Explaining Herself (41 page)

Partly that. But he shook his head.

"Because you're back in Sheridan, as a Laurence."

That too. He had family buried here, and family visiting. He had a job, and he'd made friends. But he shook his head.

She bit her lower lip for a moment, suddenly shy. She knew him well enough to guess, after all. "Because of me?"

He nodded, wrapped his arms carefully around her, and rolled her onto her back, illustrating that they could possibly even do this more than once a night.

He loved how her eyes shone up at him.

"Welcome home, Ross Laurence," she whispered.

Then he kissed her, long and hard, and settled into saying the same thing back to her.

Without any words at all.