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When David got home two hours later, he wasn’t surprised to see that Ashley still wasn’t home from her dinner with Carrie (Evan thought Ashley was crazy, but Carrie was crazy on steroids on crack). He also wasn’t surprised to see that Jacob had fallen asleep on the couch while watching a movie with his babysitter, Casey, who waved when he walked in.
“How was he?” David asked, even though the answer was usually the same.
“He was good,” Casey answered, as she started gathering up her school books and putting them in her backpack. “He ate all of his dinner, including his green beans, so we had ice cream for dessert.”
“I appreciate you coming on such short notice,” David told her, pulling some cash out of his wallet and handing it to her. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
David then walked her out to the front porch and watched her get into her Prius, like he always did, waiting until she’d driven off before going back inside. Casey had cleaned up the kitchen, so all he had to do was turn off the TV and put Jacob to bed. As he was picking Jacob up off the couch, the little boy woke up and when he saw David, his sleepy face lit up.
After taking Jacob to the bathroom to pee and brush his teeth, David then tucked him into bed. Jacob immediately asked for a bedtime story and David agreed, pulling Grumpy Monkey off the shelf above his bed and began reading. Halfway through the story, he heard Ashley come home and a moment later she was in the doorway, watching him read to Jacob until he was asleep.
David kissed Jacob’s forehead and turned his lamp off and as he stood up, she said, “You’re so good with him.”
When he got to the doorway, she put her hands to his face and pulled him down for a kiss, making it clear she meant business. He kissed her back and for the first time in almost a month his dick responded to her. When she realized what was happening, she wasted no time pulling him down the hall to the master bedroom.
He let her be the aggressor. It suited his mood to be passive and gave him cover, because if she was the one doing most of the work, then she would be less likely to notice if he seemed … ambivalent.
And for the most part, he was. He watched her get undressed, and while he appreciated her incredible sex appeal, his desire felt like it was lethargic. There was no urgency, no burning need, no answering fire inside him as Ashley ran her hands hungrily over every inch of his body. There was only a minimum of emotional energy necessary to make sex possible and once that was attained, he simply coasted along.
He lay down on the bed and she looked him over with satisfaction, possibly thinking everything was back to normal. Then, after straddling him like she had done many times before, she gripped his cock in a tight fist and angled it up, her sigh filling the room as she sank down on him. Enveloped in her heat, David couldn’t deny that he felt pleasure, but it was competing with the effort it took to force thoughts of Paige from his mind.
In an unexpected way, it felt a lot like the first time he’d had sex with Ashley, sort of like he was cheating on Paige. His heart constricted at the thought of having to start from the beginning again, of having to distance himself from Paige one more time and he closed his eyes to hide his inner turmoil from the woman riding him.
She would ask questions he didn’t want to answer.
This was his life—Ashley, Jacob, and obligations. It was a good life, and if not necessarily a great life, it was the one he was living.
So he focused on Ashley as she brought herself to orgasm, which helped him not stray too far from the moment and achieve his own release.
When they were done, instead of climbing off of him, Ashley leaned forward until her breasts were pressed against his chest and they were face to face.
“Watching you with Jacob tonight made me think about having another baby,” she told him, planting little kisses on his mouth.
At the unexpected words, his body tensed and his eyebrows drew together in surprise. “It did? Why?”
She played with his beard a little, likely trying to be flirtatious, but all it did was make him think of Paige and the beard play she’d engaged in that night at the hospital.
“Isn’t that what people do? Have more than one baby?” Ashley asked.
“Not always.”
“I thought you’d want another one.” She pulled back a little, seeming confused by his lack of enthusiasm. “And with Jacob being three, now would be a good time.”
In theory, he would like another child, but he didn’t want one with Ashley; he couldn’t tell her that, though, so he just shrugged. “I’m fine with Jacob being an only child for now.”
Chapter 22
To Paige’s amusement, Andrea took her self-appointed position as Paige’s wingman rather seriously, establishing a somewhat odd, new work ritual. Several times a week, when they got together to discuss any new scheduling changes, it became Andrea’s habit to ‘request’ Paige’s phone (although sometimes it was more of a ‘grab’). After the first few times, the awkwardness wore off and Paige started handing it over without reservation, watching with amusement as Andrea speed-swiped with concentration for several minutes. When she was done, she’d hand the phone back and they’d go about the day’s business.
Andrea’s efforts resulted in Paige going on only a single date since her concussion—which didn’t work out, to Andrea’s supreme disappointment. She seemed to take it as an affront to her match-making skills and was in the middle of searching for the next ‘perfect guy’ when Paige’s phone pinged with an incoming text. Instead of handing the phone to Paige, Andrea opened the text and read it, then looked up in surprise.
“Today is your birthday?” she asked. “April 15th?”
“Yes.”
“Your birthday is … Tax Day.”
