Ruthless by Shelia M. Goss Read Free Book Online

it seems. Those six months will fly by.” Uriah tried his best to convince her, but Sheba wasn’t having it.
    â€œSo when are you supposed to be leaving?” Sheba asked.
    â€œMonday morning.”
    â€œThat’s in two days. What’s David’s number? I can’t believe he’s taking my husband away from me.”
    â€œBaby, calm down. I’m not giving you his number. You’ll make me lose my job.”
    â€œForget your job. Any job that takes a husband away from his wife for long periods of time is no job worth having.”
    Uriah pulled Sheba into his arms. “Look at me,” he said. She refused to. He placed his hand on her chin and tilted her head up so she was looking into his eyes. “Look at me,” he repeated.
    Sheba rolled her eyes. “What, Uriah? Looks like you’ve already made up your mind.”
    â€œBaby, I’m doing this for us. You want the new house. You want to do all of the shopping. Well, me going to Afghanistan will only get us in the new house sooner. The bonus I’ll be making for taking this transitional position will put me in the high six figures.”
    â€œI’m trying to be understanding. I do want the house, but it doesn’t mean I’m happy about this. I love you, baby, and I don’t want to stay in this house without you in it.”
    â€œIt’s only temporary. When we get the office set up there, I’ll be coming back here. You know it’s temporary because I’ll still be overseeing the Shreveport office.”
    Sheba thought about it. He had a point. If he wasn’t being removed from his Shreveport post, then the Afghanistan job was only temporary. Her gut told her that it wasn’t a good move, but knowing that she would be in her big two-story house sooner and would not have to hear Uriah complain about her spending money pushed her reservations to the side.
    Uriah went into the bathroom. Sheba picked up her phone and called her manager. “Uriah’s leaving for Afghanistan. I need to take the next few days off,” she explained. “I’ll work doubles if I have to. It’ll be six months before I see him again.”
    â€œI didn’t know your husband was in the military,” her manager said.
    â€œHe’s not. His job is taking him there. I’m not happy about it, but it’s something he has to do, or he might lose his job.”
    â€œConsider your time granted.”
    Sheba thanked her manager and then ended the call. She watched her husband reenter the room. He sat down next to her on the edge of the bed.
    â€œI don’t want our last few days together to be memories of us arguing,” he said.
    Sheba said, “They won’t be. I just took the next few days off. Ironically, the day you leave is the day I go back to my regular shift.”
    â€œLet big daddy make you feel better,” Uriah said.
    â€œNo, baby. Let me make you feel better,” Sheba said. Sheba wanted her husband to be fully satisfied so he would not be tempted by any women that he came across. Six months was a long time.
    About an hour after their lovemaking, Uriah lay next to her, snoring. Sheba remained wide awake. She rubbed his arm. She loved the feel of his arms around her as she slept. She would miss it. She knew she could be a handful at times, but she loved her husband.
    They had met while in college and had been practically inseparable ever since. They had been surprised to learn they both were from Shreveport and knew some of the same people. Getting married young wasn’t in Sheba’s original plans, but how could she say no when Uriah proposed to her? He was everything she felt she needed in a man at the time. She loved him with all her heart. Her mother adored him, too.
    The only regret she had was that she and Uriah had never had any kids. It wasn’t that they hadn’t tried. She’d stopped taking birth control pills over five years ago.