The Romance Revival(47)

“I think we should start at the beginning. I know you don’t have the greatest impression of me right now, but we really did have so much fun together.”

I nod to the phone in my lap, my meaning clear: Our sex life seemed pretty good.

She laughs. “Well, yes. That, too. But also, in other ways.”

I tilt my head, listening.

“I want you to do what you’re comfortable with, but maybe we can look at this as a bit of a do-over.”

“A do-over?”

“Yeah. We could go out, when you’re up to it, of course. We could pretend it’s our actual first date?”

“I think I’d like that.”

A relieved smile returns. “Really? Even after everything you’ve heard, you still want to date me?”

I grin. “Well, yeah.” I nod to my phone. “I’ve just seen your boobs.”

She laughs. “Sorry to disappoint, but I don’t put out on the first date.”

“Funny, that’s not what I heard.”

Her laugh grows. “Busted!”

I lift one corner of my mouth, liking this easy, playful energy between us. “Maybe we can do something tomorrow if I’m not so exhausted and the leg is a bit more healed?”

Emery nods. “Perfect.”

“You’re exhausted, too. I can see it.”

She shrugs. “Being tired feels like a blessing, honestly. I’ll be tired if it means I don’t lose my husband.”

I smile at her. “You don’t have to sleep on the couch, you know.”

“I want you to be comfortable.”

“The bed is big enough for two people,” I say.

“Yes, but I mean emotionally as well as physically. I want you to know that I’m committed to helping you come back to this life however I can. And if we’re going to get to start over, let’s do it for real. You take the bed, and I’ll sleep out here.”

I begin to protest, but she holds up a hand to stop me.

“You are not sleeping on the couch, Luca. I’m not even entertaining the idea. You’re still healing and could really hurt yourself if you fell off. Besides,” she says, looking down to where Honey is leaning against my side, “I don’t think you and your new girlfriend would both fit out here anyway.”

As if she knows she’s the topic of conversation, Honey looks up at me and thumps her tail against the sofa.

I may not remember all the details of who I am, but I know I would never agree to my wife sleeping on the couch while I have our entire bed. That said, Emery does have a point; I’d be arguing for the sake of my ego. “Fine,” I say. “But I reserve the right to renegotiate at a later time.”

Emery grins and the uneasy thing in my stomach unwinds, just a little.

It’s clear our marriage wasn’t perfect, not by a long shot. But if there’s one thing I’m certain of already in this new life, it’s this: Emery loves me enough that she literally kept me from dying. For that, she deserves another chance, too.





23 EMERY




Looking at Luca Martín, one might think he’d never been let out of the house before.

“I’ve never seen anyone so happy about being chauffeured around in a ten-year-old Camry.” I grin over at him in the passenger seat before taking a sip of my first iced coffee of the day. Normally I’d need at least three of these to be out of bed this early on a day off, but Luca’s palpable joy is rubbing off on me.

I’ve done some work from home, checking in with Claire to make sure everything is going smoothly in the lab, and catching up on emails. I’ve written pages and pages of notes documenting Luca’s recovery, but I haven’t been to the office since my crack-of-dawn espionage trip on Monday. The longest I’ve taken off in the past ten years is the four days Luca and I spent in Santa Barbara for a belated honeymoon, and even then, as soon as he fell asleep every night, I pulled out my laptop. It’s yet another realization that feels like an anvil falling on my head, something about myself I see only from the distance of Husband Dying in My Arms: My priorities were completely broken.

Annie, Claire, and Tom have kept an eye on Vince, but so far, nothing suspicious has come up. Claire gives me a daily rundown of his comings and goings, and wouldn’t you know, all the random mishaps or accidents that had been occurring have suddenly stopped. If Vince—or someone else involved in BioNEX—is behind any of this, they’re playing it safe and know they’re being watched.

We’d planned to give Luca’s leg and energy levels a couple more days to heal, but we were both feeling restless this morning. Maybe for different reasons. I’m eager to start from a clean slate: Emery and Luca as the most important aspect of my life.

I suspect Luca just wants to get out of the damn house.

But I’ll take it.

And I was glad to get out, too, constantly dreading the possibility of Busybody Betty knocking on the door or walking the trash to the backyard and seeing her watery blue eyes staring at me through the gap in the fence. Unfortunately (for her), she can’t do that anymore. Yesterday I had Crash plant half a dozen new trees on that side of the yard, and Betty can’t see a thing. I’m sure it looks highly suspicious, but I can’t bring myself to care. I have bigger things to worry about.