“I have competent people to run things in my absence. I took compassionate leave.” He unbuttoned his shirt and kicked off his shoes while he spoke, and Cleo turned her back to give him some privacy, while nervously rearranging the myriad decorative perfume atomizers on her dresser.
“You did?” She wouldn’t let the fact that he was stripping down affect her; she’d invited him to stay, and he couldn’t very well sleep in his shirt and trousers. It was ridiculous to be nervous around him; she’d seen him in less. It wasn’t like she didn’t know what his body looked like. And being sexually aware of him was completely inappropriate and disrespectful considering the circumstances. “You can turn around again,” he said, his wry tone making her wonder if he knew exactly what crazy thoughts had been running through her head. She turned around reluctantly and kept her eyes fixed on his face.
“I can sleep in one of the guest rooms,” he suggested gently. “There have to be more than a few in this gigantic house?”
“None of them are currently habitable,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “Water damage in a couple from the leaky roof, mold in the other, and the last one is being used as a storage room for generations’ worth of crap. We’re talking everything from spindles to World War II rifles to old-time girlie magazines.”
“Why not store those in the attic?” he asked, but she didn’t respond, waiting for him to figure it out instead.
“Ah,” he said, snapping his fingers. “Holes in the ceiling?”
“The roof leaks like a sieve, and naturally it’s worse up in the attic, so Blue and Luc moved everything into the biggest guest room. Honestly, it’s only a matter of time until it starts leaking in there as well.” Talking about what a train wreck the house was calmed her nerves a bit, and she felt herself relaxing by degrees.
“So I suppose you’re stuck with me tonight, then. Unless you want me to go home, after all?” he asked, generously giving her the opportunity to back out.
“It’s fine,” she whispered. “Let’s just go to bed.”
“Great, because I’m exhausted, and I didn’t relish the thought of the drive home.” He crawled under the covers without further discussion and stretched out on his side. He eyed her with a slight smile playing about his lips and lifted the sheet invitingly.
Cleo returned the smile and slowly climbed in next to him. He sighed, the sound almost content, and brought the sheet and his arm down over her, cuddling her close. She turned onto her side so that she was spooned against him, and Dante pulled her tightly against his hard, beautiful body and tucked his arm around her waist. It was reminiscent of the way he’d held her in the hospital the day they’d lost Zach, and it was equally as tender as that particular gesture had been.
Cleo reached over and switched off the bedside lamp, and the room was plunged into darkness. The top of her head was tucked beneath his jaw, and their breathing was almost in tandem. At first they said nothing, both of them enjoying the warmth and company. The only sounds in the room were their soft breathing and the gentle rattle of the breeze against the loose pane of her window.
“I’ve never done this snuggling thing before,” he declared. His chest rumbled against her back, and his stubble tugged at her hair.
“That’s a shame,” she whispered, hugging his arm to her chest. “You’re a fantastic snuggler.”
“I haven’t been a very good guy. Terrible with women,” he whispered. The darkness of the room and the fact that she was facing away from him seemed to be enough to inspire this unexpected bout of honesty. “I didn’t want more than sex from them, maybe a short-lived affair here and there.”
“I know,” she said, her voice dry. “I was there.”
“Of course I mean to settle down someday,” he said, ignoring her sarcasm. He sounded driven to speak, and she was more than happy to let him air his thoughts. This whole turn of conversation took her mind off her immediate grief.
“I’m sure you had a type picked out, right?” she prompted, when it looked like he was done speaking.
“I always thought I’d marry a beautiful, elegant creature who would be the perfect wife and mother. We would have a quiet, calm marriage with mutual respect for each other. So much respect that the ugly concept of divorce would never once enter our minds. We would never argue, and we would have two children. A boy and a girl.”
“Would they be as boring as their mother, or as cowardly as their father?” Cleo asked scathingly, and she felt his arm tense around her waist before it relaxed again.
“Probably a mixture of both,” he said, a hint of amusement in his voice.
“Boring cowards,” she said sympathetically. “Luckily you’re loaded, else they’d have absolutely no friends.”
“So why are you casting disparagement on my future wife and me?” he asked.
“You want someone without personality,” she said. “A beautiful, empty vessel, into whom you would pour all your unrealistic expectations for the perfect marriage. The perfect Stepford wife.”
“Que?”
“It’s a movie. Considering how much you hate horror films, it doesn’t surprise me that you’ve never seen it. It’s about a bunch of guys who turn their wives into these perfect housewives. They all think the same and act the same. But never mind that. The point is, she’d never challenge you, and you’d be bored with her in months.”
“And I’m a coward, why?”
“Because you don’t want to be challenged. You’re terrified that a woman with any personality will mess up your perfect, orderly life and that you wouldn’t be able to deal, and then the fighting would start and the irritation with each other and then the inevitable divorce. Just like your dad, right?”
“I refuse to wind up like him.”
“Yeah, well, your dad’s an idiot.” Cleo wasn’t in the mood to pull any punches tonight.
“I couldn’t agree more,” he said, his voice wobbling a little. “But I know why I think he’s an idiot, so I’m interested in hearing your view.”
“Because he’s clearly an appalling judge of character, and he never seems to learn from his past mistakes. Sound about right?”
“S?.”
She patted his arm smartly.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.