Dangerously in Love by Michele Kimbrough

you start locking the door?” Caitlin asked.
    Hill pulled her into a hug, kissing her tenderly. “I’ve always locked the door. I just left it unlocked whenever I thought I’d have company . . . namely, you.”
    “I brought something for you, but I can’t carry it. You’ll have to get it out of the car.”
    Hill went to the car and came back toting a large framed picture wrapped in brown paper.
    “Go ahead. Open it,” she urged.
    Hill put the cigar between his teeth and ripped the wrapping paper from the frame with both hands. When he finished, he was looking at the backside. He lifted it onto the counter where he could admire the portrait. It was a pencil drawing of Caitlin, nearly nude. Only a sheer, silk scarf scantily covered her breasts. Her legs were posed to conceal her nudity below the waist. It was beautiful.
    “Where will you hang it?”
    “Prominently over the fireplace,” he joked.
    Caitlin smirked but was clearly petrified that he wasn’t joking.
    “I’ll hang it in my room where you’re the first person I see when I wake up and the last when I go to sleep.”
    “Good. That means there won’t be other women in your bedroom.”
    Hill paused for a moment and contemplated this. Every night, she slept in the same bed with another man and spent fleeting moments with him. Yet she seemed to have an expectation of exclusivity from him. He set the portrait on the floor, leaning its face against the kitchen island.
    “I have another surprise, Hill,” she said as she unwrapped her sarong dress, allowing the fabric to drop to the floor. “Right here, right now . . . in your kitchen. You and me.” She gave a toothy grin.
    Hill pulled Caitlin’s naked body against his, pushed her hair from her face, kissed her, and said, “I can’t do this with you anymore, Cate. There’s no future in it for me.”
    “What? Hill? What are you talking about? Where is this coming from?”
    “I can’t wait five years for your pre-nup to mature so you can divorce Adam, but I also can’t ask you to give up the lifestyle you’re accustomed to.”
    “The pre-nup is ironclad. I had it reviewed by an attorney,” she said.
    “No doubt. But this sneaking around has gotten old and stale, darlin’. I can’t tell my friends about you. We can’t go out in public. I can’t take you anywhere nice or go dancing with you, which is something you say you love.”
    “I told you, I don’t need romance. I just need you,” she said. “And I love the stolen moments, the way you make love to me. No dance floor can come close to that.”
    Hill smirked. “I love your body, Cate. And while I really enjoy making love to you, I can honestly get that anywhere without all the risk and hassle.”
    Caitlin sank. She backed away, bumping into one of the counter chairs. Her eyes filled with tears that poured onto her cheeks. “You can’t do that, Hill. I love you. Don’t you believe me?”
    “Yes, I believe you. But we have a messy detail called Adam.”
    “Adam! Oh, how I wish he were dead right now!” she shouted.
    Hill, without missing a beat said, “Me, too. But he’s not. And, I don’t want to keep doing this . . . hiding like I’m a punk. I can’t do it anymore. Not even for you, Cate.”
    Before she could respond, the doorbell chimed. Hill went to the closest iPad, which was installed on the wall, and cued up the front outside camera. “What’s he doing here? Shit!” He looked at Caitlin, who was wiping her tears with a paper towel. “Put on your . . . whatever that is. You have to leave. Go now, out the mudroom.”
    She nodded as she wrapped the sarong skillfully around her body. “Who is it?”
    “A business associate. You have to go, Cate. Now.”
    “Hill,” she said, “you can’t leave me. Not now. Can’t we work this out?”
    He kissed her as the doorbell chimed once again. “I promise we’ll talk about this later. Go.”
    ***
    After tying his robe, he grabbed the cigar that was no longer lit, then