Read Fun With Rick and Jade for Free Online Page B

the crib. Gripping the safety rail, he leaned over and talked nonsense to Coral. The baby cooed and gurgled in response.
    Jade rested against the wall, letting it hold her up against a wave of fatigue that hit her like a sack of bricks. The mobile ran out of steam. And so did Coral.
    Rick tiptoed away backward, humming the theme song from Hawaii Five-O . Slowly turning, he stopped when he saw her there. Maybe it was the beer in his system, but he smiled sort of off-kilter and moved toward the door. Toward her.
    He put his finger to his lips. “Shhh.”
    No one had to tell her to be quiet. She’d spent the last three-going-on-four months being insanely quiet so as not to wake the baby.
    “She’s almost asleep,” he whispered.
    She folded her arms across her chest. “Did you change her?” If not, she’d be up shortly wanting a dry diaper.
    Obviously intoxicated, he slurred his words. “I wasn’t born yesterday.”
    “I didn’t ask if you were born yesterday, Rick. I asked if you changed her.”
    He shoved his hands in his trouser pockets. “I did.”
    “Good boy.” Maybe he wasn’t a complete idiot after all, although that remained to be seen. The diaper could be on backward.
    “How did you know about Hawaii Five-O ?”
    He shrugged. “Bob.”
    “Uh-huh. Want to explain that kiss this evening?” She wanted—no, she needed another. Imagine my surprise . At the time, she’d wanted to wrestle him the ground, straddle his torso, and fuck him senseless.
    One side of his mouth turned up in a crooked smile. “Well, it’s a little technique I learned in high school—”
    “By kissing your pillow?”
    He chuckled. “She was an inflatable doll I named Elsie, actually.”
    She laughed at him. No, she laughed with him. “What else did you do to Elsie?”
    “With Elsie. You make it sound so tawdry.” He stepped a little closer, putting her nerves on notice.
    Beware. Intruder alert .
    “We were very close until she left me for a mannequin at the mall.”
    She snorted a laugh. “You shouldn’t have taken her to the mall. Rookie mistake.” Feeling rusty and awkward in this body that didn’t work the way it once had, she reached out and ran her fingers along his jacket lapel, being sure to drag her knuckles purposefully down his chest. “Could you do something for me?” She let her hand fall away, leaving the two of them unconnected.
    He winked. “I’ll bet I could.”
    “This is a little awkward.”
    He leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Don’t be shy. We’re married.”
    His warm words blew a path along her neck. His breath smelled intoxicatingly of beer, something else she’d gone too long without. “No one but a doctor has touched me in nearly a year.” She whispered the words she hated to say and hated for him to hear. “And to be honest, his touch left much to be desired.” Jade looked to the floor, to his shiny, rented dress shoes. “Very clinical, if you get my meaning.”
    Without her asking anything more, he laced his fingers with hers, which wasn’t exactly what she had in mind. He raised them up and stepped closer. Rick kissed her knuckles one at a time before pulling her against his solid body. She looped her arms around his neck. His hand splayed out along her back, rubbing and kneading a path up her spine, loosening her up for what she hoped would be an encore kiss.
    She rested her head in the crook of his neck. He smelled like some cheap aftershave that suited him and at the moment, breathing it in, it suited her. His digits dug into the flesh at her neck and shoulders.
    His massaging relaxed her hold on the control she’d worked so hard to master. Emotion broke loose and she cried, her body shaking with sentiment she didn’t know she had.
    His touch turned feathery. “Everyone needs a hug now and then.” He rocked her gently.
    “Not me.” She sniffled back some emotion. “Not usually, anyhow.”
    “Everyone.”
    She swept away her tears. Damn these baby blues . The