Free Between Then and Now by Rebecca Young Page A

“I need to get
cleaned up.”
    “ Okay. Dinner’s
going to be ready in ten minutes. We gotta leave for hockey
practice in half an hour.” She didn’t miss the wince. Seriously? “You forgot.
Ian, come on…I put it in your calendar, but you have to look at the
thing!”
    He lifted his hands in surrender,
but it didn’t matter. Just like that, the mood shifted, and, since
he must have felt it too, he turned and headed to their room. When
had happiness become so fragile? How could she love her husband so
much and still want to shake him silly?
    They hadn’t had enough time
together this year. That was for sure. She knew why he was taking
on more accounts, and it was good for their finances, but she’d
offered to go back to work full-time instead. If they were out of
the house at the same time, they’d have more time at home together.
And not just the two of them—the kids missed their dad as
well.
    But each time they’d talked, he’d
said the same thing. Maybe next year.
There’s no rush. Carrie knew his hope was
that she’d get pregnant again, and it would stick this time. He
didn’t need to spell it out for her. What’s the point of starting a new job only to go on
maternity leave again? And daycare for three is prohibitively
expensive. Just do your cakes.
    Music swelled in the living room. Kaylie had
managed to convince her brother to have a dance party. Two
beautiful kids. Healthy and happy. That was enough. For her. Not
for Ian.
    They needed to talk about that.
They needed to talk about a lot of things. She flipped off the
oven. Not now, but maybe they could make some time.
    She found Ian in the ensuite
bathroom. He pulled off his t-shirt, and she paused for a moment in
the doorway, letting her gaze drift lazily over his broad shoulders
and long back. He was a big guy, but moved with a casual grace that
took her breath away. The smooth, hard muscles in front of her
flexed as he swung his arms up over his head to stretch before
unbuckling his belt and letting his jeans drop to the tile floor.
Heat flooded her core as she realized he’d gone commando all
day.
    “ Hey, again.” She aimed for a sexy,
cute tone, but it didn’t hit the mark. He turned with a scowl.
There was a time when this would be the moment he’d flash a wicked
smile and invite her to join him in the shower. Now there wasn’t a
chance in hell they’d risk the kids discovering them naked
together, and right now, she wasn’t sure they liked each other
enough to share such a small space. “I’m sorry for
snapping.”
    “ I’m sorry for
forgetting.”
    She shrugged. Not the point of this
conversation. “I was thinking, maybe we could ask your parents to
babysit on Saturday night?”
    “ Sure. What do you want to do? Go
to a movie?”
    It was a reasonable suggestion, but
her skin prickled with irritation. Before she could stop herself,
her mind was snapping back a retort. Time
alone and you want to sit in a room full of strangers and not talk
to each other? “I was thinking something
more…just the two of us. Maybe we could stay home.”
    “ Why would we waste a babysitting
opportunity?”
    “ There are things
we can’t do with the kids here.” One last
shot to get it, buddy. “Like, if they were
at your parents, I could join you in the shower.”
    He grinned and stepped closer, sliding his
hands around her waist. “Okay, we can ask my parents to babysit on
the weekend so we can have shower sex.”
    She slapped at his back without effect as his
whole body shook with silent laughter. “Ian! I’m
serious.”
    “ I get it, babe.” He kissed her
neck, squeezed her one last time, and moved back to the shower.
“You want some quality time. We’ll make that happen, I
promise.”
    “ That’s not it—” Her protest died
on her tongue as he stepped under the stream of water. It was more
than just quality time, but how could she explain that to Ian when
she couldn’t properly quantify it for herself?
    She was still grumpy