Wife for Hire by Christine Bell Page A

and she startled, whipping around. Owen stood there wearing a stiff smile. “Hey, honey, everything all right?”
    Her heart slowed to a more normal rhythm. “Yes. Yes, everything’s fine. The Wa— ah, Jordan was asking if we wanted to have drinks with them.”
    Owen shook his head, but pulled off a regretful expression beautifully. “I think we’re going to stay in and catch up on our rest. Another night though, yeah?”
    Jordan narrowed her eyes at him but nodded. “That’s fine.”
    “I’m going to say goodnight to Marty and Calvin and we can go,” Owen told Lindy.
    Jordan stared at his retreating form before turning to face Lindy. “Why do you flinch whenever he touches you?” she asked, her hard eyes filling with concern. “That’s the second time I noticed that. He doesn’t…hit you, does he? I don’t want to pry, but if he hit you once, he’ll hit you again. If Marty hit me, he would rue the day.”
    “It’s nothing like that. Owen would never put a hand on me in anger. It’s me. I’ve been feeling weird about intimacy lately,” she said off the top of her head, regretting that she had to go there. Owen was going to be pissed, but on the spur of the moment, in light of her inadvertent actions, she couldn’t think of anything better. “That’s part of the reason we came here. We’re going through a rough patch.”
    “Did he cheat?” Jordan whispered.
    Did he? She paused for a stretch, trying to figure out if that was a good direction to take things. It was better than saying he hadn’t been amorous toward her. She knew where that would end up getting her. On the business end of Owen’s full-court press.
    “Yep. He’s extremely virile. I couldn’t keep up so he found a woman—actually, it was more like three—who could.”
    Jordan’s eyes widened, and she clapped a hand to her chest in surprise. “That bastard!”
    “It’s okay. We’re working through it. It’s taking a while, though. I still have a hard time knowing where his hands have been, if you know what I mean.” She wagged her eyebrows and Jordan wrinkled her nose in disgust.
    “I guess so. You seem to be taking it really well. I’d kill Marty.”
    “The first few months were the worst. Once I made the decision to stay, I realized I had to forgive him. Now it’s time to repair what was broken.”
    Jordan gave her a dubious look, but Lindy must have sounded convincing because she let the topic go. They had moved on to discussing tomorrow’s activities when Owen came back.
    “All set, love?”
    “More than. I’m exhausted. Jordan, we’ll see you tomorrow?”
    Jordan leaned in and pulled Lindy into a fierce hug, which Lindy returned reluctantly. When she released her, she gave Owen a frosty “Good night,” before returning to her husband.
    “What the hell was that about?” he asked.
    “You don’t want to know.”

Chapter Eight
    “That was a disaster,” Lindy groaned, laying her purse onto the granite countertop of their suite’s kitchen. “I’m really sorry.”
    She’d filled him in on her discussion with Jordan on the way back to the room. He wasn’t exactly thrilled about her latest fabrication. There were few things he hated more than a cheat, but she looked so miserable, he couldn’t bring himself to kick her while she was down.
    “Don’t be dramatic. It wasn’t perfect, but certainly not a disaster. We’ve got to be better prepared next time. Sarabeth is bound by her position not to mention what we discuss with her, but Jordan isn’t. I’m thinking if anyone asks, since it’s out there now, the cheating story is the one to stick with from this point forward. It’s as good a cover as any. The important thing is that we’re consistent. If we can manage that, we shouldn’t have a problem.”
    “The problem is me. I’m not quick on my feet when it comes to lying, and when I try, it’s like I have no control over what comes out.” She toed off one stiletto and rubbed her bare foot