“I know,” I said quietly, setting my fork down and ending the charade that I was still eating. “It’s just that it’s such a sacrifice. I know you’re getting a lot out of it, but…” I worked up my nerve to speak of the elephant in the room. “I’m just going to say it. You’ve basically agreed to give up sex for a year, and that’s no small ask.”

“Last I knew, you gave up the same,” he said.

“I’ll be fine. Probably.” I grinned and my cheeks heated with a blush. “But you’re a guy,” I blustered on to get the focus off me. “Isn’t it proven by science that a guy can’t go longer than a couple of weeks without getting lucky?”

He let out a sort of subdued howl kind of laugh. “Tell me something. When’s the last time you were with a guy?”

I didn’t have to think for long. It took me a few more seconds to say it out loud, simply because we hadn’t traditionally discussed our sex lives. “It was in Switzerland in December.”

Holden’s eyes popped open a little wider. “Getting a little international lovin’, huh?”

I shrugged. “He was the ski instructor and probably five years younger than I was, but it was just for fun and we both knew it. What about you?” I took the last couple sips of my champagne, doing my best to act like I didn’t care about his answer, bracing myself to hear what I didn’t really want to hear.

“This got personal fast,” Holden said. “Married for an hour and already we’re to the deep, dark secrets.”

“Most couples start it long before they’re engaged,” I said in a voice just above a whisper, relaxing a little.

“I guess I started it, huh?”

“You absolutely did, so come on, fess up. Has it even been two weeks?”

With a self-deprecating laugh, he said, “Let’s just say more than six months and call it good.”

Now it was my turn for my eyes to pop wide open.

“You’ve got me beat,” he said and then he dropped the grin from his face and looked down at his nearly empty plate as he scooped up another bite. I sensed he was trying to seem nonchalant but maybe wasn’t really, and I held my breath for what he was going to say next. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, but hell, we’re sleeping in the same bed. That itself could be uncomfortable if we let it.”