Husband Stay (Husband #2) by Louise Cusack Read Free Book Online

the
crunch. I needed to admit that meeting Jack had made me face the truth that I’d
been faking orgasms all my adult life and was now wondering if I could even
have one with a man. And if I could, presumably that would be with a man who
turned me on.
    Only...Jill was
likely to encourage me to try, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted that because it
might distract me from the important work of raising babies.
    Or at least,
that’s what I’d been thinking before I’d arrived on Jill’s doorstep. But she
and Finn were clearly hot for each other, and seemed completely relaxed about
bringing children into their lives.
    So now I was
confused. What was my problem?
    The alcohol was
suddenly a liability.
    “Ange?” She’d
waited me out, but was frowning now. “I can’t help if I don’t know.”
    I shook my head,
and said the first thing that popped into my mind. “You’re different to me.”
    “Yes. And...?”
    “If you tell me
what you’d do, that might confuse me more.”
    She nodded, but I
could see she was struggling with patience, probably thinking Why did you
bring this up if you’re not going to blab?
    The wine was swirling
through my system faster than I’d expected it to, and no sleep last night
wasn’t helping.
    I put my glass
down and Jill picked up the bottle, mistakenly thinking I wanted a top up. I
shook my head. “Empty stomach.”
    “I’ll make lunch.
What do you feel like?” She got up from the table with the wine bottle, but the
mention of food triggered a memory.
    “Finn told me you
were making lunch this morning, and that’s why you sent him.”
    She didn’t meet my
eyes for a moment, and when she looked up I was surprised to see her blushing.
“It was a test.”
    “Jinx!” I shook my
head. “Who were you testing? Him or me?”
    She looked lost
for a moment. “Me. I need to trust him around other women, but it’s hard. He’s
so goddamn gorgeous.”
    “So are you.” She
frowned at that, so I added, “You have to get over this, J. It will drive you
crazy if you don’t.”
    “I know.” She
shook her head. “I’m fine with Lizzie. She’s so adorable you can’t be jealous
of her. But...”
    Lizzie was Finn’s
gay foster cousin, all fluffy blonde hair and big blue eyes. She and her wife
couldn’t get pregnant through IVF, so they’d asked Finn to ‘help’, and
embarrassing thought it had been for both he and Lizzie, his sperm donation had
managed to get her pregnant. Lizzie was eternally grateful, but Finn had been
completely weirded-out by the experience, although he’d accepted that Lizzie
and Sieu didn’t want sperm from a stranger.
    The child was to
be their child, nothing to do with Finn at his insistence, and the whole
thing had happened before he’d met Jill. In fact, the baby was due anytime now.
So it was great that Jill had gotten over her angst and was mates with Lizzie,
but unfortunate that ‘worst case scenario’ hadn’t cured Jill of her jealousy
issues.
    I stood and
touched her arm. “What will it take for you to trust Finn completely?”
    She shook her
head. “There’s the million-dollar question.”
    “It will come.” I
patted her arm. “Time and good behavior will win you over. You did the right
thing by trusting him this far.” Her internal struggles had been heroic before
she’d succumbed to his steadfast love.
    “If I stay in the
moment, I’m fine.” She shook her head again. “He’s as good as gold. But if I
think about the past...” That was her father who’d run off with another woman when
we were all children, and had left her family homeless. “...or the future, I
worry.”
    I nodded, wishing
I could just pull her into a hug and make everything alright for her. “Can I
offer you some advice?”
    Her cheeky smile
broke through. “By all means. Don’t listen to my gems of wisdom, but spout your
own.”
    I had to laugh at
that. But it didn’t stop me saying, “My mother used to say, Most of the
things I’ve worried about in my