the couch—and they found an old crime procedural on a streaming channel that they both liked.
After about a half hour, Marlowe climbed up with them, curling up at their feet. There wasn’t really room on the couch for all three of them, but they made do.
Ken couldn’t remember anything he’d enjoyed more than watching TV with Madeline cuddled up at his side. They occasionally made a few comments, but mostly they just relaxed.
During the second hour, Ken actually fell asleep. He woke up an hour later to discover that both Madeline and Marlowe were sleeping too.
Marlowe was snoring, his big head on Ken’s shin.
Ken smiled down at Madeline, whose cheek was pressed against his shirt.
He wondered if this was what it would have been like in a real relationship with her. If she wanted him for more than rebound sex.
He wondered if there was any chance of it happening.
Sure, he wasn’t the kind of man Madeline would normally go for. She deserved the absolute best. But still... she seemed to have a good time with him. She definitely enjoyed having sex with him.
Maybe he could make her happy.
He wanted her to be happy, and she’d seemed like she had been for the past month. Certainly happier than she’d ever been with Josh, the selfish asshole.
Maybe...
HE WOKE UP AGAIN WHEN Madeline was pulling away from him.
He was barely conscious of what was going on, but he knew instinctively that he didn’t want to lose her. So he mumbled and pulled her soft, warm body closer.
“Ken.”
He managed to open his eyes at the soft plea in her tone. “Y’okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. But my arm is asleep. You’ve been lying on it. So can you...”
“Oh. Sorry.” He hefted himself up to a sitting position. “Shit, what time is it?”
“After midnight.” She sat up too, shaking out her arm to restore circulation.
Taking advantage of the sudden room on the couch, Marlowe stretched out to his full length, giving a loud snore.
“Sorry I fell asleep on you,” he said. “Have you been awake for a while?”
“No. I just woke up.”
“You want to take off?”
“I guess. I walked here.” She gave a wistful look toward the door.
“Well, you can’t walk back by yourself in the dark. I can drop you or walk with you. Or...”
Her eyes shot to his face.
“You can spend the night here if you want.”
“You don’t mind?”
“Of course I don’t mind.” Did she really think he didn’t want her there? Maybe he was better at hiding his feelings than he thought. “But if you stay, we should probably move to the bed. It’s a lot more comfortable than the couch.”
She smiled. “It’s a deal.”
So they went to the bedroom. Ken took most of his clothes off, and Madeline found one of his clean T-shirts to sleep in. Then they climbed into bed.
Too exhausted by life to pay attention to their hesitant advances, Marlowe kept sleeping on the couch.
Seven
TWO WEEKS LATER, MADELINE woke up in Ken’s bed.
She’d slept there almost every night for the past fourteen days except for his weekend with his girls and then a couple of times when Ken had spent the night with her instead.
That one night seemed to have changed things between them, although neither of them had put it into words.
She was happy. Excited. Kind of fluttery whenever she thought about spending time with Ken. But also nervous about how she was feeling. This didn’t feel entirely safe. Pretty soon things would come to a crossroads, and she’d have to make a real decision.
She didn’t want to do it yet. She wanted to keep going the way they’d been going. She wanted to keep feeling this way.
She was too much of a thinker to genuinely put the question out of her mind, but she’d been doing the best she could for the past two weeks. Overall, she’d done as well as she could expect.
It was Friday now. Just after six in the morning. She didn’t have to work at the library today. She needed to catch up on a couple of messages for the flower shop, but she hoped to knock those out in the morning so she could take the rest of the day off. Then she’d have the entire weekend off. It was a like a bonanza of free time, which wasn’t something she was allowed very often.
She lay in bed for a while, staring up at the ceiling and thinking about what she’d like
