whispering against the concrete. Christa stared at her reflection in the tinted windo

he artificial light, her bare feet silent against the cold floor. She had removed her heels

ge into infinity. Christa studied her reflection. Pale skin, dark hair pul

ed onto the pe

her waist, her face carefully neutral. "You're home ear

her stockinged feet leaving faint impressions on the ma

Cora?" Chr

ma'am," Mau

d silent, every surface polished to a mirror sheen. The Manhattan skyline glittered through the f

ooked li

et of organized luxury. Her fingers found the zipper of

t. Then she kicked the basket as well,

scalding and stepped inside fully dressed, her slip and undergarments plastering to her skin. She stoo

echoed in th

tely ha

uld smell nothing but soap and steam. Then she stood

d faced the mirror. The woman looking back had wet hair pl

placed the fear.

into the bedro

d his face broke into the smile she had fallen in love with twelve years ago. The smile that cri

d, reaching for he

est. She watched his hands extend toward her, watched his

She reached for her moisturizer on the dressing table, her

eeling well

in the air for a mo

me. I would have drive

on, watching him in the mirror's edge. He was studying her, his head tilted in th

finally. "I stayed to help her mana

ack onto her moisturizer.

e loss," she said. "You w

y's face relax, watched him accept her re

houlders, his thumbs pressing into the muscle at the base of her nec

his breath warm against her ear.

against his chest. She could feel him through his shirt, the familiar pl

forward, out

om," she said. "I don't want t

eepening into something else. Concern, pe

r slept apart. Not o

effort to meet his eyes, to hold her expr

a hint of irritation enter her voice. "I'd appre

pressing further, the inconvenience of a wounded wife,

as clipped. "If th

rp, angry movements. Christa walked into the dre

She pulled the cashmere throw from its storage bench and lay down fully clothed, st

heard Denny's breath

, counting the ho