Liam pulled her back against him and kissed the side of her neck. “I don’t want to talk about that ridiculous crap anymore babe. Let’s make love. Maybe if we make a baby, the Gods of fate will watch over us and make sure I get that job.”
Cec shook her head. “You’re lying. I don’t even have to look at your face to know it. Go sleep on the couch again. Maybe if you’re quiet enough, you can have phone sex with ‘nobody’ without me hearing. I’m sorry to break it to you, but it’s just you and your hand tonight.”
Liam let out a frustrated sigh. “Just like a woman. You’re the one that attacked me after you came out of the shower. You get me all hot and bothered and then decide you don’t want to have sex. I think that with the way you’re acting I’d rather have my hand for company than you anyway.”
“Go away Liam.”
He got out of bed and stalked towards the door. “For a woman that seems to think her husband is cheating, you don’t make a lot of sense Cec. You know that a lack of sex is one of the main reasons why men stray.”
Cec threw his pillow at him. “The lack of sex lately has come from you until tonight. But I guess you probably don’t need it from me since you’re doing it with someone else.” She gave him a tight smile.
He shook his head at her. “Go to sleep Cec. I hope you wake up in a better mood.” He opened their bedroom door, walked out and slammed it shut behind him.
She cried when he was downstairs. She knew that she hadn’t handled the situation in the right way. There was a part of her that wanted to apologize to him. Another part of her still thought that he was lying to her and didn’t deserve an apology.
The next morning, Liam gave her the silent treatment. She stuck her tongue out at his back when he left for work, feeling juvenile, but not caring. She felt despondent and didn’t know what to do. That afternoon, things only got worse. She answered their home phone in the middle of the afternoon.
“Hello.”
“Is Liam there?”
It was a woman’s unfamiliar voice. Cec narrowed her eyes, wondering if it was “nobody”. “He’s at work. May I ask who’s calling?”
The woman hung up. Cec slammed the phone down. She paced the living room for a while, wondering what she was going to do. By early evening, she’d decided that she had one last chance to keep Liam. There was no way she was going to screw it up.
She made his favorite meal for dinner. It was steak and baked potatoes, something that she didn’t much enjoy herself, but she couldn’t remember the last time that she had made it for him. She was tempted to call his cell and ask when he was coming home, but she didn’t want to bother him if he really was working and she certainly didn’t want to catch him with “nobody”.
At eleven o’clock the front door opened. She was sitting on the couch in Liam’s favorite piece of her lingerie. She rarely wore it because it wedged up her ass and she had never been a thong kind of a girl, but Liam loved it. It showed off her breasts and he always said that her butt didn’t look as good in anything else.
His briefcase fell to the floor with a quiet thud. He licked his lips. “I’m guessing you’re not mad at me anymore.”
She gave him a slight smile. “Let me get your dinner.”
“You didn’t have to cook dinner for me babe. But I appreciate it. I actually skipped dinner tonight. They’re supposed to be making their decision this week on who gets the job so I was working extra hard. Cross your fingers for me.”
“I will.” She pulled him in for a long kiss before she went to the kitchen. “I love you Liam.”
He patted her on the butt. “I love you too baby. You know how crazy I get when you wear that thing.”
She winked at him. “I do.”
He chuckled as she walked to the kitchen. She warmed his plate up in the microwave and then brought it to him. She’d tried to cook it as close to when she thought he’d be getting home as possible, but she’d been off by a half an hour or so, so it had grown cold.
He raised an eyebrow when she sat the plate in front of him. “Baby is there something I should know? Are you pregnant with the mailman’s kid or something?”
Cec laughed. “Our mailman is sixty-five and stick thin. You know I like my men with some meat on their bones.”
Liam shook his head. “I forgot that your favorite boyfriend before me was fat.”
Cec rolled her eyes. “He was not fat.”
Liam chuckled. “You showed me a picture. He was fat. I never understood how a guy that looked like that could get a girl like you.”
“Elijah was maybe a little chunky and that’s pushing it. He was very sweet and very smart. I probably would have married him if he hadn’t decided to go live in some third world country.”
“Elijah was more than a little chunky. You’d have a bunch of roly poly kids running around by now if you’d married him. Aren’t you glad you married me instead?”
“I’m very glad I married you. Finish eating so we can make love.”
He offered her a tired smile. “Sounds good to me.”
He finished quickly. She took his plate into the kitchen, rinsed it and put it in the sink. She returned to the living room, took his hand and led him upstairs.
The sex was incredible. She kept her eyes locked on his the whole time he moved above her. She wanted to make sure that she was the only one he was thinking of. When he had come to orgasm, he moved off of her and let out a contented sigh.
“Mmm. I love you Cec.”
“I love you too Liam. But we need to talk.”
He gave her a look that was full of confusion. “Can it wait until morning? I am exhausted babe.”
She shook her head. “Your ‘nobody’ called today.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We’re not going to play this game anymore Liam. A woman called our house this afternoon and asked for you. When I asked her name, she hung up. I had to wonder if she thought she was being funny.” She reached out and squeezed his hand. “We can get through this Liam, but you have to be honest with me.”
He sighed. “Why do we still have a home phone anyway? No one does anymore.”
“It’s being shut off tomorrow. The only people that usually call that number are my parents and telemarketers. My parents will have to live with calling my cell like everyone else does. Who is she Liam?”
“She really is nobody Cec. I can’t believe that I slept with her. It was only a few times and it’s over. I promise you. I am so sorry babe.”
“You know that I can love you like ‘nobody’ can. Even better. Twice as good.” She tried to coax a smile out of him, because his face has grown serious. “I’ll let you do that kinky thing to me that you’re always bugging me about.”
A smile broke through, but it faded quickly. “Cec.”
She stroked her hand over his face. “Shh. I love you Liam. I will do anything to make our marriage work.”
“You’re too good to me.”
“You won’t think so if another nobody shows up.”
“I really am sorry babe.”
“I know. I’m teasing you Liam.”
“Goodnight Cec. I love you so much.”
“I love you too Liam. Goodnight.” She reached over and switched off the lamp.
Liam pulled her back against his chest. “Will you really try that position with me? Maybe over the weekend? We’re gonna celebrate if I get that job.”
“You’ll get the job. I know it. I might try that position with you. If you’re really nice to me.”
He chuckled. “I knew there was a catch.”
She elbowed him lightly. “Hey.”
“Kidding baby.”
Cec slept better that night than she had in a long time. Liam seemed to be more lighthearted at breakfast the next morning as well. She understood for the first time then how heavily his indiscretion must have been weighing on his mind.
He called her early in the afternoon. He had gotten the job at a higher salary than he’d ex
pected and wanted to take her out to dinner to celebrate. She dressed carefully and applied a little more makeup than she usually wore. When he walked in the door after work, he let out a low whistle.
“Damn baby, you look almost as good in that dress as you do in your lingerie.”
Cec smiled. “Thank you. This does mean shorter hours doesn’t it?”
He gave her a triumphant grin. “Hell yeah it does. We’re gonna make love every night for three weeks straight to make up for lost time. Maybe if we’re lucky we’ll make a baby huh?”
Cec wasn’t sure how bright of an idea it was to create a child so soon after his affair, but she’d wanted a baby for a long time as it was. The house was almost paid off, and with Liam’s higher salary, they might actually be able to afford to feed and clothe a child. She gave him a bright smile, though it still felt a little fake. “That sounds wonderful.”
He squeezed her hand. “I love you Cec. I married the best woman on Earth.”
“Go change your clothes. I’m hungry. I didn’t eat lunch. I wanted to make sure I saved room for the cheesecake at Antonio’s.”
Liam chuckled. “Okay babe. I’ll be right back.”
Liam returned a few minutes later. He looked so good that she couldn’t help but think that she’d married the most handsome guy around. He took her hand and led her out to his car.
Dinner was very nice. Antonio’s had a romantic atmosphere and was a favorite of many local couples.
When they returned home, they went straight to the bedroom. No words were needed as they both undressed. Their lovemaking was full of passion. Cec could almost make herself believe that “nobody” had never existed.
Time passed, and Liam’s new job was going well. They did make love every night, but Cec made sure it was for four weeks in a row and not just three. She realized after another passionate round of lovemaking that she’d missed her period, but chose not to mention it to Liam that night.
She bought and took a home pregnancy test the next morning after he left for work. She was indeed pregnant. When she told Liam, he was thrilled. He told her that she’d made him the happiest man on the planet. There was no more mention of “nobody”. Over time, Cec gained her confidence in Liam back. She thought that the fact that he still wanted to make love to her right up until she had the baby helped, but thoughts of “nobody” soon left her mind. She was confident that they had left Liam’s too.
Nobody But You
Jezebel lasted six months after she left him before she called him. Her hand was shaking when she dialed his number. She hoped he hadn’t changed his number like she had hers. It had begun to dawn on her more and more every day that she couldn’t love another man, that she would never love another man the way she loved Spence.
“Hello.”
She felt tears prick her eyes when she heard his voice. His voice was so soothing. She’d always thought that he had the kind of voice that could easily sing even the crankiest baby right to sleep. She had to clear her throat before she could speak.
“Hi.”
“Jez?”
“Yeah. It’s me Spence.”
“I don’t recognize the area code. Where are you?”
“That doesn’t matter right now. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately and I realized that there were some things that I needed to say to you.”
“Okay.” Jez thought that his voice sounded cautious.
“I know that I messed things up. Not just once, but over and over again. I lied to you about doing drugs and screwing other guys. I lied to you about a bunch of stupid crap that didn’t even really matter. It was just so much easier to lie to you than to admit that I had become a lying, cheating junkie.”
“Jez, a lot of people have drug problems. Did you get help?”
“Not exactly, but I haven’t used in three months.”
“That’s great.”
“Yeah. You have been the best husband a woman could ever ask for. I know that I was never the best wife. I can’t cook, I’m not very good at cleaning, and I can’t balance a budget to save my life. I act like a complete fool when I’m drunk, I’m probably addicted to sex and I doubt that I’ll ever make the world’s best mother. You always loved me in spite of my flaws. And I fucked it all up and then ran away from you when you really needed me. I am so sorry Spence. I can never tell you how sorry I am.”
“I’m fine Jez. My Dad’s even doing much better now.”
Jezebel had walked out on him right after his mother had died. He wasn’t handling it well. She couldn’t take his pain along with the realization that she had let her life become really fucked up, that she had caused it to become really fucked up.
“Have you filed for divorce Spence?”
“No. It’s not like I would have known where to send the papers anyway.”
Jez felt another piece of her heart break. She knew that she had no right to expect Spence to wait around for her forever, but a part of her had hoped that he’d missed her as much as she’d missed him.
“I can give you my address if you want to send them.”
“That’s not necessary Jez. If you called to tell me that you’re sorry, thank you.”
“I didn’t only call you to tell you that I’m sorry. I called to tell you that I will never love a man the way that I love you. I can’t. I had the perfect man and I messed it up.”
“I’m hardly perfect Jez. I snore, I have bad eyesight; I can’t do laundry. You know that I can’t cook either. I’ve gained twenty pounds since you left from eating out so much.”
“Good. You were too skinny.”
Spence chuckled. “If you say so.”
“I know that I don’t really have a right to ask this of you. I know that our relationship can never be like it was, or the way that it should have been from the beginning, but I . . .”
“You what Jez?”
“I want to come home. I’ll be a better wife. We can talk about having a baby if you still want to. I actually have a good job offer back there, at this new restaurant that’s opening in a few weeks.”
“No.”
Jez couldn’t breathe for a minute. Tears overflowed her eyes and fell down her cheeks. “I understand Spence. If money is the reason you don’t want to divorce me right now, I can pay for it. Maybe not right away, but a few months down the road. They gave me the assistant manager position.”
“That’s great. I didn’t mean it like that. I sold our house, so you can’t exactly come home. I bought one of those condos that we looked at when we first got married. It has two bedrooms so we could talk about having a baby. But I need to know that you plan to stay clean. And I can’t take you cheating either. I’m self-conscious enough as it is being a less than handsome guy who happened to catch himself a gorgeous woman.”
Spence was what you would call ruggedly handsome or at least Jez thought so. His face looked hard, except when he smiled. His nose was crooked and had a bump in the middle. His older brother had broken it when they were little and it hadn’t been set right. His blonde hair was shaggy and he had a bad habit of running his fingers through it, making it stick up even more than usual. He had one beautifully blue eye. The other was a muddy brown color. She had laughed at him the first time he had asked her out because he was in no way what she considered to be her type. He was 6’2 and had weighed 160 pounds when they’d met. He was up to 175 by the fourth year of their marriage when she’d left him, but she’d still thought he was too damned skinny.
Her type had always been guys with dark hair that were built. They tended to have tattoos, piercings or some combination of both. Most of the men she had cheated on him with had fit much better into her physical picture of the perfect man than Spence ever had or ever would.
But Spence was smart and he was sweet. He’d always been good to her. She was used to good looking men that treated her like crap. She’d had sex with so many guys by the time they’d started dating that it was starting to disgust her. She’d only had one real boyfriend an
d he had run for the hills when she had found out she was pregnant. She had miscarried the child, and she had never been completely sure whether that was a blessing or a curse.
Jez knew she was beautiful. She had creamy skin and bright green eyes. She kept a trim figure with little exercise, but she also had curves in all the right places. She had been told that by enough men to believe that it was true. Her hair was long and wavy. Its natural color was brown with a red tint to it, but she had bleached it blonde two days after she’d left Spence. It was still blonde but she had let the colored streaks she had added fade.
“You’re more than handsome enough for me Spence. I’ve missed you so much. I can leave tomorrow. It’s my last day at work. I get off at eight o’clock at night but I don’t mind driving through the night to get home to you.”
“That sounds great. I hate to ask you this Jez, but have you been with that guy, the one that I caught you with?”
Jez stifled a groan. Spence had caught her in bed with one of her coworkers. They’d worked at a call center and had written dirty notes back and forth for months before they had actually done the deed. She knew that it had made it worse for Spence when he had come home after his mother’s funeral and found her naked and in a rather compromising position with Brack. It certainly hadn’t helped that instead of going to her mother in law’s funeral she been so high that she had forgotten the reason she had left work early in the first place and taken Brack back to their house.
“I haven’t been with anyone Spence. Why?”
“That guy called our home phone so many times that I had it disconnected. Then he showed up on our doorstep and told me that you left because you were pregnant with his kid and that he was going to sue you if you’d had an abortion.”
Jez snorted. “I should have known he was a little weird. But I couldn’t have been pregnant with his kid. We were using a rubber and he didn’t get a chance to finish before you walked in on us. Yeah, that was probably not the picture that you wanted to see in your head. I’m sorry. I’m not very good at being sensitive. Sometimes I think I should have been born a man.”
Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set Page 205
