The only response he gave to her denial of being still with Leathan was a smile; one so slight it would have been missed by any but the most observant of individuals. Were he in a different place and time, he'd have turned, taken the girl into his arms and possessed her lips, claimed her body.

Instead, he remained completely quiet, his eyes again watching the ceiling. Again, that gulf between them seemed a figment of the imagination. He could almost believe, without so much as a question, that he'd never married Sharri and that they were, instead, at her folks home visiting for a few days before heading back to their own place.

It was a pleasant imagining.

The smile turned full-fledged at her next comment and he found himself chuckling lightly under his breath. "Your mum is a piece of work, Char - an absolutely wonderful one. She scared the daylights out of me when I first met her, though," he admitted, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. "She's an awful lot to get used to. But she's a wonderful woman. And," he dropped his voice a notch, "she raised an even better daughter."