“We leave for Switzerland.” He rose, tossing the photos as if they were trash.
The men didn’t speak. No one questioned him. For that he was grateful. There were plenty of reasons for him to question himself now.
****
Mira sat in front of the fireplace watching the flames burn brighter and wood logs char then crackle. She had covered herself in a red and orange afghan. Kei was near. She could hear him moving about the cottage and the sounds grew closer. Soon he’d want to have ‘the talk’, and she dreaded it. Mira exhaled a deep breath to ensure her voice sounded confident, controlled.
“Is she sleep?” she asked, sipping her tea. The meandering had stopped, which only meant he was staring at the back of her head from somewhere in the room.
“Yes.”
Mira smiled. “She loves when you come to visit. Usually I can’t get her down so easily.”
“She sat on that little toilet you call potty,” he said.
Mira chuckled. “Because you asked her to. Thanks for that. We’re having a bit of trouble with this potty issue.”
“I love her.” Kei sat next to her on the sofa, close. Mira sipped her tea, keeping her focus away from the questioning look in his eyes. “She’s beautiful, Mira. She has your spirit; she’s in my heart.”
“Mine too, Kei. She’s everything to me.”
“And me?”
Her gaze shifted to him. The smoky look of desire in his eyes made her heart beat faster. What held her back? He was a good man, and a good lover in the past. He saved her life. Eve had grown so attached to him that she cried when he left them to return to the States. Her daughter needed a father. Kei’s advances, proposals, touches, and kisses when she relented had not wavered. There was no mistaking the truth. He wanted the role of father, provider, and lover again. He even wrote her love letters when they were apart.
That evening he wore his hair loose, free of the leather band that kept the blue-black silky strands smoothed and bound away from his face. He looked even more strikingly handsome this way. And he had grown bolder. Just the other night he walked in on her changing, and his gaze lingered as she struggled to cover herself. The determined look of desire in his eyes when he watched her silently now only strengthened the sexual tension between them. She had to deal with him now.
“Kei.”
“It’s going to be a tough winter. I’ve made arrangements to work from here, to help you.”
Mira held her tongue.
“It’s been almost two years, and I’ve been really patient. Eve is thriving. We are more of a family together than apart. We can leave here. Go to Hong Kong. Start a life there.”
“I’m not ready,” she sighed, ignoring the way his hand slowly caressed the top of her thigh.
“You haven’t tried,” he said running his other hand down the back of her head, smoothing her hair.
“I have, you know I have.”
He removed the cup of tea from her hands and placed it back on the saucer. “I’m in love with you, can’t you see that?” He brushed his lips across her shoulder and the touch sent a warm lovely sensation through her.
“I’m not in love—.”
“You sure? We had a history that goes further back than what you shared with him; still he’s between us.”
“I don’t want to talk about him. This conversation is about us.” She turned her face to look into his eyes. He drew so close she thought he’d kiss her. But he refrained. Kei always respected her boundaries. It was another reason why she was so trusting of him.