Married by Contract

by Noelle Adams

  The hostess showed them to a table, and Jenn asked Jack how his mother was and how his business was going. She was telling him about her own company when their server came over and asked a second time if they were ready to order. Glancing at her watch, Jenn realized it was already twenty after noon. “Nick is really late,” she murmured. “Maybe we should go ahead and order.”

  After she’d ordered a salad and Jack ordered a sandwich and fries, Jenn pulled out her phone to check that she hadn’t missed a message from Nick. While he wasn’t as ultra-punctual as she was, he usually got places within a reasonable window of time.

  She hoped he was all right.

  She was just about to worry when Jack said, “There is he, looking like he just rolled out of bed.”

  Jenn turned to see him approach. He did look rather worse for wear. He needed to shave and his clothes were wrinkled. He hadn’t slept in, though. She’d seen him getting coffee as she’d been leaving for work that morning.

  “Is everything all right?” she asked, when he sat down with a distracted smile, after shaking Jack’s hand.

  “Yeah.” He gave a dismissive shrug. “Just work stuff.”

  She was about to follow up when he gave her a quick look that told her not ask anymore right now. Despite the questions in her mind, she made herself relax. “Jack was just telling me about his business. They’ve opened up six new stores and moved the headquarters to here in Minneapolis. Did you hear about that?”

  “No, I hadn’t. Good for you.”

  Jenn thought Nick could have sounded a bit more sincere in his response, but maybe he was still distracted by whatever work thing had been going on.

  “And you’re a private detective?” Jack asked, although he obviously already knew this was true. “How’s that going?”

  “Fine. Nothing flashy or impressive, but it’s work.”

  Jenn frowned. “It’s great,” she corrected. “You do really good work.” She turned back to Jack. “He’s been looking for a missing teenage girl lately. She ran away from home, and her parents are trying to find her.”

  “That’s got to be tough. You think she’s still in the area?”

  “I don’t know.” Nick took a sip of water and cleared his throat, looking relieved when the server came over to take his order too.

  When the server had left the table, Nick turned to Jack. “So why did you call Jenn up for lunch?”

  “Nick,” Jenn admonished softly, increasingly worried that something was really bothering him. He wasn’t always an easy talker, but he was usually polite and friendly.

  Jack just laughed. “I didn’t have any ulterior motives, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m not sure Jenn’s baby clothes would work in my stores.”

  It had never occurred to Jenn that Jack would be thinking about their doing business together. As he said, there wasn’t any potential crossover. “Not unless I decided to design baby football jerseys and swimsuits,” she said with a smile. “If I’d thought it could have worked, I’d have come to you a long time ago.”

  “I was just back home,” Jack said, answering the question Nick had asked earlier. “And it made me think about old friends. Since I knew you were in the city, I called you up.”

  Jenn reached over to pat his forearm. “I’m glad you did. How were things at home?”

  “About that same.”

  “I’m so glad your mom is doing well.”

  Jack’s face sobered slightly. “She’s getting older, but she’s still out in the garden or on the tennis court every day.”

  “Good for her.”

  “I saw your folks, when I was there,” Jack said, nodding toward Nick.

  When Nick didn’t respond immediately, Jenn filled in the gap. “Did you? We need to get out there to see them soon.”

  She said this because it sounded like something a wife might say about her in-laws. Never once had she and Nick gone to visit his parents together, and he hadn’t brought it up again after she’d offered last week.

  “My mom said your folks were selling their house. That’s too bad. I love that old house.”

  Nick just looked at him, his expression stoic, which wasn’t at all like him. Jenn had no idea whether he’d already known this or not. She certainly hadn’t known it.

  Jenn felt uncomfortable by this conversation, but she knew what was bothering Nick right now. It felt like Jack knew more about his parents than he did, and that would really get to him, considering his issues. Wanting to smooth it over and move on, she murmured, “Yeah, but it’s a really big piece of property to keep up. Is your mom still living in the same house?”

  That effectively turned the conversation, and they talked about casual topics connected to their hometown and jobs for the rest of lunch.

  Rather, Jenn and Jack talked. Nick didn’t say much of anything.

  Nick got a call as they were finishing up, so he stepped outside the café to pick it up. Jenn watched him, unable to smother that flicker of concern. He wasn’t acting at all like himself. She wondered why he’d even come.

  “So what’s going on with you two?” Jack asked, his tone still casual and slightly amused.

  Jenn widened her eyes as she met his gaze. “What do you mean? We’re married.”

  “Yeah, but it’s not like any marriage I’ve ever seen.” Jack shook his head and smiled. “I’m not as clueless as I might look. Why does he think I’m going to swoop in and steal you away?”

  “He doesn’t—” She broke off because she wasn’t entirely sure he didn’t think something similar. “It’s not like that.”

  “Are you two having problems?”

  “No. No, nothing like that.”

  “Well, I’ve never seen a husband be so unsure of his wife. If this really is a normal marriage, you might want to talk to him about it.”

  Jenn couldn’t tell Jack the truth—that this wasn’t a normal marriage, and the only thing either of them could be sure of was that they’d hold to the terms of their five-year contract. She tried to brush off the comment. “He’s just in a mood today. Things are fine between us.”

  “If you say so. But you’re too great to be stuck in a half-assed marriage. He didn’t marry you for the money, did he?”

  “No!” Jenn moderated her tone. “No, of course not.” Part of her was aware that this wasn’t entirely true, but she ignored it.

  “Well, you might want to talk to him. The vibes he was giving off today didn’t feel entirely satisfied.”

  It was the sex that had complicated things between them, Jenn realized. Things had been perfectly easy and simple before they’d started having sex. Things had definitely gotten weird if even Jack had picked up on the undercurrents.

  Both she and Nick were both reasonable adults, however. They could work things out in a way that both of them would be content with. She was going to talk to him as soon as they were alone.

  “Stop putting your nose into what doesn’t concern you,” she told him bluntly. “Or I’ll start to ask you about your own love life.”

  “That’s easy. I don’t have one at present.”

  “I don’t believe that for one minute. You’re saying there’s really no one?” She peered at his face and saw a flicker of something. “Ah ha! There is someone. Who is she?”

  “She’s no one. She lives next door, but she’s not remotely interested in me. So, like I said, there’s no one.”

  Jenn kind of liked that Jack was so willing to talk about his romantic interests. Most men she’d known hadn’t been open like that at all. “Well, she’s crazy if she’s not interested in you.” She reached over to put a hand on his wrist. “And you can tell her I said that, if you want.”

  Jack laughed, his eyes briefly flickering over her shoulder before they held her gaze again. “I’ll tell her that. Thanks.” His tone got warmer, and his gaze softened in a way that seemed entirely out of place.

  Jenn realized why when she became aware of a tense presence behind her. “Are you ready?” Nick
asked curtly.

  Jack had done that on purpose—tried to make Nick jealous. Jenn stiffened as she realized it. Boys were always playing games like that.

  With a sigh, Jenn stood up. “Yeah. It’s about time for me to get back to work.” She gave Jack a hug as they said goodbye and promised to stay in touch. Jenn wasn’t sure if it would happen or not, but she hoped so. She liked Jack a lot.

  Nick was glowering as they left the restaurant together.

  When they got to the end of the block, she stopped and glared up at him. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “You know what’s wrong.”

  “I do not. Jack did absolutely nothing inappropriate.”

  “I’m always going to think it’s inappropriate if another man comes on to my wife.”

  She smothered an impatient sound. “He didn’t come on to me. You were right there the whole time. He was just being friendly.”

  “We’ll have to disagree on that fact.”

  “You’re being ridiculous. You can’t possibly think that I would cheat on you.” Her voice broke at the idea of Nick’s trusting her so little. “You can’t think that.”

  Nick sighed, some of the tension finally leaving his face. “No. I don’t think that. But you could decide to end the marriage. Any time you want.”

  “So could you, but why would I want to do that?” She stared up at him, trying to convince him of her sincerity. “Why would I want to end things? I’m happy, Nick. I’m happy.”

  As she said the words, she realized how true they were. She was happy in her marriage to Nick—happier than she’d ever been. And that knowledge suddenly terrified her, the idea that it might get taken away.

  “Are you?” Nick asked, slightly rough.

  “Yes. Of course, I am. Aren’t you?”

  “I am.” He let out a long sigh and rubbed his hand over his face. “Why do you think I acted like such an asshole just now?”

  For some reason, his tone and words made Jenn laugh a little. “You were an asshole. Don’t do that again.”

  “And you don’t take lunch dates with old boyfriends again.”

  She gasped. “Jack wasn’t an old boyfriend!”

  “You were crazy about him.”

  “When I was fifteen! And he never even looked at me twice.”

  “That was his loss.” Nick’s expression had changed now. It wasn’t really relaxed, but the tension was of a different variety. His eyes were hot, and his expression almost possessive.

  It made her feel things she definitely shouldn’t be feeling on the corner of a city street. “I need to get back to work,” she said, just a little wobbly.

  “Do you?”

  “Yes. So you can stop looking at me that way.”

  “What way?” His voice was still thick, but not for the same reason. She recognized this voice of his well, and it made little shivers run up and down her spine.

  “You know what way. You’ve got that sex-look in your eyes.”

  “I don’t have a sex-look.”

  “Oh yes, you do. And you’re wearing it right now.”

  “There’s nothing I can do about that.” He wasn’t touching her, but it felt like he was.

  “You can stop looking at me that way.”

  “No way to stop myself. I’m way too far gone.”

  “Then you’re just torturing yourself. I have to get back to work.”

  “That’s what you said before.”

  “I meant it. We can’t have sex. I have a three o’clock appointment.”

  “It’s just after one. Plenty of time.”

  She leaned closer to him and whispered, “I’m not going to have a quickie in the back of my car or in my office!”

  “I know. We need someplace we can be really loud, anyway.”

  “Would you stop that? We don’t have time to go back home.”

  “I wasn’t thinking about home.” He glanced down the street, at an elegant, well-established hotel.

  She gasped again. “We can’t check into a hotel for sex!”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it’s…it’s crazy.”

  “Maybe. But you can’t tell me that you don’t want to do it too.”

  She did want to. Her body was coursing with excitement, and her skin had flushed with a delicious heat. But she was a mature, reasonable, professional woman. She didn’t play hooky from work to check into a hotel for sex, no matter how much she wanted to. “But…I have that…appointment.”

  “I’ll have you back in the office before three.” He gave her a smile that was almost predatory. “Be bad for once. You know you want to.”

  “Okay.”

  She couldn’t believe she’d just said that. Her eyes widened as she realized what she’d agreed to. But Nick didn’t give her time to rethink it. He grabbed her hand and dragged down her the block toward the hotel.

  It didn’t take any time at all for them to get a room—for the night, of course, since they weren’t about to admit they just needed it for a couple of hours—and then head upstairs to a quiet room decorated with an elegant gentility.

  Nick didn’t give Jenn time to look around or even kick off her shoes. He hauled her into a kiss and pushed her back against the wall of the entryway.

  Jenn’s head spun and her body throbbed and she clung to Nick desperately, trying to catch up to what seemed to be happening.

  As they kissed, Nick’s hands roamed all over her body, pushing aside her clothes when they got in the way. She was turned on before she would have believed it was possible and started grinding herself against the hardness of his body.

  “Nick, this is crazy!” she gasped, at one point. “It’s one-thirty on a Friday afternoon.”

  “So?”

  “I didn’t call into the office to tell them I’d be late. Mary is going to worry.”

  “She’ll get over it.” Nick had been pressing kisses against her jaw and neck, but now he pulled back, his face damp and hungry. “Tell me you want to do this.”

  There was nothing she could say but the truth. “I want to do this,” she whispered.

  He made a growling sound and pulled her farther into the room, but he didn’t get all the way to the bed. He backed her up against the dresser and started to take off her skirt, jacket, and blouse, dropping each piece of clothing onto the floor when he’d removed it.

  Jenn felt completely out of control, like her body had a will of its own. She couldn’t do anything but gasp and then moan when Nick started to caress her.

  Soon, he was leaning over with her breast in his mouth, teasing the nipple with his tongue through the satin of her bra. She was off-balance, clutching the edge of the dresser and trying to keep from melting into a puddle on the floor.

  “Damn, you’re so hot, sweetheart,” Nick muttered, pulling away enough to gaze at her, his eyes full of lust and a kind of dominance she wasn’t used to seeing there. “Turn around for me.”

  She normally would have questioned his bossiness, but she had no desire to resist him at the moment. She turned around, staring at herself in the mirror over the dresser as Nick moved behind her and started to stroke his hands over her body again.

  So she had to watch as her nipples grew tight beneath the fabric, as her cheeks flushed even more deeply, as her features twisted with pleasure so sharp it ached. Her hair was tousled around her face and shoulders, and Nick’s hands were big and skillful as they teased and fondled her.

  When one of his hands slid between her legs, she gave a little cry and bent forward, planting her hands on the dresser to keep from falling.

  “That’s right,” Nick murmured thickly, staring at her in the mirror. “Give yourself up to this. Let go. This is you too.”

  She didn’t know how it could possibly be her—this wild, erotic woman—but evidently it was. She whimpered helplessly as Nick worked her up into a fervor and then finally moved his hand beneath the waistband of her panties.

  She was already very wet, and she cried out loud
ly when he slid one finger inside her.

  “Now you can watch yourself come,” he murmured, his eyes still raking over her face and body.

  She had to bend over even more, holding on to the dresser desperately as he took her with his fingers. She bit her lip to stifle the loud sounds she was making, but she couldn’t hold all of them back. He brought her just to the edge of orgasm and then pulled back his hand.

  “Nick,” she rasped, almost sobbing at the loss of sensation. “Nick, please. Make me come.”

  “I will, sweetheart. I will.” He fumbled with his trousers and then with a condom. Then he bent her further at the waist and moved aside her panties to line himself up.

  When he entered her, she released a shameless moan at the deeper penetration.

  “That’s right, sweetheart,” he murmured, sliding his hand up and down her back as he fit himself into her more snugly. “You’re doing so good. You can take all of me. Just give yourself up to this.”

  She couldn’t stop making silly, mewling sounds as he moved just slightly inside her. Then, after a minute of agonizing anticipation, he made a slow thrust.

  She huffed and clutched at the dresser, unable to tear her eyes away from her own face and Nick’s deeply possessive expression behind her.

  As he built up a faster, harder rhythm, she couldn’t possibly stifle her cries of pleasure and need. She was saying things like, “Please, Nick,” “Faster, harder,” and “I need this so much.” She had absolutely no control over what was coming out of her mouth or what her body was doing. She couldn’t move much in her position, and he was holding her bottom in a strong grip, so all she could do was feel and take what he was giving her.

  She was sobbing loudly—far too loud for a hotel—when her body finally couldn’t take anymore. It erupted in waves of deep, helpless pleasure that caused her vision to briefly white out.

  She was still babbling as she came down, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her back and thighs ached, and her knees were shaking dangerously.