Leigh Ann couldn’t breathe. She coughed and pulled her head from the oven door, gasping for air.
Yes, she had a self-cleaning oven, and a woman who came in every week to straighten her house. But neither scrubbed her Thermador entirely to her satisfaction, so every few months, for good measure, she liked to hit the interior with a blast of spray cleaner and a stiff brush.
With determination, she tucked her head back into the oven and scoured the surface with a particularly vigorous action, hoping to remove the remnants of her latest venture, both cooking and otherwise.
What had she been thinking? Even if what she believed about Mark had been true, she’d nearly taken her life over a cliff.
She’d managed to convince Karyn on the golf course that this whole misunderstanding with Mark had been no big deal. The truth was that the entire situation had shaken her to the core.
First, she’d let gossip and her own proclivity toward looming disaster lead her down a trail where she’d thought the very worst of her husband, that he was having an affair.
And what did she do in response?
She’d decided to fix the situation in the most absurd manner, let her deepest insecurities push her into taking measures that were—well, at best silly and at worst desperate attempts to gain back the control she felt she’d lost. Not all things could be easily fixed, especially on your own.
She circled the scrub brush along the sides of her oven interior.
And then there was Thor Magnum.
God only knew what would have happened had Thor not been a gentleman that day, if he had not had the good sense to stop her from proceeding into the very thing she’d accused Mark of.
Father John would claim the good Lord had protected her from her own foolishness. If that were so, she was extremely grateful. Otherwise, she’d have gone the way of David and Bathsheba and her life would be baked.
Leigh Ann pulled her head out of the oven a second time and wiped her forearm across her sweaty brow.
That’s when she saw Mark standing in the doorway of the kitchen, watching her and smiling.
She immediately felt self-conscious. “What?”
Mark cocked his head. “What in the world are you doing?”
She lifted from the floor and pulled the rubber gloves from her hand. “I’m cleaning the oven.”
A puzzled look crossed his face. “But, don’t we have—,” he paused, letting the rest of the sentence hang in the air unspoken as he crossed over to her. He pulled the scarf from her hair and kissed the top of her head.
Instinctively, she pulled back. “I need a shower.”
He put his finger to her lips. “Shhh . . . ”
His finger trailed along the side of her neck. He lifted her chin. “Listen, there’s something I want to say.”
“Mark—”
“Shhh,” he repeated, this time more insistent. “I want to tell you I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?” she whispered.
“I was so wrapped up in my business deal, I neglected to hear you. Without meaning to, I let you think the worst and failed to recognize how afraid you—”
This time she put her fingers on his lips and shook her head. “No, I’m the one who is sorry, Mark. I let my insecurities get out of hand. I thought the worst. I almost made a horrible mistake.”
Like some Disney movie, the sun broke from behind a cloud sending light shining through the window.
She let the gloves drop to the floor as his fingers trailed down her neck, to the buttons on her blouse. He unhooked each slowly and pulled back the fabric, revealing bare skin, and her tattoo.
Breathing heavily, Mark bent and kissed the image of the seal on her shoulder.
A tingle ran through her stomach as she clutched his dark hair and moaned.
In a quick movement, he swept her up into his arms and headed for the bedroom, but not before a car door slammed outside. He hesitated.
“Don’t stop now,” she pleaded, not anxious for this feeling to subside.
“Not on your life,” her husband told her.
Unfortunately, the front door swung open. Colby hoisted his duffle on his shoulder. “Hey, I’m home.”
Mark and Leigh Ann grinned at each other.
Mark set Leigh Ann’s feet on the ground and quickly went for his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. “Hey, kid. Glad you’re home. But, here’s a hundred. Now take off and grab some pizza and head for your Aunt Karyn’s.
Leigh Ann giggled. “Yeah, we’ll meet you at the ice show.”
Their son looked momentarily puzzled. A slow grin dawned and he winked at his dad. “Whatever you say, old man.”
Minutes later, Leigh Ann and Mark were in bed.
He slid over her and pressed his lips to hers with an urgency she hadn’t seen from her husband in some time, a passion that matched her own. It’d been a long time since they had connected like this and she wasn’t about to waste a moment of this unexpected intimacy.
Mark nibbled at her ear, kissed her neck, her shoulder and then pulled the top sheet over his head as he left a trail of kisses on her stomach.
Suddenly, he lifted from beneath the sheet, his eyes wide. “Leigh Ann! What in the world?”
She giggled and pulled him back to her.