Whatever It Takes by JM Stewart Read Free Book Online Page B

can think about is sex?”
    She expected another impish retort. Instead, the amusement in his eyes evaporated, a sudden, tense silence growing between them. His expression unreadable, he set his coffee cup behind him, pushed away from the counter, and made his way over to the table nestled in the breakfast nook. He bent for a moment to pet Fred, now asleep on the padded window seat, then straightened and snatched up the robe she’d flung over the back of a chair earlier.
    “Would you care to know
why
I love teasing you so much?” His tone a little
too
conversational, he returned to her, moving with the same, easy gait.
    “Please.” She waved a flippant hand in the air and rolled her eyes. “Enlighten me.”
    He stopped in front of her and set the robe on her shoulders. “Because I’m very aware of how much you lost last night, and teasing you always made you laugh. Out of all the things I miss about you, darlin’, I think I miss the sound of your laughter the most.”
    Whatever irritation she managed to muster deserted her on the quiet, defeated breath she blew out. This tender side of him always managed to reach out and grab her by the heart when she least expected it. Once again, the clear emotion in his voice and expression hit her as unexpected. Not once in the time since she’d left him had he ever told her he missed her.
    That’s what terrified her the most about living here again, how easily he could get to her. She’d discovered the hard way that loving him only led to heartache. Jackson Kade didn’t want a wife, a life partner. He wanted a trophy. Someone with which to fulfill the legacy his parents bestowed on him. His mother had told her as much when they married. Back then, Becca hadn’t believed a word the woman said, positive she’d played some sort of cruel game. His mother had never liked her and hadn’t bothered to hide it. Becca came from honest roots. Working class. Her family did well by itself, because they worked their tails off to make sure of it. She’d only seen her mother-in-law a handful of times, but the woman never hid the fact that she didn’t approve of their marriage. Or Becca.
    Now, she knew his mother was right. Jackson had proved it over and over again, every time he’d call from the office to tell her he’d be late and to not to wait up. When their last anniversary had come and he’d announced he had to go out of town on business, how much more proof did she need? Clearly, he’d only married her because she’d gotten pregnant.
    “How is irritating me going to make me laugh? And you miss me? Seriously? You sure have a funny way of showing it. I waited an entire month after I left for you to come get me. To tell me exactly that. That you missed me. But not once did you ever say it.” The words slipped from her lips weaker than she’d intended, full of all the pain still stuck in her chest. All because his hands had yet to leave her shoulders. His fingers kneaded the stiff muscles, slow, gentle, and torturous.
    The miniscule action only deepened the conflicting sensations swirling within her. Because his touch also soothed, and every time he did it, a tiny part of her caved, hoped, and when reality descended on her, like now, she wondered . . . why her? He could have his pick of women. Women who could be everything he needed.
    She was comfortable with herself, but she knew her limitations. She didn’t have the kind of luscious curves and long legs men drooled over. She was small, barely five foot four, and she had a boyish, muscular figure. No hips. No curves. Jackson was the first man to make her feel like a woman, to make her feel feminine and beautiful.
    “Our sixth anniversary would have been a month ago, did you realize that? Exactly a month ago yesterday.” His gaze settled on hers, dark and intense, boring holes through all of her defenses.
    The same look from yesterday, as if he had so much he wanted to say. Which made her wonder why he didn’t and