Free The Marriage Charm (Bliss County 2) by Linda Lael Miller Page B

lug around. “So I’m an idiot,” she told the cats. “Don’t rub it in.”
    The consensus was that Ralph, Waldo and Emerson agreed with this assessment. She hurried to the bathroom, throwing off her clothes on the way. Maybe a shower would clear her head. She’d just spent an extremely energetic morning having sex. Really unforgettable, steamy sex that she should put out of her mind.
    And her heart.
    Especially her heart, she thought as she stepped into the stream of hot water. Spence had casual affairs, but she didn’t. He had condoms at his bedside, which proved it.
    She needed to talk this through with someone she trusted.
    Hadleigh was on her honeymoon and therefore out of reach, but she could unburden herself to Bex. After she’d worked on the commissioned piece, of course. She wasn’t positive she’d fess up completely, but she could admit that being together with Spence for the whole wedding gala had thrown her off—which was not a lie.
    At all.
    At the very least she needed to mull it over, and as she’d found when a problem presented itself, talking about it out loud, with a friend, worked best. Besides, Bex was nothing if not forthright, and a good sounding board, and what were friends for, anyway?
    Her cell rang.
    She’d turned off the spray and was reaching for her towel when it happened. The illuminated screen showed Spence’s number, and she said a word no lady should ever utter. But after a moment, she picked up.
    “You lit out of here pretty fast,” he said without a greeting. “You okay?”
    That was a difficult question to answer, Melody thought, and he had quite a bit of nerve asking it. With admirable calm, she said, “Spence, I’ve lived without you for nine years. Why would I not be okay now?”
    In retrospect, that had been kind of a low blow.
    He was silent for so long that Melody wondered if they’d lost the connection. Finally, though, he spoke again. “I was wondering, since you skipped out on lunch, if you’d like to have dinner with me.”
    Dinner?
    Tonight? No. Too soon, too much, too fast.
    She’d end up in his bed again. A trust had been breached—and it was with herself. She had to, once again, question her own judgment.
    “I don’t know.” The truth, but that sounded a little harsh, so she modified it. “I mean tonight is impossible.”
    “Heavy schedule, I get it.” The hint of sarcasm might even have been well-deserved.
    According to most people, honesty was the best policy. Melody inhaled deeply. “I appreciate the offer, but I need time to sort out what happened this morning.”
    “I tried to talk to you about it, but you started to snore.”
    “I don’t snore!”
    “Everyone snores now and then, and it was just another lame joke. I meant we need to talk, and over dinner would be nice.”
    “I’m not sure what I want. What should happen next.” That, also, was the truth.
    “If the next thing you say is ‘It’s not you, it’s me,’ I’m going to arrest you.”
    One thing she’d say for him, he could always make her laugh. “On what charge?”
    “Overuse of a platitude.”
    “I didn’t realize there was a law against that.”
    “By the time your expensive lawyer figures out that there isn’t, I’ll have made my point, so do us both a favor and don’t say it. Do you want me to call you again?”
    That was blunt. She chewed her lip, and one part of her screamed yes , and the other part said, unless you want to take a runaway train to a collapsed bridge, tell him no . “Can I get back to you on that one?”
    His tone was careful and quiet. “That puts the ball in your court, Mel. You aren’t twenty this time.”
    When he ended the call, she stared at the blank screen on her phone. What did that mean? She looked over at the sphinxes on the couch. They hadn’t moved a muscle. “There’s no way this man is good for me unless he’s serious. Other than that he relieved some sexual tension I didn’t even know I had.”
    The cats had no