And Anna had always left room in her life, in her body, and in her heart for the wild and unfettered.
And that was where the two lovers had finally parted ways when she was on the cusp of twenty. What was that quote about roads diverging, its author preferring the unmarked trail? That was her, at least until the responsibility of kids and parenting took hold and planted her wandering feet firmly on an island in western Canada.
She nestled the side of her head against the pillow. The why of their reunion almost didn’t matter now. It was clear Daniel had at least one great, unresolved question in his life, and the only answer she could provide—if that question was, indeed, about having progeny—was a resounding, “No, not with me.” Regular periods were a thing of the past, and she couldn’t love Daniel enough to even imagine what it would take to bear him a child.
If Elaine was here and they were reviewing the reunion thus far, she was sure her friend would have uncorked the bottle of limited-batch mescal provided by the hotel and poured two hefty shots. They would drink to their long-gone fertile years and toast the freedoms their bodies now enjoyed. Elaine would want a blow-by-blow report on the sexual chemistry. Anna would need another shot before providing her ringside assessment.
If Liam were here…
Anna stopped, turned her head to face away from Daniel. This was neither the place nor the time to imagine what she and Liam might have gotten up to in similar surroundings. But whether to have kids was a current topic for him too, and she’d watched his face closely when he talked about his ex-girlfriend. Intuition led her to believe he was more upset by her comments about his sexual performance than he was about the loss of the relationship. He didn’t seem to be in any kind of mourning for her. He never even mentioned her name.
Anna was convinced what Liam mourned was the kind of love he could—and, likely would—find again, with the right woman. And then all his questions about kids would be answered. Life often revealed a well-laid path when the stepping stones were in the right places. Like when Gary Granger walked into her life, with his generous hugs and his patient heart. Her ovaries knew he was The One. Her heart did too.
Daniel continued to nap, and she needed to move. She inched one leg from under the sheet, hooked it over the edge of the mattress, and pulled herself away from her sleeping companion. She tiptoed to the bathroom and showered the remaining lotion and body fluids off her lower back, thighs, and butt. On her way to bed, she fished a slip from one of the drawers, and slipped it over her head. She wanted to join Daniel’s nap.
His chest rose and fell. One hand, as yet unclaimed by a wedding band, rested on the sheet, right over his heart. Anna’s own heart connected with his in that moment, and he would never know. For all that her former lover had accomplished in his life, it saddened her he was still broken up about something out of his control, from so very long ago. Maybe she could help him figure this out. She nestled against him and slipped into a light sleep.
Chapter Fourteen
Daniel lay on his front, his face pressed into the cradle at the head of the massage table. Napping after orgasming had made them a few minutes late for the massages Anna booked.
“I’m going to be a boneless blob when he’s finished,” he said. “I’ll never make it to my plane.”
“Let yourself go,” Anna recommended from her sprawled-out position on the table next to his, her voice similarly muffled. “We have another full day before we have to think about airplanes. We can order room service and have Jorge feed us.”
His chuckle switched into a loud groan. “Uff. Right there.”
“I’d like to go to dinner after this.”
He seconded her wish. “Me, too. We seemed to have missed lunch. Think you can carry me?”
“No.” A throaty laugh emanated from her body. “Isn’t that why the resort has Jorges and luggage carts?”
“Good thinking.”
Their massages ended late in the afternoon, after which they were bundled into a fresh set of fluffy, white robes and encouraged to sit poolside and sip watermelon juice until they had their legs back under them.
Daniel leaned into the cushions supporting his back and lifted his face to the late-afternoon sun. “New York feels very far away, and I’m wondering why it’s taken me so long to indulge in a trip like this.”
“I was under the impression you traveled a lot.”
“I do, for work,” he said. “Vacation isn’t a word in my vocabulary. I get a day or two at the most, once in a while when I remember to book it.” He re-crossed his legs and adjusted his bathrobe. “But when you’re designing for people, they begin to think they own you, and I’m enough of a perfectionist that every contract seems to come with a leash upon signing.”
“I’m sure it’s a very elegant leash.” Anna patted his hand, sly humor in her voice. She knew he didn’t like to be teased, but with their shared history, a gentle ribbing now and then should be acceptable. When she lifted her hand and probed at the corner of his mouth, coaxing it upward with a soft fingertip, he had no choice but to grin.
“Comes with a collar,” he elaborated, getting into the spirit of the moment, “and a set of tags engraved with my phone number.”
He was rewarded with another laugh.
“Let’s get dressed and eat,” she suggested. “I’m beyond starving, and I imagine they frown on patrons who wear robes into the dining room.”
Daniel opened his eyes, stretched his arms wide, and
