Another Love Story

Twenty One

I spent the night tossing and turning. I could hardly sleep with Sam's voice on repeat in my head. When my alarm went off, I kicked away my blankets and rolled out of bed. I took a shower and dressed up quickly. Trish was in the kitchen drinking coffee when I walked in.

"Good morning babe," I said and dropped a kiss on her shoulder as I passed her.

"Good morning. How did you sleep?" she asked. I kept my back to her as I washed my hands at the sink.

"It was a short night," I replied, drying my hands.

"I didn't hear you come in last night," she commented.

"Bacon and eggs?" I offered as I got down the skillet. She nodded. "Traffic was a mess by the time I left the city," I added in response to her question.

"Were you with Tiger?" she asked.

"Nope. I had a 4pm meeting which made me run late," I replied. I didn't want to lie to her about Sam. But I didn't want us to have that conversation when Tiger could walk in at any moment. We had fallen into a pattern where he joined Trish and I for the last part of our breakfast before we all went to work.

Thankfully, Trish let the conversation slide and I quickly made up our breakfast. We had coffee, scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast with a handful of grapes on the side. My appetite was low but I spiced my food to help me get it down without Trish suspecting anything.

There was a knock at the door as Trish wound up her meal.

"I'll get it," she said as she got up. I took a deep breath to steel myself to see Tiger. It was most likely a lost cause; he was highly perceptive and attentive and I had only had a few hours of sleep so I didn't have the mental or emotional strength to stonewall him. But I had to try.

Within a few seconds, I heard him greeting Trish as they came towards the kitchen. As soon as he cleared the entrance to the kitchen, I smiled and jumped up.

"Good morning Tiger," I said and turned away from the table.

"Could I fix you a breakfast plate?" I offered as I turned towards the sink where a rack of clean plates sat.

"I would take her up on that offer if I were you. Chellie deployed every skill in her culinary arsenal this morning," Trish said.

"Why do you have to give us verbal headache at 6am?" Tiger teased. I glanced over my shoulder and found him pinching Trish's cheek affectionately. She stood beside her stool at the kitchen island; finishing up her coffee. It warmed my heart to see how far they had come over the past few months. She had once held only suspicion of him and now they were deeply affectionate with each other.

"You can keep up your teasing and miss the best breakfast of the year," she said. "I'm going to finish getting ready."

I focused on warming up some bacon and eggs for Tiger. A few moments later, I felt him come up behind me. He placed both hands at my sides on the kitchen counter; effectively caging me in his arms.

"Good morning Michelle," he said in a deep voice that I felt all the way to my toes. As soon as the microwave was running, he turned me to face him with his arms at my waist.

I kept my gaze on his chin but he reached out to lift my chin so that we were eye to eye. For several moments, his eyes roamed my face. He curled an arm around my shoulders and drew me to his chest. I wrapped my arms around his waist and took a deep breath as he began to rub my back.

"I know a sleepless night when I see one," he said softly.

I sighed deeply and leaned deeper into him, giving him all of my weight. I tightened my arms around his waist.