“The guy at the bar the other night was keen.”
She nearly dropped the tissue. “You noticed that?”
“Of course. The dude who sold us the tree is checking you out right now.” Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the young guy admiring her ass. Caught out, he blushed and waved sheepishly. She waved back.
“And no, it’s not difficult.” His tone was matter of fact. “I love you. We exchanged vows. Sleeping around isn’t on the table.” Holding out his hand for her discarded tissue, he balled it and tossed it into a nearby trash can.
“I have nothing against you appreciating sexy women,” she clarified. “I’m not a hypocrite.”
His dark eyes gleamed. “My bandmates always delayed putting their shirts on until you got to our dressing room, babe.”
“Oh God, was I that obvious?” She laughed and went with it. “Well, good, because I have no plans to give that up. So…yeah, you can keep looking at sexy women.”
“I’m looking at one now,” he said and opened her driver’s door.
Fluttery and flustered, she went to get in the car, but he stopped her, his gaze sobering. “I’m so sorry. For all of it. I promise I won’t let my ego get out of control again.”
Last night, drunk, he’d stood on the outside table and yelled, “King of the fucking world.” She pushed the image out of her mind. “Thank you,” she said softly. “I needed that assurance.”
When they arrived home, Jared unloaded the tree under Maddie’s supervision, while Kayla took Rocco inside and settled him for a nap. Returning to the living room, she hesitated, then detoured to their bedroom and retrieved a white box from the top of the wardrobe.
Moving the fine tissue paper aside, she fingered the smooth satin of the corset she’d bought in Edinburgh for a kiss-and-make-up date. Tartan-patterned, though she doubted any Scotswoman would wear it for anything other than sexy fun times.
The last-minute purchase had made her late for her rendezvous with Jared, and she’d had to run, arriving twenty minutes late, breathless and excited…only to see Simone kissing him.
She lifted the garment, holding it against her.
Maybe it was time to reclaim the optimism she’d felt when buying it. Green and red, its colors worked perfectly for the festive season. Bob could have an early Christmas present. After checking Jared’s schedule with Dimity, she made a couple of calls and then sent a text.
Bob. Hot date alert. Be ready at six p.m. on Sunday night. It’s a sleepover, so pack a change of clothes.
Kayla hesitated, biting her lip. What the hell.
And no sex in the meantime. I want you hungry.
She sent it before she chickened out.
Feeling oddly shy, she re-entered the living room. Jared was positioning the tree in one corner.
“Do you like where we’re putting it, Mommy?” Maddie was taking her supervisory role very seriously.
“It looks great, honey.”
Jared looked up, and Kayla got a little breathless at the heat in his eyes. “Are you hungry?” she said, hearing the innuendo too late. “I mean, I can fix us a snack.”
His gaze traveled very slowly from her face to her feet and up again. “Ravenous,” he said. “But I can wait.”
Smiling, she continued to the kitchen.
Chapter Ten
The day of Kayla’s date with Bob started well.
The embargo on sex had paid off in ways she couldn’t have imagined. After seven years of marriage, enforced abstinence was an erotic novelty, adding a delicious tension to their daily interactions. She’d catch Jared watching her brush her hair and applying lipstick. There were endless opportunities to tease each other.
And remember how it used to be between them.
This morning, before he’d left for his final round of interviews as a Grammy nominee, he’d called for a towel from the shower.
Packing her overnight bag a couple of hours later, Kayla still got hot and bothered recalling how the water sluiced over his naked body and his biceps tightened as he innocently raised his arms to rinse shampoo from his hair—clean towels on the rail beside him. Devil.
On impulse, she snapped a photo of her open suitcase—the corset lying next to garters, a G-string and stockings—and texted it to him.
His response came as she was preparing the kids’ lunch.
You’re killing me.
Oh, yeah.
“Mommy, I need a hanky.”
Absently, Kayla passed her daughter a tissue. While Rocco emptied the pots from the kitchen cupboards, she helped Maddie finish her tree ornaments—her daughter wouldn’t let them hang any until hers were all made, so the tree had stood bare for the past three days.