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for a conversation about the weather every now and then.”
    “Wow. Wait. Back that up. Sex?” Color him surprised.
    “Yes, sex, Cole. Is that such a shocking thought?” She
wiggled her hand free of his and crossed her arms over her chest, plumping her
breasts.
    Sex, her boobs—it made for a distracting cocktail.
    “Well, uh—”
    Tanya steamrolled over him. He’d opened the door and she’d
stepped through. There was no shutting it now.
    “I miss you actually talking to me. God forbid, I miss sex.
I miss feeling like we’re a goddamned couple. And this is not how I wanted to
have this discussion.” One of the hair ties that were all over the house seemed
to appear magically in her hand, and up went her hair.
    The truth was he missed those things too, but any time he
opened his mouth or got the urge, she was busy. If he were honest with himself,
he could do more. He knew it and still he pulled back.
    “You know what’s embarrassing? The girls took me to an adult
novelty store today and I actually bought their crap thinking it might help.
But no. Never mind. Go to bed. You look exhausted.”
    “You bought stuff at a sex shop?” Suddenly he didn’t feel
quite so tired.
    Tanya busied her hands with the dishes again, but her cheeks
were turning a bright scarlet. The idea of his wife surrounded by dildos and
masks was going to fuel a good laugh—later. Right now his shortcomings as a
husband were glaring at him.
    “Yes, okay?” The anger seeped away, replaced by her
signature frustration with compressed lips, high color and refusal to look at
him. Tanya could never stay angry long, for which he was eternally grateful.
He’d never slept on the couch as a result.
    “What did you buy?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Yes, you did. You said so.” He stepped behind her and placed
his hands over her hips, pulling her firm ass against his groin. Her scrubbing
rhythm faltered. “Come on, tell me what you bought.”
    “Forget it. It’s stupid.” Her voice quavered in the telltale
fashion that foretold tears.
    Shit.
    He reached around her and unplugged the sink.
    “Cole.”
    He turned her in place so she faced him. “Babe, it’s not
stupid. I’m sorry we don’t talk as much. We’re both busy and—”
    “And you’re my husband. We should make time for each other.”
    Busted.
    There was no denying the truth. He kissed her forehead in a
silent plea for forgiveness. She answered it by looping her arms around his
waist and hugging him, her head tucked perfectly under his chin, their bodies
lining up just right.
    “You’ll show me?” he said into her hair.
    Tanya turned her face into his chest and muttered something
that sounded like, “Yes.”
    “I’m going to take the trash and recycling out. Why don’t
you go get your new toys ready and I’ll be back in a minute?” He would need a
moment to get his head screwed on straight. Besides the weird stuff her friends
had given her before their wedding, they’d never brought anything into the
bedroom with them. They’d never needed toys or anything to get off, so he
didn’t see the point. Still, the novelty was appealing.
    “Okay.” Tanya pivoted and walked swiftly out of the kitchen.
    Cole watched her leave, committing the image to memory.
    What kind of an asshole was he that he ignored his wife’s
needs and made her genuinely embarrassed to approach him about something like
sex?
    He stalked across the kitchen, dug the trash and recycling
bags out of the receptacles and took them to the garage.
    Early on, when they lived in Nowhere, USA, the sense of
wonder that she loved him, Cole, the guy who could barely graduate high school
by the skin of his teeth, never ceased to amaze him. Hell, he’d only passed
because his grand scheme of getting the pretty girl to tutor him had worked out
so well. Not only had she tutored him, she’d given him her heart. Even after
thirteen years he was still waiting for her to wake up and realize her mistake
and divorce him. Waiting