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

you,

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

into infinity. Christa studied the woman in the glass. Pale skin, dark hair

ed onto the pe

olded at her waist, her face carefully neutral. "You're ho

her stockinged feet leaving faint impressions on the ma

rest.

a'am. Gladys

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

ooked li

rganized luxury. Her fingers found the zipper of the Tom Ford g

et. Then she kicked the basket itself

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

echoed in th

about her lab a

tely h

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

ng for her. "You left ear

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

pped si

r her moisturizer on the dressing table, her back to

eeling well

r a moment, then dropped. She he

old me. I would ha

of managing a

edge. He was studying her, his head tilted in that way he had wh

finally. "I stayed to help her mana

ack onto her moisturizer.

e loss," she said. "You w

Denny's face relax, watched him accept her

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

eld s

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