Three hours later, Seth and I are waving goodbye as Tracy and her family drive away. I'm surprised by how well the evening went. We laughed, we joked, we chatted. It was all just simple, comfortable fun. It's something I've missed over the last few months. I crave human interaction. Maybe that's where things first started going downhill for me. I got so involved with my work, that I just sucked myself inward and abandoned my own need for people.

Well, that won't be happening anymore. Starting right now, I'm taking action. Seth and I are alone at last, with an entire evening to ourselves. I plan to take full advantage of this situation... even if I have to tie him to a support beam just to get him to stick around.

Turning after watching Tracy's car disappear around the corner, my eyes find Seth. He's already looking at me, a faint smirk tilting up the edge of his lips. I return the look with an inquisitive one of my own and then smile.

"What?" I ask after a moment of trying to decipher the expression on his face.

"Eh, nothing," he answers, waving it off. But, he's still got that hidden smile on his face, and I demand to know why it's there. Before I can push for answers, he's shooting me an amused grin as he dips his head slightly so he's more level with me. "You still jealous of Tracy?" As he says this, he wiggles his eyebrows teasingly.

My hand reaches out and smacks him in the side of the head before I can warn it not to. Seth just laughs harder as he rubs at the tender spot.

"Shut up," I groan. "I can't believe you didn't just tell me."

"And miss seeing your reaction tonight? Yeah right."

"I hate you."

He just laughs again as I stare at my feet. I've got a smile tugging at my lips, but I'm using all my strength to push it down. When I glance back up, Seth is still watching me, a contemplative grin spread across his lips.

"What?" I ask again.

He just shakes his head, his gaze flittering away from mine for a moment as he glances at the ground. Then he's looking at me again, his eyes sparkling with an emotion I can only describe as fascinated affection.

"Okay," I mutter, pretending to let it go as I shrug and push a stray strand of hair out of my face. When he just continues to watch me, I sigh. "Come on."

"It's nothing," he assures me, unable to erase the hint of a smirk on his face. "You just look happy."

I'm not prepared for him to say such a thing, so I find myself just standing there. My gaze jumps back and forth between his eyes, searching for answers. When nothing is revealed, I decide to inquire further.

"And my being happy makes you happy?"

He just shrugs, a mischievous grin lighting up his face as he turns back to the house. I follow after him in a dazed stupor. My happiness brings him happiness? He can't admit to loving me, but there's definitely a drastic amount of affection for me somewhere inside of him. He wants me... I think. He has no desire to end our marriage because the effort he's putting in wouldn't make sense otherwise. Maybe he lost some love for me along the way and now he's working to gain it back.

Sounds like he could use some quality time with my dad. Love is a choice, my dad had said. Maybe a few minutes with him would make Seth realize that he can love me today... if he chooses to.

We enter our home and I turn to slide the door shut behind us. Seth is already making his way into the kitchen by the time I swivel back around. I trail after him, my head swirling with thoughts. His words have sparked a certain level of interest inside of me, and I'm anxious to sit down and have this much-needed chat with him.

I just have to get a couple of things prepared first.

"Hey, Seth?" I ask, resting my hip against the counter as I watch him soap up the dish sponge and begin scrubbing at a plate.

"Yeah," is his simple response, but his eyes don't leave his task.

"Would you be okay cleaning up on your own?" This has his head tilting in my direction, curiosity making creases in his brow. "I've got something I need to do. It'll be quick, and I promise it'll be worth it for you, too."

He stares at me, thinking for several seconds before his forehead smooths out. He's no longer smiling, but I can tell he's not irritated by the fact that I'm leaving all the clean-up duty for him. Actually, he's probably grateful that I'm letting him do it on his own. I usually just end up frustrating him with my laziness because for some reason I just can't spot the messes. It's like my eyes slide right over that crumb on the tabletop, or avoid the hard-to-remove junk that's always stuck to the difficult pans. I don't do it on purpose; I swear. I'm just blind to untidiness and he's well aware of this.

"Sure," he finally answers with a solid nod of his head, and then returns to scrubbing at a particularly stubborn stain.

I turn and successfully stub my toes on the edge of the trash can beside me. I let out an audible gasp of pain as needles shoot through my already injured foot.

"You alright?" Seth asks, turning slightly to glance down at my throbbing limb and then lifts his eyes to my scrunched-up face.

I just wave him off as I shake my head slightly.

"Fine, fine," I groan, pulling myself back up into standing and leaving the kitchen.

I can hear Seth chuckle softly behind me as I ungracefully shuffle my way across the living room. Dang, I'm already so sick of this sprained ankle. I just want to be able to walk like a normal human being again. The problem is that I'm hoping to make this evening romantic, but Ms. Gimpy Leg here is ruining all my plans. I won't be able to approach Seth with the seductive grace of a lioness. Instead, I get the boastful grace of a penguin. I'm sure someone in the world has a fetish for the penguin walk, but I doubt that person is Seth.

I find myself in the guest room a few minutes later, wobbling around bags of junk and searching high and low for a particular box. When my eyes snag it stuffed into the deepest, darkest crevices of the closet, I groan aloud.

"Of course," I grumble under my breath as I begin the horrid task of dragging box after box out of the tight space.

I'm not much of a sweater, but I'm definitely sweating by the time I'm done. Why am I doing this again?... Oh yeah. To win back my husband... and to make my big announcement in a way that will make him swoon at my feet.

With the box tucked under my arm, I shout a hasty 'goodbye' to Seth before exiting the home and jumping into my car. I've got a couple of stops to make first, and I spend the next two hours getting everything set up. This'll be great. Totally great.

Pulling back into the driveway, I make my way inside as quickly as possible. I don't see Seth anywhere in sight, but I don't think about it too much. I'm on a mission, and I need to at least smell decent for it.

Grabbing my towel off the peg behind our bedroom door, I hurry to the bathroom for a shower. I dump berry-scented shampoo onto my hair and scrub strawberry body wash over every inch of skin. Once I successfully smell like a box of Fruit Loops, I exit the bathroom to get dressed.

My swimsuit is suffocating me beneath my raggedy jean shorts and tank top, but I ignore the sensation because I know it's only temporary. With quiet steps, I leave the bedroom, my eyes scanning the house as I emerge into the living room.

Still no sign of Seth.

My shoulders fall along with my heart. All this work and he's not even here to appreciate it with me. I feel an uncharacteristic bout of tears edging their way into my tear ducts. It's not fair that such a tiny hole can release something as powerful as tears.

I sniffle, fighting back the urge as I make my way around the couch. I'm just preparing to slouch into the overstuffed cushions when my eyes land on Seth's sleeping form.

Typical. The one moment that I'm actually ready to take our relationship to the next level, he's sleeping. I could scream, but I don't. I just stare, taking in the exhaustion on his face. Poor guy. I actually feel bad for him... which is what makes my actions that much harder. But I'm just so done with this, so I do it anyway.

I skim my hands over his arms slowly until I reach his shoulders, and then with one powerful shove, I'm bringing him back into the world of the living. He groans once and then sits up, clearly pissed by the disturbance. He's slightly disoriented, and I watch as his eyes work to focus. It doesn't take long and then they're zeroing in on me.

"Mercy," he growls, but the threat behind my name is cut off by a yawn from his lips.

I smile down at him, anxious to get our evening going. The sun went down about two hours ago, which will just heighten the effects of what I have planned. I grab his limp hand from his lap and pull him into standing.

"Come on," I say, a childlike excitement bursting out through my words.

"No," he groans from behind me, but doesn't put any resistance into following me.

I snatch up a pair of his shoes on the way out the door and then pull him down the sidewalk and to the car. Once he's lazily situated in the passenger seat, his head rested against the window as his eyes droop shut, I return to lock up the house. Within seconds, we're on our way.

With a lot of searching, I had been able to find the perfect spot to perform my act of true love. I just can't wait to see the look on Seth's face when he sees everything I've done. It takes about ten minutes of meandering my little car through the narrow roads between the trees. As our destination approaches, I feel my gut twisting with a sense of nerves and giddiness. This is going to be great. So great.

I find a nice spot to park next to a tree, and then turn off the ignition. From here, we've got a significant view of what I spent two hours preparing for.

"What do you think?" I ask, pride almost exploding from my lips. There's no denying that I'm excited about all this, but I'm slightly bugged by Seth's less than enthusiastic response.

That's when I turn in my seat to find his head lolled to the side, his mouth parted slightly as he dozes in the land of sexy trolls and pixie princesses.

"You stupid..." I don't even bother finishing my statement before my hand grows a mind of its own again and punches him in the shoulder. "Wake up!"

He jolts, bringing a hand to his face and pinching the bridge of his nose together as he blinks his eyes awake. His weariness is understandable. He's been working his butt off all week and hasn't had a chance to just relax until now. But, this is a big deal for us, and he can sleep later.

"Mercy," he mutters. It sounds like he's got sandpaper in his throat. He's so groggy and irritated and I can't help but be slightly shocked by how adorable I find him to be right now. "What is your proble—"

But he doesn't finish his sentence because it's in that moment that his eyes land on the scene I've set up for us.

Just a few meters away from where we sit peering out of the windshield is a stream. It's the same stream that we visited a couple of months ago, but this time I went on a mega scavenger hunt to find a place where the water actually flowed decently. It's still only a few inches deep, but that will actually improve our experience.

Sitting at the edge of the stream is a blow-up mattress. It's this stupid mattress that had me sweating like a hog earlier today. But, pulling that thing from the back corners of the closet had been worth it.

Beside the mattress is a bucket, but instead of ice and champagne awaiting consumption inside, there's a brand new bottle of Jim Bean Black Bourbon whiskey.

"Mercy..." Seth's words die on his lips as his gaze flickers to me quickly and then returns to the romantic display before us.

I should be tired of him saying my name by now, but I'm not. Actually, each time he mutters my name, it seems to carry more and more passion behind it. This time there's definitely something close to admiration mixed into the word and I'm bathing myself in the sensation of Seth seeing me in such a way.

"You were right," he suddenly says, his face void of any tiredness. He's fully awake now. "This was definitely worth it."

I smile, and then motion with my head for us to get out of the vehicle. I try to hurry around to Seth's side, playing the part of the gentleman since this whole thing was my idea, but he's out before I can reach him. He grins at my attempt and slings an arm around my shoulders. I'm totally okay with this, even if the couple extra pounds do make it slightly more difficult to walk. He must notice my struggle because he's suddenly removing his arm and slipping it along my lower back so I can lean on him as we walk.

Here I thought that I was going to be the romantic one tonight, but Seth is being all kinds of sweet. His touch is tender and caring, his eyes warm and safe, and his words soft and gentle. Tonight is already perfect, and nothing's even happened yet.

"Here," I say, reaching into a satchel resting next to the inflatable mattress. I fling a pair of swim-shorts at Seth and watch his eyes widen as he hurries to catch it. He lifts the material and then quirks a brow at me.

"You thought of everything, didn't you?"

I just nod.

"You know this is my job, right?" he asks, and I just glance up at him innocently. "Being romantic and sweet is supposed to be my job."

"Not tonight," I say, pointing at the shorts in his hand. "Get dressed."

He just smirks at my bossiness, and I watch with heat burning a slow fire into my stomach as Seth grabs the bottom of his shirt and slowly lifts the material up and over his head. He knows what he's doing to me. I can see it in his movements; they're slow and measured as if he wants me to watch.

Finally, the material is freed from his body, and I stand blatantly taking in the beauty drawn into his skin. I'm most mesmerized by the darker edges of his tattoos that dip into the lines of muscles that cover his arms and torso.

Gosh, he's perfect.

I know what's coming next, and though I'm absolutely dying to remain frozen in place, I do the respectable thing and turn to get the rest of the night ready. I've got the mattress shoved into the center of the shallow stream and am busy pouring whiskey into two shot glasses when I feel Seth's warmth beside me.

"This is really great," he whispers into my ear.

I shiver at the sensation, a smile skittering across my face without permission. I just can't keep myself from being happy right now. Seth may not feel love towards me, but he most certainly feels something, and that's enough for me right now.

We settle ourselves onto the floating mattress, our body weight keeping the bed anchored in place so we don't float off down the river. Water gurgles softly past us as it flows around the sides of the mattress. Crickets chirp gently in the distance, sending my thoughts back to our time at the cabin as we lounged in the jacuzzi with nature singing around us.

"I'd like to think that tonight was just you being romantic," Seth starts to say as he gazes up at the sky next to me, "but I happen to know just how romantic you are."

I chuckle at his accurate statement, turning onto my side to gaze at his profile.

"So," he prompts, turning his head to find my eyes with his own. "What has the dead romantic in you coming to life?"

It's the way he phrased his question that has me snorting in amusement. I really am the most unromantic person on the planet. Seth used to do sweet things for me—like buy me flowers—until I admitted that, while I loved those things, a year supply of salsa would win him the husband of the year award. Since then, I've only ever received food on special occasions... or sunflowers, because he can't help himself and he knows I freakin love sunflowers for some weird reason.

"Well," I answer, sitting up. The mattress dips downward with my weight, sending a small stream of water cascading over my legs and puddling around my butt. I don't move. What I'm about to say needs to be voiced while sitting upright. It's too important to announce while laying down. So without further ado, I let the words leave my lips, a gush of excitement floating out with them. "I quit my job."

Seth's reaction is nothing like I'm expecting. He just remains still, his eyes pinning me in place with so much intensity that I'm momentarily lost in the fire dancing in his gaze. I thought this would go better, but it's not until my spirit has almost completely fizzled into a limp noodle that he reacts, and again, I'm caught off guard as his laughter echoes softly around us.

My eyes had dropped to my lap but now flicker back up to meet his twinkling ones as I watch his face crinkle in amusement. His laughter just grows, until the trees can't help but bounce the sound into their dark depths. It's an eerily delightful sound. The deep rumble of Seth's laughter continues until I can't help but join in. I don't even know why I'm laughing, but I am.

"What's so funny?" I say around a smile, another chuckle exiting my throat when I see his face. He's still fighting back a bout of laughter, and I'm on the verge of slapping some sobriety into him so he'll stop laughing long enough to supply my curiosity with some answers.

"I was—" His laughter break into his words, and I just sit smiling and fuming all at the same time.

It's one of those moments where I want to be angry, but I'm too entertained. There's nothing I can do but wait it out. So I do. I fold my hands in my lap and examine his face until he finally takes a deep breath and sits up. The mattress is now collapsed in the middle, the two ends lifting inwards and creating somewhat of a small canyon around us. Water is spilling in the valley we've created, but we barely notice. Subconsciously, we both maneuver our way around the inflated bed until we're at opposite ends.

Once there's no threat of being swallowed into the little stream, I lift my eyes back toward Seth to find him watching me. We're both soaked from the waist down now, but neither of us seems to mind enough to do anything about it.

"Why are you laughing?" I ask again, hoping for a straight answer this time.

"Because," he says, his mouth lifting as he fights back more laughter, "I was thinking of doing the same thing. I hate my job."

Okay. So, I hadn't expected that.

"Well," I say, a smile sprouting to life on my lips as I take a minute to examine the lines of exhaustion still edged into his face, "then quit."

His face instantly loses any sign of humor as his eyes flash to mine.

"What?" he questions, baffled.

The confusion dancing in his gaze is almost comical. If only he understood that I've been planning this for a while. My reasons for quitting my job go beyond just pleasing Seth. As someone who basks in the chance to live spontaneously, this has to be the most planned out event in my life, and the most freeing.

"I said..." Moving closer, I carefully crawl towards Seth, his eyes narrowing at my approach. "...quit."

"But, I can't."

"You can," I whisper against the flesh of his neck. I feel him shiver against me, and I long to snuggle into his embrace as we soak in this moment.

Just before my mouth glides over his, I breathe two dangerous words that I hope won't bite me in the butt later...

"I promise."