Holding On Read Online Free Page B

His interest piqued.
    “I’m not talking about a few magazines or videos.” Lynn’s voice was hushed but shrill. “I mean tons of porn. Really nasty stuff. And then the other night I woke up and he wasn’t in bed. I went downstairs to see if he was okay and he was sitting at the kitchen table, with his laptop, whacking off.”
    Daniel decided he was definitely not going into the kitchen now. He didn’t want to go into Lynn’s kitchen ever again either. At the kitchen table?
    Lynn continued. “I mean, I’m not stupid, I know guys do stuff like that, but in the kitchen? There aren’t even blinds on the window. And what if Rebecca had come downstairs instead of me?”
    Excellent point. Though the visual was still more than Daniel had needed.
    “What did you do?” Marienne asked.
    Smart. Just keep her talking. He could imagine the wheels turning in Marienne’s head. Is she going to tell Lynn the things she’s seen me do? His cheeks burned at the thought. He listened harder.
    “I didn’t do anything.” Lynn sounded on the verge of tears. “I didn’t want to start a fight in the middle of the night. But I don’t want to pretend it didn’t happen either. I don’t know what to do.”
    “You should talk to him,” Marienne said.
    “And say what? I know what you do in the kitchen at three in the morning?”
    “Well, that’s one option. Or you could try to be less confrontational and start a conversation about sex.”
    “Mitch likes to have sex, not talk about it. As soon as the topic comes up he either wants to do it or talk about something else. Probably because he’s busy thinking about his next pantry porn session. For all I know he’s got his own website. Midnight porn star—Mitch in the Kitchen.”
    Daniel started coughing and clamped his hand over his mouth. Dammit. He jiggled his office door handle as if he’d just opened it and walked toward the kitchen. He cleared his throat on his way. “Sorry ladies, just need some tea. Still not quite over that flu.” He grabbed a mug out of the cabinet and busied himself getting a tea bag. He didn’t want to make eye contact with either of them.
    “What movie did the girls decide to watch?” Marienne asked.
    “Peter Pan.” Daniel filled his mug and walked past the table. He took three cookies. “I’ll leave you two alone now.”
    Marienne smiled a thank you at him. He headed into his office but didn’t close the door this time. They started talking again. He knew he shouldn’t listen but he couldn’t help it.
    “I’m sorry,” Lynn said. “You must think I’m an awful friend, coming over here and whining about Mitch. I haven’t even asked how you’re feeling. Is everything going well?”
    “So far.”
    He heard her knock on the table.
    “That’s great. Though I bet the last thing you want to think about is sex. You must be ready to buy Daniel his own porn collection. I remember wanting nothing to do with sex the whole time I was carrying Rebecca.”
    Daniel smiled. That’s certainly not the case for Marienne.
    “Actually,” Marienne said. “I felt like that when I was pregnant with Ella. I didn’t want anything to do with sex. This time is totally different.”
    I didn’t know that. He remembered how Frank had complained that they hadn’t had sex for months, but he’d assumed it was because she had placenta previa. He had no idea she hadn’t wanted to have sex.
    “Really?” Lynn sounded surprised. “So you two are still….”
    “As often as possible.”
    “That’s amazing.”
    “Having Daniel in my life has made everything amazing. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
    Daniel couldn’t keep the grin off his face. He got up and quietly closed his office door. He’d heard everything he could possibly want to hear.
    ****
    Daniel flipped through his mail and withdrew a pale green square envelope. He opened it to reveal a gold-trimmed card. “Please join us for a celebration in honor of Arnold Jenkins’