Madeleine Strays: A Wife-Watching Romance Read Online Free PDF Page A

felt his erection pressing gently against her. She let out a quiet moan as he pushed forward. “You realize I’m going to have sex on the brain now when I meet this guy?”
    Hugo chuckled. “You should, honey.”

Four
    Waiting for her, he felt he should have been more prepared for the gut-wrenching uncertainty of it all, having been through it before.
    He was, perhaps, a little less worried than the last time. When she’d made him think she was actually playing at being a prostitute, he had all the fears about the inherent risks that went with that oldest of professions. At least this time it was merely a first date.
    She’d told him they were going to Calloway’s, a fairly up-market Midtown steak house, a fairly safe venue.
    He had to try to relax—plenty of young women went on plenty of first dates in New York City, you couldn’t dwell on the minuscule possibility that she’d chosen to date an axe murderer. And anyway, the guy knew she was married—had to know her husband would come after him if he got abusive.
    Even with his artificial attempts at calming himself, lounging in front of the TV with another feast from Domino’s to keep him company, time seemed to crawl by as he waited.
    About half an hour in, his phone buzzed, which made him jump half a foot into the air. First thought, naturally, was that Madeleine was in trouble. It turned out to be from Lucy of all people.
    > So it’s finally happening???
    The three question marks at least conveyed their Maid of Honor’s state of mind, and suggested she was still being kept relatively up to date on the personal details of what was going on between Hugo and Madeleine. It made Hugo laugh—Lucy was so in need of gossip, so in need of the juicy details, she couldn’t wait barely half an hour into the date for the latest.
    He texted back:
    > She just left 30mins ago. Probably hasn’t even got there yet!
    A fraction of a second later, her reply:
    > You actually feeling okay right now?
    He actually felt touched that Lucy cared. She seemed to have changed her attitude toward him since they’d all moved to New York. He’d always got the hint of suspicion in Boston, in the latter years, that she had blamed him for Madeleine’s constant distress. There was none of that feeling now. These days she seemed to want to take him under her wing, like he was some kind of favorite little brother.
    He texted her back:
    > Feeling good. Happy it’s finally happening, hoping it’s what she really wants and that it turns out great.
    Well, that was fairly vague. But there was no way he was going to be able to communicate the nest of vipers going on inside him to anybody within the space of a text message.
    > You’re a special guy, Hugo. Madeleine’s unbelievably lucky to have you. But know we can stop all this at any time, if you have any doubts about it.
    He got the impression that she and Madeleine had spoken at length about all this, that Lucy perhaps saw the need to step in and ensure everything was all right even if Hugo couldn’t bring himself to tell his wife directly. The way she used the word we in her text was oddly comforting to Hugo. Perhaps it really was a good thing that she was being kept in the loop with what was going on.
    Making use of that word we , he texted back:
    > Thanks, I know we can stop it if we have to. I’m really good now, though. Really want her to have this experience if possible, I know it sounds crazy.
    Lucy texted back:
    > Crazy good! God I wish I was married and had a husband like you. Keep me updated!
    As his text message conversation with Lucy came to a close, one more SMS came in, though this time from Madeleine’s number:
    > Just arrived. Think I can see him at the table. Wish me luck!
    Hugo wished her luck, his stomach doing cartwheels as he typed the message and hit the send button. By the time he’d sent a dutiful text to Lucy letting her know the date had started, he found that his heart rate and his breathing had quickened,