Listed: Volume VI by Noelle Adams Read Free Book Online Page A

supposed he shouldn’t hope that she
would want to have sex again tonight. Just thinking about her was getting his
body excited.
    He
glanced at his watch and saw it was after nine o’clock. Emily would probably be
home soon from her dinner with Stacie.
    He
felt bored and restless and hoped she’d get home soon.
    But
he forced himself to focus on the email message on his computer screen and managed
to type out a reply. Then he made himself focus on the next email.
    “Are
you ever going to stop working?” a lilting voice demanded from the doorway
of his office.
    He
whirled around in his desk chair, his spirits brightening immediately at the
sight of Emily’s casual prettiness and her deep frown. “You’re the one who
abandoned me all day to go to class and then have dinner with Stacie.”
    “And
I’ve been back a full fifteen minutes, and you didn’t bother to emerge from
your cave.”
    He
couldn’t help but smile at her grumpy tone. “Why didn’t you tell me you were
home?” He got up and walked over to greet her.
    “I
was on the phone.” She returned his smile and was still smiling when she
grabbed his shirt with both hands and pulled him into a light kiss.
    “Anything
important?”
    “Chris.
He’s dating someone seriously, and he wants us all the have dinner together.”
    “Oh.
Okay.”
    “Is
that all right?”
    “Of
course,” he said. “You know I’ll do anything to make you happy.”
    She
curled up her lip. “Anything except let me stop getting tested for the virus
every week.”
    Paul
narrowed his eyes at the abrupt shift in topic. “Do we really have to fight
about that again tonight?”
    “No,”
she said, smiling again. “Not tonight. But it would make me very happy if you’d
stop working for the night and come hang out with me.”
    Paul
chuckled. She didn’t have to know he’d already intended to do just that. “For
you, I’ll make that sacrifice.”
    They
went to the media room to watch television, after making a stop in the kitchen
because Emily wanted some ice cream. When they’d settled on the couch, Emily
picked up their previous conversation. “So you’re really okay with the four of
us having dinner?”
    “Yes,”
he told her, meeting her eyes so she’d know he was sincere. “He’s a decent
guy.  I don’t mind at all.”
     “Okay.
Good. Thanks.” She gave a conclusive nod—a clear sign that this part of the
conversation was done. She took another spoonful of her ice cream and, when she
saw him watching, she asked, “You want some?”
    “No.
I’m good. How was class?”
    “Fine.
Kind of boring.” She made a face, staring at the television screen. “Biology
isn’t what you would call the most interesting thing in the world.”
    “It’ll
be required at any university you want to attend.”
    “I
know that,” she said with a sneer. “That’s why I’m taking it first thing.”
    This
semester, Emily was taking a couple of classes at a local university, just to
ease the transition into college full time.
    Paul
had told her many times that she could go to any school she wanted. She wasn’t
limited to one in Philadelphia just because she was married to him. They could
make it work wherever she wanted to go.
    “And
don’t think I don’t notice you trying to pick another fight.”
    “I’m
not trying to pick a fight,” he objected, turning to her in surprise. “And when
did I try to pick one before?”
    “First,”
she began, counting off items on her fingers, a move that was somewhat hampered
by the spoon in her hand. “You tried to pick a fight about my getting tested
for that damned virus every other day for the rest of my life.”
    Paul
stiffened in outrage. “ You were the one who brought that up, and it’s
not every other—”
    “And
second,” she cut in, blithely ignoring all of his facts, reason, and fair
corrections. “And second , you tried to pick a fight about my going to
some other college, when I’ve told you over and over that, of