Soft Sounds of Pleasure Read Online Free Page B

Charlie had been Jonah's age. Pete had kept his position on the board of directors of the league right up until he'd become unable to attend their meetings.
    "You talked to Ken Davis?" she queried, knowing Ken was still the league president from talking to her best friend Amy, who happened to be Tucker's daughter.
    Her new best friend.
    Her old ones had kicked her to the curb for reasons Lila still didn't quite understand.
    He nodded, lifting his hand from hers to rake his fingers through his damp hair distractedly. Much longer then she was used to seeing on a man, his hair hung well past his shoulders, but the look suited him. It was the exact shade of her treasured black walnut ladies' desk, right down to the amber highlights, which matched the ones in his eyes. He usually wore it in a neat ponytail, but seeing it loose was like getting a peek at some kind of secret.
    Lila longed to have his hand back on top of hers so much she ached, but she made herself pull her hand away from his arm. It was a shock to realize how much she had missed such a simple caress, almost as shocking as what she'd done to tempt him into having sex. His small, tender gesture did something to her, but there was no sense in getting carried away and pretending this was something it wasn't. He was only here because he needed a favor. "So you came here to talk to Pete, to see if he could get them to make an exception?"
    "I'm sorry about Pete," he burst out, his voice sounding about as ragged as she felt. "I'm sorry I didn't know, Lila. Are you… are you okay?"
    She was, if you didn't count the fact she had house payments to make and Pete's life insurance wasn't in any hurry to pay up. She was doing fine if you didn't count the fact all her old friends had deserted her. She was absolutely peachy as long as her mother-in-law kept her distance. She was just fucking fabulous if she didn't let herself think too much about her only child being deployed to Iraq.
    "What choice do I have?" she said aloud. Fixing Colton's problem would be easier than tackling any single one of her own. "I'll talk to Ken," she offered. "And I can't promise a thing, but if I'm good at anything, Colton, I'm good at not taking 'no' for an answer if it's something I believe in." She tilted her head and felt her cheeks warm up as she met his eyes. "But I need to ask you a favor, too."
    He only nodded. Colton was the quiet, observant type, so quiet that whenever he spoke to her, Lila had always felt special. So quiet he made her babble at times, to fill up the silence. A habit she feared she'd gotten from Pete.
    "God knows, in the last few years I've handled some things I never suspected I'd be able to handle, and I guess being gossiped about if you tell anyone we did this would be just one more thing to handle, but to be honest, I've been through so much lately that I'd just as soon not have to deal with the repercussions if word of this got out, so—" Her eyes filled, but she blinked her tears away. "It's not that I'm ashamed for people to know I was with you, but I loved Pete, but most folks would think I didn't wait long enough before I—"
    "Lila, four years is long enough by anyone's standards," he said in a gentle tone. He frowned so fiercely, she feared she'd made him mad. "But for the record, I don't kiss and tell."
    She gave him an assessing look, uncaring if his feelings were a bit hurt. People wouldn't count from the day Pete had ceased to be a real husband to her; they'd start the clock on how long she mourned for Pete from the day he died.
    "I apologize if you feel I'm underestimating you. It's just that once Pete got hurt, a lot of our friends came by to check on us, and a few of the husbands made a point to ask if there was anything they could do to help me." Her laughter was mirthless. "Well, it took a few awkward conversations for me to figure out none of them were worried about how my grass was getting cut or who hauled off the trash once Charlie left for Parris