“I think we covered that point. Didn’t we agree that, if I want to have sex with someone, I tell you.”
“Yes, but I didn’t think it would be me.”
“Why not?”
Why not?
Why not?
“You really want to have sex with me?” My voice isn’t as controlled as I’d like it to be, but I’m having another hot flash I definitely don’t want him to see.
He gives a half shrug. “We’re married. We’re in bed together. We might as well have a little fun.” His tone is as light and cool as it always is—with absolutely no sign that he’s invested in the outcome of this discussion.
Maybe he really thinks about sex as a minor, recreational activity that can be performed in any context without affecting anything else in his world.
But that’s not how sex has ever worked for me, and I’m still having trouble articulating my response.
And he’s lounging there against his pillows, waiting for me to answer.
“I’m not having sex with you, Trevor,” I finally manage to say. “I don’t even really like you.”
I’m not trying to be mean. He knows perfectly well how I feel about him. He feels the same way about me. I’m trying to explain that I have to at least like someone to have sex with them.
“What has that got to do with it?” He turns slightly toward me. “You’d enjoy it.”
“I would not.”
“Yes, you would.” His eyes suddenly take on a smoldering heat that makes my breath hitch, that makes every cell of my body scream about how much it wants Trevor to touch it. “Don’t pretend you haven’t thought about it.”
“You—you—ugh! You have no idea what I’ve thought about. I can’t believe how appallingly arrogant you are. I’m telling you straight out that I don’t want to have sex with you.”
“All right. You can change your mind whenever you want.”
“I’m not going to change my mind.”
“We’ll see.” When he sees my face at this, he raises up his hands in mock surrender. “Don’t bite my head off. It was just a suggestion. No need to be so prickly.”
“Prickly? You’re actually calling me prickly?”
“Aren’t you?”
“No! I’m behaving the way any woman with a brain would behave when faced with a man as smug and obnoxious as you are. It doesn’t mean I’m prickly. I’m just not going to melt into a puddle of goo because you give me a sexy look. Believe it or not, every woman in the world isn’t waiting with bated breath for you to deign to take them to bed.”
His eyes aren’t sexy anymore. They’re laughing, although his mouth is perfectly composed. It’s an irresistible expression, and I have the worst time not smiling back.
I manage to maintain a disapproving frown. “I’m not prickly.”
“Fine. For the peace of our marital bed, I’ll agree that you’re not prickly.”
“And even if I was prickly, you deserve to get stuck a few times.”
He laughs. Not his low-key chuckle, which is all the laughter I’ve ever heard from him in the past. He laughs for real.
Listening to it, I’m washed with the strangest flood of feeling. Pleasure. Satisfaction. Amusement. Pride.
I really can’t believe I made Trevor Bentley laugh that way.
“Okay,” he says at last. “No sex. At least not tonight. Do you mind if I turn on the TV?”
So I read my book, and he flips between the news and sports. When I put down my book, he clicks off the television.
Then it’s dark in the room, and I can hear him breathing. I can feel every adjustment of his body.
At one point in the dark, I mutter, “I can’t believe you asked if I want to have sex with you.”
He just laughs again.
YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE about Part-Time Husband here.
About Noelle Adams
NOELLE HANDWROTE HER first romance novel in a spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. She has lived in eight different states and currently resides in Virginia, where she writes full time, reads any book she can get her hands on, and offers tribute to a very spoiled cocker spaniel.
She loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of her life in graduate school, she has decided to reorient her priorities and focus on writing contemporary romances. For more information, please check out her website: noelle-adams.com.
Books by Noelle Adams
One Fairy Tale Wedding Series
Unguarded
Untouched
Unveiled
The Loft Series
Living with her One-Night Stand
Living with her Ex-Boyfriend
Living with her Fake Fiancé
Tea for Two Series
Falling for her Brother’s Best Friend
Winning her Brother’s Best Friend
Seducing her Brother’s Best Friend
Balm in Gilead Series
Relinquish
Surrender
Retreat
Rothman Royals Series
A Princess Next Door
A Princess for a Bride
A Princess in Waiting
Preston’s Mill Series (co-written with Samantha Chase)
Roommating
Speed Dating
Complicating
Eden Manor Series
One Week with her Rival
One Week with her (Ex) Stepbrother
One Week with her Husband
Christmas at Eden Manor
Beaufort Brides Series
Hired Bride
Substitute Bride
Accidental Bride
Heirs of Damon Series
Seducing the Enemy
Playing the Playboy
Engaging the Boss
Stripping the Billionaire
Willow Park Series
Married for Christmas
A Baby for Easter
A Family for Christmas
Reconciled for Easter
Home for Christmas
One Night Novellas
One Night with her Best Friend
One Night in the Ice Storm
One Night with her Bodyguard
One Night with her Boss
One Night with the Best Man
The Protectors Series (co-written with Samantha Chase)
Protecting His Best Friend’s Sister
Protecting His Enemy
Protecting the Girl Next Door
Protecting the Movie Star
Standalones
A Negotiated Marriage
Listed
Bittersweet
Missing
Revival
Holiday Heat
Salvation
Excavated
Overexposed
Road Tripping
Chasing Jane
Late Fall
Fooling Around
Married by Contract
Trophy Wife
Bay Song
Her Reluctant Billionaire
Second Best