Chapter 54 Understanding

• Charlene stood in her room, feeling a bit awkward but not overwhelmingly uncomfortable. After all, she and Thome were married, and the intimacies of marriage were not unfamiliar to them, even if they had been somewhat scarce over the years.
• Since their wedding, Charlene had harbored hopes that Thorne would fall in love with her. Yet, she never resorted to overt seduction. It wasn’t that she hadn’t thought about it, she simply believed it wouldn’t work on him, so she never acted on it. Thus, her choice of nightwear remained modest–typically a loose, button–down pajama set.
• The top she wore at the moment was of the loose variety, long enough that even without pants, it wasn’t overly revealing. She didn’t want to give Thorne the wrong idea, so she quickly explained, “I just forgot to grab my pants…”