Page 27 of The Wrong Husband

I did feel that way again, briefly, when the stranger with bedroom eyes and the body made for sin, touched me in the ER.

It made me feel young and giddy, and foolish again. It made me want to straddle him and feel that thickness in his crotch rub up against my core. Made me want to rub my cheek against the whiskers on his and feel the pinpricks of pleasure pinch at my nerve endings. Made me want to rub up against his chest and feel that unforgiving wall of his muscles digging into my softness.

I have no doubt, he would have made me feel small and delicate and protected. It’s been so long since I’ve felt anything other than sad inside. And guilty. I’ve spent so long berating myself. Not allowing myself to feel anything other than self-reproach. I forgot how it felt to…feel.

It took that life-sized dopamine surge wrapped in muscle to blast through that numbness. He awakened desires I never thought I’d experience again.

Zoey turns to Skylar. "And how’s that husband of yours?"

Skylar’s features light up. "Nathan’s doing great." Her voice softens, and her eyes gleam. Clearly, she’s in love with her husband. Very much in love, based on the dreamy expression crossing her face. "We’re hoping to go away on holiday soon."

"Another honeymoon?" Harper sighs. "That’s so romantic."

Grace rolls her eyes. "You’ve been averaging a honeymoon a month.”

"Just because you don’t believe in love, doesn’t mean others feel the same way," Zoey points out.

"It’s not that I don’t believe in love… I’m just—" She shrugs. "Okay, I’m a cynic. I don’t believe in Happily Ever Afters."

“And yet, you’re part of a spicy book club, where HEAs are guaranteed.” Harper snickers.

“I’m in it for the 'happy endings.’” Zoey makes air quotes.

We chuckle.

“No wonder, you keep suggesting we read the spicier romances with BDSM themes.” Grace wags her eyebrows.

“Exactly.” Zoey slaps the table. “Give me lust over love, anytime.”

"If not HEA, then what do you believe in?” After all, I briefly thought I’d gotten my HEA, and then, it turned out, I didn’t… So, I’m halfway to agreeing with her.

"I believe in transactions”—she thinks before continuing—“and mutually beneficial arrangements."

"Which is how my marriage started out, but then we fell in love." Skylar lifts her hands. "He was very persuasive. And I was willing to be persuaded. I was willing to do anything to save my business." She glances around. "I never expected to fall for him. It didn’t hurt that he was the CEO of a Davenport Group company. Nathan had that entire powerful-man-in-a-suit, boss-in-charge-who-knows-what-he-wants thing going for him, and hey, I found it irresistible."

I stiffen. "Did you say Davenport?"

Skylar tilts her head. "That’s my husband’s surname. And the name of the group of companies he and his brothers run."

"Hmm." I drum my fingers on the table.

Is itanothercoincidence that the dangerously high dose of testosterone in human form shares the same surname as Skylar’s husband?

This can’t be an accident. I should ask Skylar if she knows of a Connor Davenport.

But before I can open my mouth, the bell over the entrance to the bakery jingles. And almost as if thinking of the man from this morning has conjured him up, those wide shoulders I’ve been thinking about fill the doorway.

10

Connor

Yes, I did follow her here.And no, I shouldn’t have walked through the door of the bakery.

I was watching her through the lens of my camera, in my van from down the street, where I had a clear view of the shop. I should have been content with that.

I saw her smile, and a strange sensation gripped my chest. Warmth, and an effervescent sensation like… Happiness? LikeIwas happy because she was? How fucking weird is that? I should have left right then. I did try to leave. My brain ordered me to go.

Some self-preservation instinct deep inside insisted I hustle out of there as quickly as possible, before things get more complicated.