Summer Heat

Christopher didn't offer an explanation, since we both knew that he was busy - doing me. He made me laugh though, when he winked as she went on,

"I'm calling, because I wanted to know how Tyler's move went."

"They're all moved into their new place. But why don't you call Tyler and ask him how it went?"

"I tried did try calling him, but he's not picking up his phone."

"He's probably busy fixing things up, since they just moved in." He looked at me and shrugged.

Then I heard someone in the background, calling out, "Who are you talking to, Carol?"

I sat up, when I realized who it was. "That's Geoff!" I whispered, so only Christopher could hear me. "What's he doing at her place?"

When Christopher didn't say anything and just looked the other way, I had a feeling he knew something that he wasn't telling me.

He ended the call after he said, "I'll tell Tyler to give you a call, next time I'm talking to him, okay?"

When he put his phone down, I touched his arm and asked, "Are the two of them together?"

He looked at me and nodded. "I figured out a while back that they'd moved in together. And I've got a feeling they left us, so they could hook up," he said, watching my expression, because I'm sure I looked shocked, since I didn't have clue.

"When did you first suspect something was going on?"

"We had a barbecue one night at our place, and you were tired, and you went home to bed. Geoff and Carol were still outside when I went in to load the dishwasher. Eventually, I got tired and went to bed, too, thinking she'd come in soon. But I woke up when I heard them laughing at three in the morning. I wandered downstairs, thinking maybe they'd had too much to drink, and lost track of time. And that's when I caught them kissing. I just stopped and stared, realizing how stupid I had been."

"Oh, my gosh. You must have been shocked."

"Yeah. Especially when he pushed her onto her back on the lounge chair, and I watched my wife wrap her legs around your husband, and tug his head down to kiss him, like they'd been doing it forever. Then I knew your husband was the reason she'd gotten so cold with me. The two of them were having an affair behind our backs. And when she moved out not long after Geoff left you, I knew they were moving in together."

"And you never thought to tell me."

"To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure you'd even want to know. And I thought you might have been angry with me, for not trying to break them up. But at that point, when I knew she'd been seeing him behind my back, probably for over a year, I was done with her. Because if she wanted to be with someone else, I didn't want to be married to her anymore."

Feeling a kind of bad for him, since we both had it happen to us, I pulled on his hand and he dropped onto the bed beside me, and I wrapped my arms around him. "I wonder what they'd think, if they knew that we were together now."

He smiled. "You know what? I don't give a damn about what they'd think."

When he tipped up my chin and kissed me, I smiled against his lips, because he was right. And this little bit of heaven that we were sharing now, was all that mattered.

I couldn't believe how fast the next three weeks, just flew by. And he wasn't kidding about trying to catch up. After he'd got me in nearly every corner of the cottage, he pulled me down laughing, on the kitchen floor. And since I was only in my bikini, he got it off me and showed how much fun, doing the doggy could be with the sweet aroma of a cinnamon cake baking beside us in the oven.

One night, after we'd gone for a swim, I went and got a shower. And when I came downstairs, I was so touched watching him light a few candles around the fireplace, with a pallet he'd made out of blankets on the floor. He even had a little fire going in the hearth, since it was getting a little cooler at night now, and the warm, orange glow of the flickering flames only added to the ambiance.

I was only wearing a t-shirt and panties, since he seemed to like that. Probably because it was pretty easy to strip me off.

I thought all the little touches were so romantic, since he'd even poured us some wine and had a cheese board and some grapes, on the end table.

When he looked up and saw me, he patted the pallet, and I went over and got down on the floor beside him.

He lowered me onto my back and kissed me, long and slow, but he didn't try to pull my clothes off, like he usually did, making me wonder what was up.

His eyes were on mine as he stroked my cheek and quietly said, "We've known each other for a long time now, and I think it's time I confessed. I think I fell in love with you the first moment I saw you. But with both us being married and you expecting Abby, I never let on how I felt. And I just tried to push the feelings away."

"Really, you felt that way from the first time we met?"

He nodded. "Yes. I guess you could say it was love at first sight, except that I couldn't do anything about it."

"Well, since you're being so honest. I guess I should confess, that I've always had a bit of thing for you, too. But I never dreamed of doing anything about it, at least while Geoff was still around."

He smiled, reaching for the wine. "I think Abby might have done us a favor, leaving us here on our own."

I just had to show him how I felt, and I pulled his head down and kissed him. "I think she did," I agreed. "My grandmother always said, 'That everything happens for a reason.' And I think Abby ended up in Italy this summer, so that the two of us could get together."

"Does Abby know I'm here with you?"

"No. When I've talked to her, I just told her I was here with a friend."

"I like that we were friends first."

I smiled, running my thumb across his bottom lip. "Me, too."

"So, how do you think Abby will react when she finds out we're together?"

"Well, she really likes you. She joked one day and said you're like the dad she never had. You had just fixed her friend Bella's bike pedal, so they could go for a ride. And she said she thought it was really kind of you to take the time to help them."

He shrugged. "It only took me a minute."

"I know, but sometimes it's the little things that matter," I said, looking around at what he'd done. "Like this."

He put aside the wine, tugged me into his arms, and he kissed me. And when he finally pulled back, he said, "Well, I hope she'll be okay with us getting married then."

I blinked. "Did you say, married?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, I was thinking, we've waited long enough, since we've known each other forever. And though I know I might be a little old for you, I really don't want to spend the rest of my life without you." When I didn't say anything right away, he gave me a little squeeze and said, "So, what's the verdict?"

I laughed. "Well, if I say yes, do you promise to catch up on those seven hundred days we missed out on?"

We both started laughing when he tugged my t-shirt over my head, eyed my breasts, gave them each a kiss and said, "Oh hell, yeah. You can bet on it."

**

Abby was tickled pink to be my maid of honor, when Christopher and I said our vows at the little white church just around the corner, a few days before Halloween.

He just looked so dashing, standing at the altar, in his black tux, crisp white shirt and bow-tie, wearing a teasing little smirk, that I could hardly believe he was about to be mine.

I actually got a little choked up when we said our I do's, when he quietly added, "And I promise to love you forever," after he'd said his piece.

When the minister said, "You may kiss your bride," everyone laughed and cheered when Chrisopher slipped his arm around me, dipped me and really laid one on me.

I felt like I was walking on air as we left the church, sure that I'd just never felt as happy.

And the way he was looking at me, as we stood outside for pictures, with me in my little knee-length white lace dress, no surprise, was getting me all tingly.

When he leaned in and pressed his lips to my ear and whispered, "Twelve more hours, and I'm gonna have you all to myself, in the cottage I bought for us, up on the lake."

I turned and looked at him, shocked. "You bought us our own cottage?"

"Yep. Thought it would be a perfect wedding present, for my blushing bride. I'm sure Abby will love it, too."

"I can't believe it."

"And it's got five good-sized bedrooms." He stroked my belly and winked. "Just in case."