Married by Contract by Noelle Adams Page A

evenings when the mood was teasing and playful between them.
She’d assumed he’d gone into his own room so he could deal with his mood by
himself. She was so surprised to see him now she just stared at him.
    “Would you like to…” he began, sounding very hoarse.
    “Yes!” Overwhelmed with feelings she just didn’t understand,
she reached out for him, pulling him down into a kiss.
    He kissed her back, hard and hungry, and then he walked her
back toward her bed. They didn’t talk at all as they kissed and caressed and
took off each other’s clothes, and they were both strangely urgent as they made
love under the covers.
    Jenn needed it—needed him—more than she could ever remember
needing anything. And it felt like, at least for tonight, he needed her too.
    For now, that was enough. She wouldn’t let herself think
about how it would feel when their marriage was over and Nick finally walked
away.
    ***
    The following week, Jenn was sitting
in her office, reading over monthly financial statements and trying not to get
a headache.
    She’d been feeling stressed all morning. At several points,
she’d reached for her phone to call Nick, but she’d managed to resist the urge
each time.
    Yes, talking to him would make her feel better, but she
didn’t want to get dependent on him. They only had two more years left of their
five year marriage. She was already enjoying being with him so much that it
would be really hard when they parted ways, so she needed to be careful not to
make it any harder on herself than it had to be.
    She was rubbing her forehead and trying to focus when her Mary
tapped on her door before opening it. “You’ve got someone to see you.”
    Jenn blinked. “What?” She checked her calendar to assure
herself no one was scheduled. “Who is it?”
    “Your husband.”
    “Really? What is he doing here?” Despite her rigorous
attempts to be reasonable, she couldn’t keep down the rising of excitement at
this news.
    “He just came to see you, of course.” Mary was grinning as
if something very romantic was happening. Nick had probably been hamming up the
devoted husband act out there in the reception area.
    “Well, send him in.”
    Nick never stopped by to see her, and this fact suddenly
made her worry that something might be wrong.
    Her sliver of concern faded when she saw his lazy grin as he
entered. He was holding a paper bag. “I was working down the street this
morning, so I picked up some lunch,” he explained. “Then I figured, since I was
so close, I might as well get some for you too.”
    She couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “Then come in. I’m
famished.”
    Nick closed the door behind him and went to the conference
table near the window, where he started to unpack the bag, pulling out
sandwiches, salads, and little packages that must be dessert. While he did
that, Jenn grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the refrigerator in the kitchenette
area against one of the walls in her office and then made a stop at her
computer to adjust her schedule, moving her lunch break from 12:30 to 12:15.
    “What are you doing?” Nick asked. He’d come over without her
noticing and was now peering over her shoulder.
    “I’m changing my schedule.”
    “Don’t both you and Mary already know you’re eating at 12:15
instead of 12:30?”
    “Well, yeah, but I like to keep my calendar tidy.”
    He chuckled and reached out to give her a one-armed hug. “Of
course you do.”
    “Did you come to eat or to mock me?”
    “Is there a rule that says I can’t do both?”
    She made a face at him, entirely for show, and they went
over to the table to eat their lunch.
    Jenn greatly enjoyed it. Nick had splurged on the food—he
usually gravitated toward cheaper restaurants—and between them, they ate
everything he’d brought. He asked her about her morning, and she complained to
him about how horrible it was to review financial statements. Then he told her
about how things were going on his