Ten Years Of Waiting Ends At 3 AM

Synopsis

On our second wedding anniversary, the clock had slipped past three in the morning. The crystal chandelier glowed warmly above a table spread with dishes that had gone completely cold hours ago. In my hand, my wine glass was slick with condensation, and I couldn't seem to stop the matching blur of moisture that kept gathering in my eyes. The sound of the keypad at the front door broke the silence. Bennett Sinclair was home. He stepped inside, bringing with him the sharp bite of a late autumn night, and something else entirely. A thick, sweet cloud of peach body spray hit me before I could take a breath, tangled up with the unfamiliar floral notes of someone else's perfume. My heart clenched so hard it felt like a fist of ice had wrapped around it. I couldn't breathe. Bennett ran the Sterling Holdings. Everyone knew how cold and reserved he was, and he was practically famous for his obsession with cleanliness. The man noticed every single scent. He would frown at a scented candle I brought home if it was the tiniest bit too sweet, so there was no way he'd ever tolerate a stranger's perfume clinging to his clothes. And more importantly, I was deathly allergic to peaches. He had known that fact since the very first day we met. Back in high school, I took one wrong bite of a peach cobbler at the cafeteria. Within seconds, my throat started closing up, hives broke out all over my skin, and I was gasping for air. Bennett carried me on his back for two miles to the ER. The doctor told us that if we'd arrived a minute later, I would've suffocated right there in the hallway. After that day, peaches disappeared from his world completely. He once shot a business partner a look of pure ice for offering him a piece of peach-flavored gum. And yet tonight, the peach scent on him was so strong it nearly drowned out the familiar cedar notes of his own cologne.