Part-Time Wife by Susan Mallery Read Free Book Online Page B

did time-outs or sent the boys to their rooms, and I was afraid if I demanded he do something, he wouldn't. He's even taller than me."
    "So what did you do?"
    "I challenged him to an arm-wrestling match. If I won, he had to do what I said. If he won, he got to watch TV for the rest of the weekend." She paused and took a sip of water. "I don't know if it's right or not, but when kids get old enough, I like to work out a compromise with them. Time-outs, then removing privileges. I make deals, because that's a part of life. No one gets everything all the time."
    He was intrigued. And impressed. "Did you win?"
    She smiled slowly. "Yes, but at first I was afraid I wasn't going to. For what it's worth, he was a very gracious loser."
    "That's something." The pain at the back of his neck got worse. He rubbed it, wondering when it was going to go away. Probably about the time he got his life together. Like in the next century or so.
    "What's wrong?" she asked.
    "Nothing. Just stress."
    "Do you want some aspirin?"
    "That would be great."
    She walked across the family room and into her bedroom. When she returned carrying two pills in the palm of her hand, he felt another flash of pain that had nothing to do with the tightness of his muscles. This one involved his soul.
    He missed being a part of someone's life. He missed the day-to-day sameness of married life. He didn't miss being married to Krystal, but he missed being emotionally committed to a woman.
    He looked at Jill, at her pert features and her bright green eyes. She smiled as she handed over the medication. Their hands barely touched, yet he felt the jolt all the way to his groin.
    He'd hired Jill for the boys, to make their lives stable. He hadn't known inviting her into his home was going to cause him to want all the things he knew he could never have.

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    Chapter 4
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    " H ow was your day?" Jill asked as Craig took the aspirin and swallowed.
    He hesitated, not sure how to answer her question. A lot of his special project was confidential. Before he could decide what to tell her, she settled in the seat opposite him and wrinkled her nose.
    "Don't worry about it," she said briskly. "I understand you're involved in something secret. I wasn't asking to get privileged information, I was just being polite. You know. How was your day? My day was fine. That sort of thing."
    She tugged on a sleeve of her sweatshirt, pulling the cuff until it was up near her elbow. As she repeated the procedure on her other arm, he noticed how small and delicate her wrists were.
    "I'm not used to someone asking," he said at last, mostly because it was the truth. Lately no one had been around enough to bother. He leaned back in his chair and studied the bottle of beer in front of him. "It was … difficult. Every time I think I'm immune to the scum of the world, they manage to surprise me."
    She scooted forward and rested her elbows on the table. "What are they doing now?"
    "I can't talk about the specifics of the case, but I'll tell you what was reported in the press." He grimaced. "Not on the front page, of course. Someone ripping off the elderly isn't exciting enough."
    "Is that what's going on?"
    "Yeah. There's a ring of three, maybe four people who get in accidents with senior drivers. They'll stop suddenly so they get rear-ended, or they turn left on a yellow light and drive slow enough to get hit. Anything to make the victims think the accident is their fault. Then they pretend to be concerned, talking about how an aging parent lost his or her license because of an accident. They mention increased insurance rates. It's based on truth, which makes it more frightening for the victims. Often they convince the senior drivers to pay in cash for damages to the car."
    "The price of which is several times what it's supposed to be, right?" Jill asked, her green eyes flashing with anger. "How horrible. I don't understand people like that. It's cruel and ugly. I'm glad you're doing something to