“She seems like a nice gal. But you forgot to mention she’s a stone fox.”
Ben and Alex lay side by side in bed, sharing the last beer of the day. The weather had grown cold and the wind had picked up. The forecast called for temperatures to drop thirty degrees in the next twenty-fours and the weatherman had threatened snow. Winter had returned, at least for a while, but some warmth had found its way into the Sawyer home. Alex propped herself up on one elbow, dressed only in one of Ben’s sleeveless workout jerseys, and took a long taste. Ben could see from her neck clear down to her navel and thought that she still had the body of a coed athlete.
“You’re right.” Ben laughed. “I mean you’re right, she’s a nice gal and a good cop. Most of us turn into real assholes after a few years, even in little old Newberg. But not Tia.”
“I know a cop who’s been around a lot longer than that and he’s still a pretty neat guy.”
“You’re biased.”
“Course I am. I love the guy.” Alex fell against her husband and stayed there.
They still hadn’t talked about the episode in the coffee shop from the day before. At this point, they could probably get away with pretending the whole thing had never happened, but neither of them had ever been good at that.
“Benny, you know that, don’t you? That I love you?” She pulled back to look at him. “All we’ve been through, I couldn’t love anyone else.”
“I know.” Ben knew what his wife was getting at. “I’m sorry about what happened—the thing with Louis yesterday. I acted like an idiot. But I swear it was like that time in high school. Remember? Our senior year when we broke up for a few days?”
“That was your idea, pal. Seems like I remember you had a rep as the big jock. Thought you’d sow some wild oats or something.”
Ben dismissed the comment. “Whatever. I just remember it was all over the school by lunch, and guys were falling all over themselves to step in. Couple of ’em were friends of mine.”
Alex laughed at his interpretation of the memory, but Ben was serious.
“Really. I had that same feeling the other day, that I was losing you. I hated that feeling when we were in high school and I hated it even more yesterday.” Ben said, looking straight into her eyes. “We’ve been through a lot, and I guess we’re hanging in there. But I don’t think I could survive losing you, I really don’t.”
She kissed her husband softly on the face. “The one thing you never have to worry about is losing me. Ever.”
She kissed him on the mouth and he responded, kissing her hard and pulling her close. His hands explored freely over her body. Alex climbed on top of him and smiled. She sat up straight and straddled his chest. She balanced herself, resting the fingertips of one hand lightly on his skin, then tilted her head back and drained the last of the beer. She set the bottle aside and pulled off her shirt. Their gazes locked.
They were a little clumsy. It had been a while. But for the better part of the next two hours, husband and wife enjoyed an affection that they had never shared with anyone else, and that they knew with an absolute certainty they never would.