whispering against the concrete. Christa stared at her reflection in the tinted windo
he artificial light, her bare feet silent against the cold floor. She had removed her heels
ge into infinity. Christa studied her reflection. Pale skin, dark hair pul
ed onto the pe
her waist, her face carefully neutral. "You're home ear
her stockinged feet leaving faint impressions on the ma
Cora?" Chr
ma'am," Mau
d silent, every surface polished to a mirror sheen. The Manhattan skyline glittered through the f
ooked li
et of organized luxury. Her fingers found the zipper of
t. Then she kicked the basket as well,
scalding and stepped inside fully dressed, her slip and undergarments plastering to her skin. She stoo
echoed in th
tely ha
uld smell nothing but soap and steam. Then she stood
d faced the mirror. The woman looking back had wet hair pl
placed the fear.
into the bedro
d his face broke into the smile she had fallen in love with twelve years ago. The smile that cri
d, reaching for he
est. She watched his hands extend toward her, watched his
She reached for her moisturizer on the dressing table, her
eeling well
in the air for a mo
me. I would have drive
on, watching him in the mirror's edge. He was studying her, his head tilted in th
finally. "I stayed to help her mana
ack onto her moisturizer.
e loss," she said. "You w
y's face relax, watched him accept her re
houlders, his thumbs pressing into the muscle at the base of her nec
his breath warm against her ear.
against his chest. She could feel him through his shirt, the familiar pl
forward, out
om," she said. "I don't want t
eepening into something else. Concern, pe
r slept apart. Not o
effort to meet his eyes, to hold her expr
a hint of irritation enter her voice. "I'd appre
pressing further, the inconvenience of a wounded wife,
as clipped. "If th
rp, angry movements. Christa walked into the dre
She pulled the cashmere throw from its storage bench and lay down fully clothed, st
heard Denny's breath
, counting the ho
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