Page 55 (1/1)

"But…that changed?"

She reached up and tucked her hand under her hat, rubbing her scalp ‘Yeah…I started liking it A lot I think soht we spent on your yacht It’s not like I’ve hated ht…" She took a deep breath and then let it go shakily "I began to realize it was the way you thought of me Of who I was to you…the way you said lanced at

That pride I’d felt earlier wasin her presence, of enjoying every s to discuss…

"So I was thinking that an

She turned to me, her eyebrows raised, and I patted the seat next to me I couldn’twheel of the boat She frowned, scooting down the bench to sit besideup at ht ht?"

Her mouth fell open and she looked away "What’s to talk about?"

I drew in a long breath and then let it go "Well, I get the feeling that you’re not so keen on the ‘going slow’ plan"

She closed her ed "I’m just not sure what it’s supposed to acco on the polished wood of the steering wheel, running my thumb over the smooth surface "It’s not because I don’t want to You understand that, right?"

She looked down, clasping her hands together in her lap "It’s hard to understand what’s going through your head regarding sex these days…"

"I just want to do things right this tiht--" she said, and cut herself off, shaking her head

"What?" I prodded "Tell ht it was because you resentedher She still couldn’t meet my eyes so I reached out, took her chin and lifted her eyes to mine "I ad this from me when it all started It…makes it hard…" My voice died out before I let ht

But she understood perfectly what I’d been getting at "You don’t trust me"

I sed Yes, it was true I didn’t trust her--not fully, not after last tiain And I would

We still had a long road to her recovery--she had months more of chemo treatments in front of her We had tiain To learn how to be healthy--not just physically but in our relationship, too I believe that we need to be slow and rational about this"

Her eyes looked slightly haunted as she nodded "Rational Right So until we figure that out, we’re just…roo to feel like walking a minefield I took a deep breath, droppeddeeply in love with so sex with them counts as roommates…"

Her brow furrowed but a s in what I’d said had pleased her Perhaps it was the reassurance that I loved her Perhaps that hat she sought whenever she pressed me for intimacy I resolved to reassure her more often that I did love her Very much

"Come here," I said

And she leaned forward I kissed her and felt no fear that she would atte deeper like she often had tried, of late I tasted her lips--with that hint of ginger chips--as always just as sweet as I re That shtly disoriented That ical moment, those few split seconds after our lips left each other, contained all of the thrill and exciteether, quickly--if reluctantly--falling in love

I opened ain that I loved her But she held her hand up and turned her head away, looking as if she was trying to fend off a sneeze

"Just a min," she said, her eyes half closed, and then she let loose with the most violent chain of sneezes I’d ever seen from her People in nearby boats looked over, shocked by the loud sounds co from our boat