The Wives of Beverly Row 5: Lust Has a New Address Read Online Free PDF Page A

knew she had to be strong, she couldn’t let her attraction to Matt cloud the fact that she loved her husband. She was trying to be faithful. She wanted to be a good wife. So what if she was lonely? So what if she was sexually unfulfilled? There was more to life than satisfying sex, wasn’t there?
    “So,” Matt said, looking around the empty space. “What are we looking at here?”
    Veronica looked around. Now that she’d signed the lease she suddenly felt overwhelmed by the space. “My gosh,” she said. “I don’t know where to begin.”
    “Well,” Matt said, helpfully, “we’ve got a great place to start from. You’ve chosen really well. The basics are all here. All we need to do is the cosmetic stuff. That’s floors, walls, and ceilings.”
    “When you put it like that it doesn’t sound so overwhelming.”
    “It’s really not,” Matt said. “I can get started today if you like. I’ll rip out this old equipment, the drywall along here and counters, these cabinets, the drop ceiling.”
    “Today?”
    “Sure, I’ve got the whole day free. I’m as eager as you are,” he said.
    There was something mischievous in his voice. Eager was a very telling word choice. Was he flirting with her?
    “Well,” she said. “I’m ready when you are.”
    Veronica followed Matt outside to his truck. She was surprised when they got out on the street to see that he’d ordered a bin too. There was a tow truck on the street delivering the massive bin, parking it right outside her building.
    “We’ve got two days to fill that thing,” Matt said. “We better not waste them.”
    “Yes, sir,” Veronica said.
    They went to Matt’s truck and he put on his tool belt. He also rolled up the sleeves on his plaid shirt and changed his boots.
    “Have you got anything for me to wear?” she said playfully.
    “As a matter of fact,” Matt said, a big grin on his face. He pulled out a brand new pair of women’s work boots, exactly her size.
    Veronica smiled. He’d been so thoughtful. He also had a new pair of gloves for her to wear, some plastic safety glasses and knee pads. She put the new clothing on over her jeans and shirt and by the time she was dressed she felt ready to take on the world.
    Matt led the way back inside carrying two heavy tool boxes. They started work immediately and barely stopped till lunch time. When they finally took a break, Veronica was amazed at how much progress they’d made. All the old fixtures had been ripped out and were now in the back of the bin outside. The drop ceiling had been torn down, exposing the beautiful original copper tiles that had been hidden above it. The place looked more spacious, airier, the ceilings were more than a foot higher.
    “I can’t believe the difference,” Veronica said.
    “It’s amazing what can happen when you decide to make it happen.”
    “It is,” she said. She only wished she could make as much change in her personal life as they’d made to the building. If there was one thing she would change about her life, it would be her husband. She felt guilty even thinking it, but deep down she knew that she’d married the wrong man. As good as Hank was to her, she knew that she would have been happier, more satisfied as a person, if she was married to Matt. And it wasn’t just a crush, she knew that. She was only too aware of the danger of imagining that she’d be happier with a man who wasn’t her husband. She’d seen so many women throw away perfectly good marriages for some meaningless fling that had ended in disaster. And she knew that wasn’t the kind of relationship she would have with Matt. They’d been secretly in love for years. It was the real thing. A life with Matt would have been a happy life for Veronica.
    She shook her head. She couldn’t allow herself to think like that. Hank was the one who was paying the rent for this place. It was his generosity that was allowing her to spend these delightful hours with Matt. He was a good man