Between Then and Now Read Online Free Page B

and eyes,
but her touch first went to the line where dark faded to light on
his arm, neatly following the curve of his muscles. “Nice farmer’s
tan.”
    He read the husky tone in her voice correctly,
not taking offense at all, and he reached for the button on her
jeans, using it to leverage her closer. “Let’s see yours.” He
hovered his mouth above hers. “I bet it leads me straight to
heaven.”
    It was a total line, and it totally worked.
She whimpered into his kiss, and the next thing she knew, they were
rolling around naked on her bed, taking turns pinning each other
down and tracing all the tan lines they could find. That led to
playing connect the dots on the four moles on her tummy, and
guessing the story behind each of his seven scars. It was the best
and strangest hook up she’d ever had.
    When he finally donned a condom and slid
inside her, she welcomed him with wild abandon. The first time was
hard and fast. The second took longer, and sparked something sweet
and scary, and they fell asleep wrapped around each
other.
    Carrie blinked at the memory. She
was almost in Essex. She’d forgotten that they’d slept entwined
like that from the very first night. For the longest time, the
dominant memory was of waking up in the middle of the night and
feeling Ian harden between her legs.
    “ You’re awake.”
    “ So are you.” She swirled her hips,
teasing his length along her slick sex.
    “ Do you want to…” He groaned as she
reached the tip of him. “I should grab a condom.”
    He should have. But she was sore, and stupid,
and didn’t want to fuck. She just wanted to play and then brazenly
ask for his mouth.
    How different their lives would be if he
hadn’t come between her legs. If she hadn’t had to tell him a month
later, on their fourth date, that she was pregnant, and there was
no doubt it was his.
    She hadn’t even wanted to date him, not
really. He was cute, and when he was looking at her, she felt it in
a tingly way down to her very core. But they were too different,
and she just didn’t see them getting serious.
    That was a secret she’d take to her grave,
because when she lost the baby two weeks after their courthouse
wedding, he’d held her. When she found out. In the shower. In their
bed, which was so newly theirs she still thought of it as hers. In
the shower again, as she sobbed at the blood swirling down the
drain. He hadn't known what to say, but somehow had known exactly
what to do, and in doing so, everything that had been hers became
theirs. A few months later, in an uncharacteristic moment of
emotional vulnerability, Ian asked her if she wanted a divorce.
She’d been able to honestly tell him that she didn’t. That she
wanted a future. Wanted his children.
    She’d taken him to bed, and Kaylie was
conceived.
    She shivered. It would be a different thing,
now, if she ended up pregnant again. She’d find love in her heart
for a third child. Put off her secret dream of opening a bakery or
bed and breakfast. It would be okay.
    But it wasn’t a coincidence that she was
rehashing the beginning of their relationship this week. Their
little oops—are unprotected sex mistakes ever little?—had been on
her mind. Ian would be thrilled. Another secret she’d have to
keep.
    Carrie shook her head. It was
probably going to be a non-issue. It hadn’t been the right time in
her cycle, and she knew her body a lot better now than she had
eight years previously. But she’d still be relieved when her period
arrived. But right now, she had cake supplies to buy. The shop in
Essex offered a discount for cash purchases, for reasons she’d
rather not think too hard about, so she pulled into the drive-thru
teller machine at the Essex branch of their bank and withdrew
enough money for her shopping and incidentals for the rest of the
week. Ian liked to do a cash budget at the beginning of the month,
but he also left enough money in their joint chequing account to
avoid bank charges, and just in