Free Having Nathan's Baby by Fran Louise

specifically-”
    “Non-specifically, then, ” he said.
    I floundered for a moment. “Couples ask things of each other. Like –” I shook my head. What did couples ask each other for? “Time with each other, and support with things. With problems.”
    He was silent for a moment. Considering me, he placed the bottle on the table and then turned to face me. “I’m going to support you with the baby, Chloe. You know that, right?” he said.
    “Yes, but that’s not what I’m talking about.” I felt a rise of fuzzy confusion; why was he twisting my words like this? “This isn’t about you and me. I’m talking about normal relationships-”
    “Okay, but I want you to know you’re going to have my support. And my time. Whatever you need.” His tone was low with sincerity. “You promised me earlier you wouldn’t change your mind about this. So I’m promising you that I won’t, either.”
    Perplexed, I decided it was probably best to take his words at face value. I hadn’t needed him to say that; I hadn’t been worrying about it. Why had we started discussing this anyway?
    A smile lifted some of the heaviness from his eyes. “You’re really bad at this stuff, you know. Relationships and emotions. I thought I was bad.”
    I rolled my eyes. “I am not.” He chuckled at my sullen, childish retort. I regarded him for a moment, my emotions falling serious. “This sex thing ...” I said. I paused in wry contemplation. “I don’t think we’ve ever spent more than a few hours in each other’s company without it. I think it’ll be good for us. Force us to develop other interests together.”
    “You think?” His dark gaze caught mine and pinned it down. “We’ve played strip poker; strip chess, strip baking, strip pong; strip everything. Are there any other interests out there we have already sexualized in some way?”
    I was laughing even before he reached the strip baking part. “My God, those blueberry muffins. They were awful.”
    “I guess we could go for a walk, but we’ve done the outdoor sex thing, too. And then there was the pool sex. And the lake sex-”
    “We’ve also had a few conversations in the last ten years, as far as I remember-”
    “And sofa sex,” he said, his voice close to my ear.
    I shifted my weight. Last night had been sofa sex. It probably would have been bed sex, too, if we hadn’t arrived so late. Maybe he was right about this being an objective we were set to fail. I was glaringly aware of the sofa under us right now. The house was empty; there was no one to witness us breaking our own rules.
    I was still holding my breath when he smiled, releasing me. “Adam will be here any minute.” His low voice held a mildly satisfied tone; I wondered if he’d just wanted to prove he could have me if he wanted. He stood up. “Saved by the bell.”
    I brought my mutinous libido back under control. It was a bit like trying to get a hissing cat into a box.
    The rest of the weekend passed relatively calmly. We spent Saturday afternoon on the lake; Nathan had purchased a forty-foot pleasure boat – on a whim, it seemed, when he’d purchased the lake house – which he jokingly referred to as the little fishing boat. We took a few laps around the lake before lunch, and then tried our hand at fishing. We caught nothing, each of us worse than the next at it, but Adam and Rosalind were fun company and the afternoon passed quickly. We had a relaxing dinner, and then on Sunday we visited the farmer’s market in the village. After a long leisurely lunch we headed back to the house to get ready to leave. I promised to meet up with Rosalind again in the city in the coming weeks.
    After the other couple had left, I helped Nathan close the house up. Now waiting for me by the door, he seemed anxious to get on the road.
    “All set?” he said.
    I paused to look around the bright, spacious house, my eyes soothed by the warm colors coming from the lake and surrounding hills in the view. I