Six Weeks - Act Two // Book Three

Chapter 1

It's been said that after a hike, everything has twice its usual value. I'm inclined to believe it given the immense peace it gave me to see the light on in our bedroom when I returned home after one. It meant Samantha was waiting for me in our bed. Probably reading a manuscript from an up and coming author she wanted to sign, wearing glasses she'd recently gotten when she realized her eyesight wasn't what it once was. She thought the glasses made her look smarter, impossible in my book. I thought they made her look sexy as hell.

I parked my dark green Range Rover in the garage next to her black Audi. The sun had already gone down, a slight chill in the air causing my sweat soaked body to shiver. I felt my phone buzz. I fished it out of my pocket as I slid out of my truck to see a text from Joel, Mia's boyfriend. Considering we'd just left each other at the trailhead I was a little shocked to see it was from him.

Saw they opened up Grey's Trailhead again.

I raised my eyebrows. Grey's had been closed down after a hiker slipped and fell to her death. Known for being treacherous due to the rough terrain and remote location, it had always been a trail Joel and I wanted to try out.

We should plan a visit

Already researching brother

I shoved my phone back into my pocket and I turned to lock the door behind me. I tossed my jacket on the couch as I walked through the front room towards the kitchen. I grabbed a water bottle and gulped almost half down. There was a plate of food with a handwritten note sitting on the counter next to the refrigerator.

Samantha's handwriting.

I tried chicken parm. I know how you love it. Lemme know how it tastes. Love You.

Once again, my love read my mind before I actually thought the thought. I was starving. I popped the plate into the microwave, thumbing through my phone while I waited and then I devoured the entire thing in two minutes flat. A new record.

I snapped the lights off in the kitchen and I walked to our bedroom. Just as I expected she was reading...with her glasses on. I smiled, still the most beautiful thing I'd seen all day. I kissed the top of her head on the way to the bathroom,

"It was delicious."

She nodded,

"Ok." She replied.

Her distracted tone told me what I needed to know. The author was going to get a huge advance.

I shook my head with a soft chuckle. I pulled my shirt off and shimmied out of my shorts. I turned the shower on, stripping down to nothing while I waited for the water to warm up. Once the temperature was decent I stepped in. Samantha never minded my pungence but I didn't want to stain our new very expensive sheets. I braced my hands against the shower wall and I dropped my head as I let the drops wash over me.

Samantha and I had been together five years now. I'd starred in two movies and gone on tour in that time. Samantha had risen to Director of Acquisitions at HarperCollins, meaning she was in charge of every new author at the company. I don't think I could have been any prouder of her.

Our relationship had hit a comfortable stride that I enjoyed probably more than I'd enjoyed our "honeymoon" period. The stability she afforded me, just knowing she was always there...it was invaluable. I was writing the best music of my life and it was not lost on me that her quiet confidence in me was a major factor.

And the heat between us had not dissipated. She sent me naughty texts despite my warning her of the dangers if someone were to hack my phone. I was also lucky enough to open quite a few heated zoom calls that resulted in the best long distance sex I'd ever had. She seemed to delight in catching me off guard and I couldn't say I didn't love it. The danger that we might get caught only seemed to fuel her.