Married by Contract Read Online Free PDF

worth the trouble?”
    Nick reached out to brush her
hair back from her face in an uncharacteristically gentle gesture. “It is
definitely worth the trouble,” he murmured. “I’m fine with once a week, if
that’s what you’re comfortable with.”
    She swallowed over a
tightness in her throat. “So no more than once a week, and we both have to
agree to the time and place.”
    “Do we actually have to
schedule it in advance?” His voice was mild, completely uninflected, but there
was the slightest quiver of his lips.
    She narrowed her eyes. “I
thought you said you weren’t making fun of me.”
    “I wasn’t then. I might be a
little bit now.” He laughed and reached out to pull her into a soft hug. “You
know I adore you, sweetheart. If you want to schedule our weekly sex
appointments in advance, then I’m totally game.”
    She hugged him back, her
chest filled with a fondness that wasn’t unfamiliar but that she usually didn’t
acknowledge. “We don’t have to schedule them in advance,” she mumbled into his
shirt. “We can be spontaneous. We just both have to be in the mood.”
    “Sounds good to me.” He
released her and drew back, smiling with that same soft look that caused weird
little flutters in her stomach. “You’ll want to add this to our contract, I’m
sure.”
    “Yes. We better. Just to keep
things tidy. Is that all right?”
    “Of course.” He leaned
forward to give her a soft kiss on the cheek and then stood up. He’d pulled
back on his flannel pants, but his chest was still bare. “I’ll sign whatever
you want me to sign. I’m not going to say no to sex.”
    She gazed up at him,
wondering how it would feel to stroll through life the way he did, just letting
things occur and not trying to arrange them himself. She wondered what had
happened to him in the Army. She tried to remember what he’d been like in high
school, but she only had a few vague recollections of a cute guy who’d been
several years older than her whom everyone in town had loved.
    “What is it?” he asked, his
eyebrows drawing together.
    “Nothing. You’re sure you’re okay
with this?”
    “Why wouldn’t I be? I’ve got
no ties or commitments elsewhere. Why wouldn’t I take sex when it’s offered?”
    “Yeah, but it might be easier
for you to just keep seeing escorts or whatever you’ve been doing.”
    He gave a little shrug. “I
haven’t been seeing much of anyone lately.”
    This piece of information
shouldn’t have made her feel so happy, but it did. It really did. “Oh. Me
either.”
    His face relaxed slightly.
“Okay. Good. It sounds like we’re both satisfied with the arrangement. No need
for either of us to worry about anyone’s feelings.”
    “Good.”
    “Good.”
    “I’ll talk to my lawyer about
the contract tomorrow.”
    “Naturally.”
    She tried to hide a smile at
his dry tone. “Now get out of here before you start making fun of me again.”
    Nick was laughing as he left,
and Jenn wanted to hug herself with exhilaration. She had no idea how this had
happened, but her weeks felt a little brighter and more exciting now, since sex
with Nick would be a part of them.

Three
     
    Three
and a half weeks later, Jenn woke up earlier than usual.
    It was still dark outside,
and she tried to roll over and go back to sleep for another half-hour, but her
mind drifted into dangerous thoughts, thoughts that wouldn’t allow her to
sleep.
    She kept imagining having sex
with Nick again four days from now.
    The four times they’d had sex
so far had been amazing. On Tuesday of this week, it had been exactly a week
since they’d had sex the previous week, so Jenn had come home from work,
excited about the possibility of having it again—assuming Nick was in the mood.
    He’d been in the kitchen, and
they’d made stilted conversation for a few minutes. Then Nick had said out of
the blue, “I’m ready for sex any time you are.”
    Jenn had almost groaned in
relief as she’d told him she was