“Well, it might be more like three or four nights. And yes, I’m perfectly fine with it. It was nice having someone else here last night. It was nice having you here.”
He smiled. “Well, since you have me here, anything you need done? Anything you need a strong, sexy man to take care of?”
I laughed at him. “Well, I do have one project I wanted to do but haven’t had the time to do.”
“And what’s that?”
“My pantry. It needs a major upgrade. I have all the wood shelves and brackets on the floor. They’ve been there since the first week I moved in. I was going to do it, but then the publisher needed to push the deadline up for this book. So, my focus has been on the book, and my poor pantry has been ignored.”
“I’ll get right on that.” He smiled as he straightened up and stretched. “Hey, wait. Is this like my first honey-do list from you?”
“I think you have to be married to have a honey-do list.”
“Hmm. Maybe just wishful thinking on my part.” He winked as he headed towards the pantry.
I disappeared into my manuscript for the rest of the morning. Hours passed before I realized it was four o‘clock in the afternoon. I saved my work, shut down the laptop, and headed upstairs to take a shower. About an hour later, I headed back downstairs to see Brooks sitting up to the island drinking an ice water.
He smiled as I stepped into the kitchen. “Well, ready for a surprise.”
“Yes,” I beamed. I never told him how I had envisioned the pantry. I just wanted shelves up, so I didn’t have to pile so much on the floor.
“Close your eyes,” he said as he stood behind me and escorted me towards the pantry with his hands on my hips. “Keep them closed.”
“I’m keeping them closed.”
“Still, keep them closed,” he repeated after we went a few more steps.
“Still closed.” I laughed.
A few more steps, and he reminded me again.
“Just tell me when to open them,” I roared.
He stopped and told me to remain still. I heard him open the pantry door and step back behind me. “Okay,” he said. “Open them.”
“Oh my gosh, Brooks! Thank you! This is perfect!”
“You like it?”
“I love it! I love it! It’s perfect.”
I turned to him and threw my arms around him. He caught me off guard when he picked me up with a firm embrace.
“I’m glad you like it,” he whispered.
I raised my head from his shoulder and assumed he would set me down. Instead, he leaned me against the wall and kissed me, hard. I couldn’t hold back and returned his kiss with all the regrets I had overflowing inside me. Something had to erase those from my mind. I craved him more with each kiss, and he noticed it.
He set me down and placed his finger over my lips. “We’ll finish this later.”
“Brooks,” I whispered.
“Erika,” he whispered back. “You always do this to me.”
“Do what?”
“You drive me crazy. So crazy. So damn crazy.” He kissed me on the lips harder this time. “I’ve been fantasizing about kissing you again. I was hoping we’d get another chance to...” He paused and ran his fingertips down both sides of my face. “I’ve just missed this.” He kissed me again. Another longer kiss. “Us.” He bit my lower lip and leaned his forehead against mine. “These feelings,” he whispered. “I wish I could’ve done more back then. I wish I would’ve known the words to make you stay.” He kissed me again.
He fixed his left hand against the wall next to my head and ran his other hand down my left arm, gripped my hand, drew it up to his lips, and kissed my fingers as he stared me in the eyes. “Sometimes, it’s so hard to tell what’s going on in that mind of yours. You’re like a mystery to me, even though I’ve read enough of your books to think I know you, I don’t feel like I know you anymore. It was tough to handle the aftermath. I begged for you to come back to me. I begged you, and you left me alone to deal with everything.”
“Brooks,” I whispered as I reached up to touch his face. “I’m sorry for how I left. It was wrong of me. But...”
He raised his voice. “Did you love me then?”
I nodded.
He let my hand fall out of his as he poked my chest. “Did you? Cause I’m having a hard time believing you loved me, Erika...” He stepped away from me and paced the entryway. “I feel like I was your rebound. Your little boy toy that you could get to do anything for you. And I would’ve done everything for you. Everything, Erika. I loved you that much. I loved you so much.”
He raised his tone with every sentence.
“Hell, I even divorced my wife for you. I assumed we were serious. You made me feel like the future would be ours, so I divorced my wife for you. Did you even realize that?”
“Brooks, I’m...”
“And then... Then, you...” He paused and held his hands to his head. “We were never supposed to happen, but we did. You were broken from your relationship with him, and I was there to pick up your pieces. I carried your pain, felt your pain day after day. You cried on my shoulder. You remember that?” He peered straight at me.
I nodded as tears rose to well in my eyes.
“You laid on my chest so many nights, and you cried. I was there for you. I held you together and then little by little, you gained your strength back, and then what did you do?”
Tears spilled down both sides of my face.
“You left,” he whispered. “You moved. No word from you. No goodbye. You just disappeared.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“You know how much it stings when you don’t get
