“What do you think?” he asks. “I’ll go with you. Waiting room, or beside you on that couch. I’ll be there.”
“Thank you.” Her eyes glisten with unshed tears. She curls her fingers into his palm. “I couldn’t do this without you.”
“Yeah, you could.” He grins. “But you ain’t got to.” He runs a hand down her shoulder, gently cupping her elbow. “I won’t push you, but maybe in a week or two—”
“No. Today.”
Luke blinks. Sal’s expression is eager and determined. “I want to go today, Luke. I want to remember. Especially you.”
Luke takes Sal’s face in his hands. Her eyes flutter closed and she tilts the curve of her cheek into his palm. With a soft sigh, she brushes silky lips over his tattoo.
His heart jerks. Last night’s kiss wasn’t enough. He has to say it out loud. He can’t wait anymore. This time with Sal is a gift, and he’ll be damned if he wastes another breath.
“I love you, Sal.”
Her eyes open.
The words linger in the air between them. A memory. A promise.
“I love you,” he repeats. “I love you more than the music, more than my life.”
Sal smiles, then sobers, worry creasing her pretty features. “Luke, I—”
“You ain’t gotta say it. You ain’t there.”
She places a palm against his cheek. “I will be.”
“That’s good enough for me.”
Luke stamps her lips with a kiss.
Sal wraps an arm around his neck, tugging him back toward the bed. Luke drapes his body over hers as they lengthen together. A small sound escapes Sal as he drags his lips across her collarbone. Then, Sal’s hand finds his cheek as she brings his mouth up to hers.
He listens. Obedient. What his wife wants, she gets.
At the sweep of Sal’s tongue against his own, Luke lets out a growl. He kisses her roughly.
And Sal moans. Arcs into him, her breathing ragged. Her body on fire.
Telling him she wants more. More of him.
Luke hooks an arm beneath her back, hauls her into his chest, and—
A tapping on the door. “Sal? You okay in there?”
Luke groans at the sound of Lacey’s insistent voice. The blissful moment broken, peace shattered. Sal freezes guiltily beneath him, looking like a teen being caught in the backseat with her boyfriend.
Rolling off Sal, Luke flops back into the pillows and shoots the bedroom door the finger.
“Sal, she’s your sister, but she’s killin’ me. Killin’ me absolutely dead.”
A laugh bubbles up in Sal. She presses her face into the crook of his arm, trying to muffle her giggles.
Another voice now. Dry. Pissed off.
“Jesus, Lacey. Give ’em some fuckin’ space.”
Luke smothers his face with a pillow as he listens to Seth and Lacey bicker in the hall. They need a bigger house. A purging of people. Too many interruptions making Luke a weary man. At this pace, he’s gonna have a hard-on for Sal for the next five fucking years.
He peers out at his wife from beneath the pillow. Her cheeks are red with embarrassment. “They’re gonna have to move out soon. Get their own place.”
“I one hundred percent agree.” Sal yanks the pillow away from his face, her smile teasing. “I mean, if we wanted kids, we would have had one, right?”
Luke freezes.
Before he can respond, Sal slides off the bed. Her step a lazy swagger, her smile dreamy as she disappears into the bathroom for a shower.
Luke closes his eyes.
Sal needs to know. Now he just has to figure out how to tell her.