Not paying much attention to any of that, Joe left the sun-flooded lounge area through the sliding glass doors. Outside, he walked between the many lawn chairs and towels that were spread out on the grass. People were dozing; getting a sunburn; playing cards; chatting; cuddling… He took the stairs
Swimming with strong, regular strokes, D slowly ploughed through the water, glad that she had made it away from the area with the boats and all the other swimmers and the screaming kids. She had almost reached the tip of the peninsula with the flagpole that she had seen on her way through the spa a
The sudden creaking of wooden planks and the whole pier starting to slightly swing under somebody’s footsteps made her click her jaws in irritation. It was really annoying how, the very minute she had started to relax a bit here, some stupid swimmer or walker or fisherman or whatever had to jump ou
D’s look turned from cold to deadly. “If you think you can mock me here…” “I’m not mocking you, Jesus Christ!” “Go to hell!” “Well, yeah… maybe I’ll do that later,” he said, realizing too late that now he was really mocking her. Sucking in a sharp breath, she raised her free hand out of the wate
“I actually thought I had made that pretty clear,” he said, not letting her out of his sight. “Why I came back, I mean... But if you need some additional clarification, it’s been the best thing I’ve done in ages. So there!” He could see her swallow. Then she shook her head and finally raised her ey
“Let’s just say that I, for my part, have been pretty careful with protection, okay? And I know as a fact that I wasn’t the only one… sleeping with her.” He saw D cringe, her hand clamping tighter around the handrail, as he said it, but he really couldn’t help her there. She had pushed for it and he
And then, before D could even think about trying to pull away, he had placed his braced hand against her back and moved all the way up to her. Then, without waiting for any form of go-ahead or approval, he gently pulled her against himself. D gasped. She was well-aware that she should put up at lea
Her throat suddenly feeling tight, she raised her eyes to his face. And the way he glanced to the side just as her eyes were about to meet his, somehow confirmed it. Her hand was trembling a bit when she reached out and gingerly placed each of her fingers on one of the bruises, only her thumb being
“Let’s try,” she whispered and moved her hand down to his stomach.“Okay,” he put his hand back ontop of hers and slid his fingers between hers.It took only minutes until her breathing slowed down and a slight twitching of her hand told him that she was asleep again.Listening to her breathing and
Joe woke up around three, feeling really thirsty.It took him a second to grasp where he was (not in the cabin anymore) and that he was not alone.The realization caused a flash of excitement.D was sleeping far on her side of the bed.He remembered how she had always used to do that. No matter how
He was going for a mind-sweeping kiss here – one that would swipe her mind of any reservations there might still be. Even if, right now, she didn’t seem very reserved anyway. But he’d rather be absolutely sure…His own reservations were all gone by now. And having her so close just confirmed that ke
Three minutes later Joe returned, a chocolate bar in his left hand and a glass of milk in his right.“I see chocolate,” D chirped with a greedy grin. She had sat up and was leaning against the headboard. “Come here…” Like a lazy princess she waved for him to come over.Stopping at his desk, Joe set
“I don’t wanna mess this up…” he said, his gaze on the bedcover beside her head, his hand tracing one of the lines in the pattern.“Didn’t exactly feel like you were in the process of messing things up,” she said softly and reached out to touch his face.“You don’t think so, huh?” He leaned into her
Joe pushed himself away from the windowsill.“Guess I’ve really earned a jerk medal,” he contemplated as he stepped around the bed to her. “I’m sorry I didn’t pick up.”“Mhmm,” D growled, trying hard to unwaveringly hold his gaze as he came closer. “And you’re hopefully also sorry that you didn’t ca
He shrugged and kept glaring out the window. This had become kind of a habit - turning his back on people and staring into space. It was a bad habit he had developed thanks to Liz. It just helped him focus or stay composed, and it made it easier to get through situations he would rather avoid altoge
What she had before her, was part of the job ads from Saturday’s paper. One of the ads had her company’s swan logo on it. It was the ad for one of the jobs in London.Joe had gotten up from the bed again and returned to his desk. He pulled out the chair and sat down on it backwards so he was facing
D was rising from the bed with the intention to follow him. Only that she was momentarily strangely overwhelmed by something. Something indefinable that affected her more deeply than anything had in a long time.When it only got worse once she stepped out on the landing, a moist wave from the bathro