“That we keep this completely between the two of us. No sex at my house, where Willie is. Or at Lacey’s house. Or in a car in Santa Raquel.”
“So we only have sex at my condo.”
“Or...in a motel room outside Santa Raquel.”
There was a place not far from Little’s. A reputable name-brand chain right off the freeway. “Agreed.”
Was that it then?
“Now you.”
Apparently not. She thought about it. Really thought about it.
“Honesty,” she said. “We have to be honest with each other even if it hurts.”
“Agreed.”
Whew. She was okay at this. “Now you.”
“No pretending that there’s a future in it,” he said.
She looked at him. Who did that? Who cut out any chance of a future?
“We can’t predict the future, Michael.”
“We love each other,” he said. “As friends. We aren’t in love.”
“I’m not even sure ‘in love’ exists,” she told him. By her estimation, couples who made it ten years were considered miracles. At least in their generation. Society wasn’t like it had been when her parents had married. “So I can go with that part. But no future? What if we like having sex, Michael? What if we want to do it next year, too, and the year after that?”
“This is where it gets tricky, Kace. Because you and I live in different worlds. We both know that. If I had to have too many nights like Wednesday...”
“You don’t,” she blurted. She wasn’t going to lose him over an awards dinner. She’d go alone. Or not go. Not to all of them, at least. But she could see what he meant. There were benefits, parties, televised daytime-TV award shows.
“My home, my business is here. I’m happy in Santa Raquel. Your life is in Beverly Hills. You enjoy visiting here, but you love your life, Kace. You love Beverly Hills.”
Maybe he could love parts of it, too. If he gave it a chance...
And she knew what she was doing. Pushing. And it was wrong.
Her spirits plummeted. He was right. Of course. Their lives were polar opposites. And she’d known that all along.
“The privacy of our relationship is part of what makes it work,” she said now.
“Yes.”
“So can we amend the boundary?”
“I’m listening.”
“Let’s say that we accept that we live separate lives, that we don’t expect the other to change and that we remain lovers for as long as it suits us both.”
“You want to get married, have a family.”
“Yes.”
“So do I.”
It was the first time he’d ever said so.