Private Indiscretions by Susan Crosby Page A

Randall?”
    â€œI have no idea. She doesn’t show emotion of any sort, like or dislike.”
    â€œYou said she gave you the evil eye in the kitchen. She also saw us kiss.”
    He said nothing as Dana absorbed that information then levered herself off the sofa. She wandered to the window overlooking the backyard, her arms crossed.
    â€œThe motive may not even involve you, Dana, except as a barrier to someone else’s goals. I’m pointing out possibilities.”
    â€œOkay.” She traced a square on the windowpane. “What else?”
    â€œCould Randall have had an affair? A child out of wedlock?”
    â€œHe wouldn’t have turned his back on a child. As for an affair, he had no reason to have one.”
    A spiraling path of jealousy once again swept through Sam and wouldn’t dissipate. “People stray for lots of reasons.”
    â€œOur sex life was fine,” she said, an edge to her voice. “Good.”
    â€œNot great?”
    She faced him.
    â€œYou were married a year and a half,” he pointed out, making himself treat her like any other client. “You were still on your honeymoon. Sex should’ve been great.”
    â€œI had no complaints.”
    â€œDid you have comparisons?”
    Her jaw got tighter. “Yes.”
    He hesitated, then came close. He almost put his hands on her shoulders. “I have so little information to work with. I know it’s hard to tell me.”
    â€œEspecially you.” The words seemed to stick in her throat.
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œBecause you already saw me at my worst.”
    An image flashed. Dana, her blouse torn away, skirt pushed up, her body covered by Harley’s holding her down. She bucked beneath him, giving her all to get away. He had one hand on her mouth, the other trying to unzip himself. Sam had grabbed him by the shirt, yanked him off and threw him aside like a sack of garbage, finding a strength he didn’t know he had.
    After he’d chased Harley off, he turned to Dana. The shell-shocked look in her eyes ripped through his soul. She’d sat there, not moving, not attempting to gather the tattered remains of her blouse. He’d taken off his shirt anddraped it around her, helping her slip her arms into the sleeves, but otherwise not touching her.
    â€œWhat happened before wasn’t your fault,” he said. “Neither is this.”
    She shrugged. “Randall and I had everything in common. We thought alike. We believed in the same principles. I felt useful. I was happy.”
    â€œBut?”
    She stopped him with a look. “Sex isn’t everything, you know.”
    That brought him up short. The passion in her dark eyes made him push when caution dictated restraint. “No?”
    â€œAbsolutely not.”
    â€œWhat is everything?”
    She made a sweeping gesture with her hand. “Common goals and values. Supporting each other through good times and bad. Knowing what to expect at—”
    â€œWere there bad times?”
    She looked confused at the interruption. “Well, no. Not yet. But we would’ve supported each other.”
    â€œAnd that was enough to make you happy?”
    â€œWhat do you want to hear? That I wanted to swing from the chandelier?”
    â€œDid you?”
    â€œGymnastics don’t— Dammit, Sam. I haven’t lived a sheltered life. I’ve read the Kama Sutra. ”
    â€œAh.”
    He could see by her expression that she finally understood he was trying to lighten the moment. “I’m trying to figure out if Randall cheated on you,” he said. “And if it’s come back to haunt. You really don’t think there was another woman?”
    â€œNo.” She glared at him. “Not a man, either.”
    â€œI keep going back to the word saintly. It implies something personal. And moral.”
    â€œIf I knew I would tell you.”
    He realized she’d reached the end of her