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He thues of the discarded book beside the computer Even the Bard couldn’t quiet the storht

Dinner with his wife and kids had been near perfect, so close to what he’d planned for hi his teen years Nice house Plenty of food The conversation was a bonus he hadn’t known he wasuntil Rena came into his life Sure he didn’t join in ht

And then she’d started cracking those chicken wing bones Bo’s breaking hand had echoed in his head And…

It was all too much Too much emotion, noise Storm

He’d retreated Except his quiet office, books, co him lanced up at the clock again, pendulu Rena was asleep--he’d checked That one look at her soft body curved into her pilloas the source of most of his current frustration

Chris was due hoo, but the office cased an e noises? Or so with his heart rate He slid the key into the bottom drawer of his desk, opened, pulled out his M9 Beretta pistol

The sounds could be nothing The hit-and-run could be nothing Or it could all be soet near his family

Another squeak of boards and a rustle spurred hi the sounds Quiet, stealthy sounds Should he have called the cops first? His hand fell to his cell phone in his back pocket, pulled it free and ready as he followed

His footsteps led him to the kitchen He slipped around the corner, socks silent on cerary intruder head deep in the refrigerator, a hty fine and fahtshirt he’d given Rena two Christun to his side and feasted on the luscious sight of his wife’s incredible ass while she feasted on whatever held her attention in the refrigerator

Adrenaline surged through hi him totally at the mercy of memories from last summer when he’d returned home from TDY--temporary duty He’d been on the road so ular TDYs to supply troops all around the world, he’d spent little time in his wife’s bed In his wife’s arms

In his wife’s body

He’d eased into the kitchen last su softly to the floor She’d heard, her spine straightening as she stood on a ladder stenciling an ivy border along the walls

A smile had tipped her profile, but she hadn’t moved, just waited for hirateful for his son’s band camp because--oh yeah--now Rena was alone in the house and he could wrap his arms around his wife to lift her off the ladder Slide her back along his front as he lowered her to the ground

He’d taken the green-soaked paintbrush froht of her brsts in his hands as she pressed her bottoth of his erection

Seconds later she’d been gripping the edge of the counter, her dress had been up, his zipper open, her thong snapped

An awesoh He needed to stay his course No risking sex until he convinced her he should stay

He crossed, placed his gun on top of the refrigerator

Rena julanced over her shoulder "God, JT! You scared a year offthe bowl forward like a peace offering "Want soet past the tehtshirt Who turned the air conditioner on so cold? "Heard a noise, and since you shouldn’t be up at all it never crossedup, anyway?"

"No chili? Okay, then More for ed a spoon and started shoveling She shouldn’t have appeared graceful in thefrenzy But she did "You see in the study, I didn’t want to bother you Can you reach down there for the grated cheese, please?"

She’d been watching hi low and south fast Kneeling in front of her to find the bag of cheese didn’t help He was at the perfect level to hitch up that satin and--

"Thanks" She snatched the cheese from his hand and sprinkled soo to the bathroootten the seven thousand bathroonant And then I realized I was starving In thesick, and then I spend the whole rest of the day unable to eat enough Crazy, huh?"

Crazy? He stood Yeah, he was definitely going nuts talking about puking when all he could think about was pressing her against the counter and hiking up her nightshirt Reenacting that memory of a better time before their world exploded He’d known the split was co, always expected the end Considered every day with her another dodged bullet Nope, he hadn’t been in the least surprised when his hand weights sailed out theand bounced off his book onto the lawn

However, he hadn’t expected another chance three o, a chance he’d blown ARena in the kitchen

Her eyes flashed with inspiration She snatched a pudding pack fros"

"Like before"

"Textbook" She lied into a seat, swinging her injured foot up onto one of the other chairs "Hope you don’t want any pudding, because this is the last one, so you’ll have to pry it out of erator shut He dropped into a chair across fro bites of chili and chocolate pudding She licked the spoon clean every tilide across her high cheekbones as a prelude to kissing away the chocolate on the corner of her mouth Damn, she was beautiful "I can’t believe I missed it"