Hiding in the Spotlight by Karen Booth

Author:Karen Booth
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Turquoise Morning Press

Chapter Twenty-Six

David snatched a box of tissues from the bedside table. “I’ve completely ruined the mood, haven’t I?”

“What? No. Of course not.” She plucked a tissue from the box. “It’s just that you’re so amazing. I’m trying to figure out what I did to deserve you.”

He kissed the end of her nose. “Well, then we’re in the same boat because I’m trying to answer the same question.”

He struggled to decipher her facial expressions as her tears ebbed. For as long as they’d known each other, he couldn’t always read her. The sense that he’d fucked up and taken it too fast ushered waves of regret. Why did I have to say it now? Does it really change anything?

The reason he couldn’t hide the admission was no comfort, only a reminder of an adult life spent waiting to say those words to a woman and actually mean them. It was impossible to not feel disappointment that she hadn’t returned the sentiment. A part of him thought the words would gush out of her and he could have his reward. Not today.

Alex rested her chin on his chest and he caressed the smooth skin at the small of her back. She felt frail in his arms, like a frightened bird that had spent days dodging the neighborhood cat, in need of a safe place to nest. He pulled her even closer and kissed her temple, but the weight of his words loomed over them. Time to change the subject.

“Alex, honey, I was thinking, what if we took the boys away for a few days? Don’t they have a teacher workday coming up?”

She rolled to her back and grinned, dragging her finger the length of his forearm. “Next weekend. What did you have in mind?”

“I need to go up to Santa Cruz. There’s a guy selling some pretty rare guitars and I wanted to go look. We could drive up on a Friday and take the scenic route along the ocean. The boys would love the boardwalk and I haven’t been there in years.”

“Sounds like fun. Maybe it would be good for all of us to get away.”

“Is that a yes?” He smoothed his hand over her stomach and leaned down to kiss her shoulder.

“I’m not stupid. I’m not going to turn down mini donuts and rollercoasters.”

“Great. I’ll start looking into a hotel.” Santa Cruz had once been one of David’s go-to getaways with girlfriends, but he knew his usual choice of lodging, up in the hills with the spa and the super-quiet grounds, wasn’t going to cut it with the boys. “Something by the beach.”

“You do realize this won’t be a romantic getaway.” She frowned in an adorably playful way.

“I know. We can still have a good time.” He swallowed, bargaining that if he had to spend a long weekend with Alex in separate rooms, it wouldn’t be much more painful than the previous seventeen years.

“I should probably take a shower,” Alex said. “I have to be at the library by eleven.”

David glanced at the clock on the bedside table.

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