Read Online His Wife for a While by Donna Fasano - Free Book Online Page A

Chelsea 's bedroom and knocked.
    She opened the wooden door, but Ben could clearly see from the expression on her face that the tension that had been between them since their sex discussion was locked tight into place.
    "I thought you had left for work," she said.
    Ben shook his head. "May's on the phone."
    "For me?" Her brow furrowed.
    "Um-hmm."
    He stood there in the hallway and watched her walk away from him. His eyes were drawn down the length of her retreating figure. Her shiny chestnut hair hung loose, the soft curls at the ends bouncing with each step. The supple fabric of her well-worn jeans hugged her hips and thighs like butter on bread. And those hips swayed gently from side to side. He could tell her modest sashay was not intentional, but was induced by a visceral femininity. One corner of his mouth pulled into a tiny grin as he realized just how appealing he found the natural provocative movement of her body.
    She rounded the corner and disappeared from his view, but his imagination easily took over, and he envisioned himself intimately embracing his wife. He crossed his arms, leaned against the doorjamb and let the image take shape. Her big brown eyes gazed up at him lovingly, and he ran his fingers along her jaw and down the silky alabaster skin of her neck. He wondered if she might gasp and lean back her head if he slid his palm even lower, over the full roundness of her breast. He imagined her eyes fluttering closed as he kissed her mouth. Closing his own eyes, he felt his heartbeat quicken as he fantasized about how her naked body would feel pressed against his, her hands playing over him, smoothing over his chest, his stomach, in a slow, erotic motion that stirred him…
    "Ben?"
    He snapped to attention. "What?" Startled from his reverie by the sound of Chelsea's voice, he knew his answer was a couple decibels louder than necessary. He was relieved that the shadowy hallway would hide the blaze of embarrassment that must surely be written all over his face.
    A curious look crept across Chelsea 's features, but thankfully she didn't ask him what he was doing standing there with a stupid, lustful smirk on his face.
    For once, Ben was a tad grateful for his wife's cool, aloof nature.
    "I have to go over to May's," Chelsea told him.
    "Is something wrong?"
    "There's a bird or something trapped in her chimney."
    She swiped a lock of hair back from her face, and a deep disappointment shot through him knowing that the tenebrous shadows that hid his embarrassment a moment ago would keep him from seeing her dark eyes up close right now.
    "It's probably a squirrel," he said.
    "She told me she thought she heard wings flapping."
    "Oh." He frowned as he walked toward her. "Could be a bat."
    She nodded. "May called an exterminator who said he could come this afternoon but that he couldn't guarantee the safety of whatever's in there. So she called me, knowing I spend a lot of time around animals at the nature center and that I'd do something now."
    The lock of dark hair fell onto her cheek again and Ben had to force himself not to reach up and tuck it behind her ear.
    "I called the center," she continued. "But there's no one there this early. I'll go to May's myself and see if I can trap whatever's in the chimney. I told her I'll do my best, but that I couldn't promise the animal wouldn't be hurt by my efforts, either." After a moment, she added, "I'm glad she called me rather than waiting for the exterminator."
    Her mouth curled into a tiny, rare smile and Ben found it alluring, so alluring in fact that he wanted to say something that would make that special smile widen even farther.
    "I'm glad she called too," he said gently. "You'll have the bird's welfare in mind more than any exterminator would."
    One corner of her lips did draw back a little more, but only for an instant before she nodded and turned away.
    "Wait," he said. "I'll go with you."
    "Oh, that's not necessary."
    "But I want to," he told her. "Besides, it will