Page 54 of Winning Back His Wife
Something resembling panic flashed in her eyes, but she opened her mouth anyway. He brought the chocolate closer. The tip of her tongue came out. Cullen fed her the sample.
Sarah’s lips closed simultaneously with her eyes.
The aphrodisiac effects of chocolate might not be quantifiable, but he was feeling something. When she opened her eyes, the desire flaring in her gaze suggested she was feeling it, too.
He wanted to kiss her. Instead, he scribbled a star next to the number four on his place mat. “We’re buying this one, too.”
When he glanced back at Sarah, the tip of her tongue darted out once again and licked her lower lip.
Cullen wanted a taste. He leaned closer and kissed her. Gently.
She tensed for a moment, then relaxed and kissed him back. He pressed his lips harder against hers, enjoying the warmth, the sweetness and the touch of spice that was uniquely Sarah. As with the chocolate samples, the flavors unfolded one after another.
Her kiss filled the loneliness in his heart. He’d missed her so much. He didn’t want her to go back to Bellingham or anywhere else.
“Let’s move on to sample five,” Owen said.
Cullen drew back, even if would rather have skipped the rest of the tasting and continued kissing her. The confusion in her eyes matched how he felt.
He’d kissed her. He’d been with her a large chunk of the day. And he hadn’t felt himself losing control. If anything, he was finding himself. He wanted to be a better husband, even if he wouldn’t be one for much longer.
He marked his place mat with the pencil. “I’m going to want another taste of number seven.”
Her eyebrows bunched. “There are only six samples.”
“Seven, if I count you.”
She smiled shyly at him through her eyelashes.
He leaned closer. “I have a strong feeling number seven is going to be my favorite.”
Gratitude glistened in her eyes and something else. Something resembling...hope. “Mine, too.”
The tasting continued. Cullen forced himself to concentrate. All he wanted to do was stare at Sarah and kiss her again. Not in that particular order. But she was paying attention to Owen, so Cullen did, too, while wondering how he could keep things going so well between them.
Number five was delicious with a coconut, sugary taste and went on the to-buy list. Number six was too bitter.
As the tasting came to an end, people discussed their observations. Everyone liked something different about the samples.
Cullen rubbed her back. “Enjoying yourself?”
“What are we doing?” she said in a low voice.
“Tasting chocolate.”
“I mean...” She glanced around as if to see if anyone was listening. “You’re acting like we’re...”
“What?”
“Married.”
“We are.”
“For now.” She glanced over at the table where his friends sat. “But you’re doing all this lovey-dovey, couple stuff. I’ll be honest. I’m enjoying it. But I’m sure your friends have noticed. What are they going to think?”
She enjoyed it. Good. Him, too. So much so he didn’t want the lovey-dovey stuff, as she called it to end. “I don’t care what they think.”
“You said you told them about us.”
He nodded. “They know I filed for divorce.”
Sarah’s face paled. “You filed?”
She sounded shocked. He moved his hand off her back, but kept his arm on her chair. “I mentioned I’d gotten things started when you were at the hospital.”
She nibbled on her lip. “I’m sorry. You did, but I hadn’t realized that meant you’d filed.”
Okay, he was confused. What else would starting a divorce proceeding mean?
“No big deal who filed, right?” Except at the moment, when all he wanted was to kiss her again, he was wondering if he’d been premature in setting the divorce into motion. “I hope you’re not upset.”
“Not upset.” Her smile would have looked more natural on a mannequin. “I wasn’t clear on what you meant. Probably the concussion.”
“Probably.” But doubts clamored to surface. Hope spread. In a flash, dreams and plans he’d long since suppressed surged to the forefront of his mind. His heart battered against his rib cage. “You still want a divorce, right?”
As soon as he’d spoken the words aloud, he regretted them, afraid to hear her answer. What if she said yes? What if she said no? Even if he wanted to try again, how could he ever trust she would want to stick around long-term? Especially with her life in Bellingham and his in Hood Hamlet. Logically divorce was the best—the only—option. And one of these days his heart would catch up to his head and agree.
