The food was decent, but not worth wearing a jacket and tie all night for. In his defense, Dick hasn’t said a word about Elizabeth’s outfit. It’s not her usual baggy T-shirt and jeans, but it’s also not the ninety-year-old librarian getup she used to wear around him. It’s a flowy silk dress in dark green that clings to her curves and is tastefully, but teasingly, low cut in the front. A new image she’s trying out that I wholeheartedly approve of, especially as I stand behind her and stare down into the deep ravine of her cleavage. She’s shuffling back and forth on her feet, trying to keep warm. The sway of her hips plus the sexy little bounce of her amazing tits is doing it for me. I can’t wait to get her home.

“Ugh,” she sighs. “I can’t hold it any longer. I’ve got to pee. Hold this. I’ll be right back.” She hands me her purse and disappears back inside the restaurant.

I glance over at Dick, clear my throat and make an effort. “She had a nice time tonight.”

Dick looks me up and down. The coward peeks behind him into the restaurant to make sure Elizabeth is out of earshot and says, “You know she deserves better.”

I tuck Elizabeth’s purse under my arm and turn to face him like a man. “Yes, she does. Better than both of us.”

He does me the courtesy of meeting my eyes and nods. It’s almost imperceptible, but he does.

I give him a hard slap on the shoulder. “Thankfully, she loves us anyway.”

“Then I suppose we will both have to be better.” He puts his hands in his pockets and scowls.

“Yes, we fucking will.”

We stand in the cold silence until Elizabeth comes back.

I pull her against me, neither of us caring that her father is watching. Kissing her neck, I murmur, “I missed you.”

She giggles at the tickle of my lips on her skin and hums, “Seventy-nine.”

“Seventy-nine what?”

“Things I love about you. I keep count. That you miss me when I’m gone, even for a little bit, is number seventy-nine.”

“Fuck, you’re weird.” My grin is a mile wide.

“And you’re an ass,” she chides with a smack to my chest.

“Yeah, I know. But you love me anyway.”

“Yeah, I do. Weird.” She gives me a wry smile.

Fuck, I love this woman.

Epilogue

Epilogue

Austin

Seven years later

Elizabeth is fidgeting, fixing the collar of her shirt unnecessarily for the millionth time this morning. Some things never change. She twirls her wedding ring, the telltale sign that she’s close to a panic attack. She doesn’t get this way often these days, but today is a big deal.

I grab her hands and pull her against me. “Calm down, Goose. Everything’s going to be fine.”