Page 124 of Tangled Up In You

Conor set down the champagne and glasses and then joined her. He had taken off his shoes and socks but remained dressed in jeans and a crisp white button down shirt.

“What’s with the champagne?” she asked as she accepted a full glass.

“That’s all the alcohol there was. Sounded good, anyway.”

“Yeah. Tastes good.” She put her half-empty glass down and settled deeper into the pillows.

They were silent for a long moment, both staring into the fire.

“So, tell me about Felicity. Is she okay?”

“You know Felicity, she’s a tough one. I think the hardest thing for her is that she honest-to-God thought it was going to be forever.”

Sophie watched his profile. “I bet she was glad to see you.”

“Well, I took her mind off things for a short time. Wasn’t fucking easy with Colette calling at all hours, though.”

“She thinks you were in love with Felicity once upon a time.”

“I don’t know where she gets her notions.” He downed his champagne and settled into the pillows beside her.

“You told her you had only been in love once, with someone you couldn’t have.”

“What does it matter? Why should that matter to the person you’re with now?”

She turned on her side and faced him. “I guess it only matters if the person you’re with now thinks some part of your heart is still with someone else.”

Now he turned on his side to face her too. After a moment of silence, he held up a finger to tell her to give him a minute. He then got up and disappeared briefly. When he returned, he had a dampened washcloth and a small bowl of warm soapy water.

“Sit up with me,” he said softly.

She looked at him curiously but did as he said. And when he reached out and brushed her hair away from her face with his fingertips, his touch sent a thrill of expectation through her body.

In the next few minutes, he gently removed the makeup from her eyes and face, careful not to rub too hard or let water drip.

“There. Now I can have a proper conversation with you,” he said with a small smile.

“I can’t believe you did that,” she said softly. The tenderness he had shown was something she hadn’t seen from her own husband in too many weeks.

“Nothing to it.” He patted the pillows and they resumed the position of lying on their sides and facing each other again.

“Conor,” she said.

“Sophie,” he returned, with mock seriousness that made her smile.

Undeterred, she said, “Tell me who you were in love with. Who would turnyouaway?”

“If I’m not telling Colette, I’m certainly not telling you.”

“I guess that’s fair,” she said and suppressed a yawn.

He reached out and stroked her hair, letting his fingers fall all the way through the long silken strands.

“That feels good,” she said sleepily as she closed her eyes.

“You,” he said quietly. “You know it’s you.”

She opened her eyes with a start. “What did you say?”

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