Read Wicked Bet: A Bad Boy Romance for Free Online

heard him come up behind me and—holy crap. He was only wearing black jeans. Bare feet, wet hair, and a glistening expanse of smooth, hard chest. Most of the blood in my system reversed course to a very neglected body part. Now how was I supposed to concentrate?  
    “Thanks, hon,” Ian said, sitting down at the table. After a moment, I joined him. “This is nice. Never seen parsley on a plate with a peanut butter sandwich before. Very fancy.”  
    “I wouldn’t eat it—I snipped it from that fern in the living room.”  
    He chuckled, taking a huge bite of the sandwich. Really, who ate half a sandwich in one bite? My husband, apparently. But it was best not to get fixated on his mouth right now.  
    “Have you heard from Dan?”
    The smile died on his face. “Just a text. He didn’t say much of anything, just that he didn’t want to talk about it. What about Lori?”
    “Pretty much the same thing. It sounds bad.”  
    “Yeah,” he agreed, laying what was left of the sandwich on his plate.  
    “I just can’t imagine what happened.”
    “Maybe one of them cheated.”  
    “I hope so,” I said, without thinking.  
    Ian looked at me like I was insane. “You what?”  
    I flushed under his incredulous gaze. “I just mean ... I hope that one of them was an idiot. That one of them messed up big time. I’d hate to think neither of them screwed up but that this happened anyway.”  
    “Why’s that?” he said, studying me closely.  
    “Because I’m afraid it could happen to us.”  
    He reached out and took my hand. “It’s not going to.”  
    “You can’t know that,” I said, squeezing his hand harder than I meant to. We couldn’t let things continue on as they were, and I wished I knew how to make him see that. “Don’t you think that if someone had told Lori and Dan that they’d be separating soon, they wouldn’t have believed it, either? Yet they did.”  
    “That doesn’t mean it’s going to happen to us.”  
    “Yeah. But it could.”  
    “We won’t let it,” he said firmly. As a lawyer, I knew all about using a firm, strong voice. And I also knew that I often employed my firmest voice for my shakiest cases.  
    “Things are already not so great, Ian. Do you know how long it’s been since we’ve spent any time together? Since we’ve really talked about anything except work? Since we’ve had sex? If we’re having problems now, how do we know we won’t end up like them?”
    “I just know. I love you. You love me.”  
    “And Lori loved Dan, and Dan loved Lori. Love’s not a bullet-proof vest that can protect us from harm. I wish it could, but it can’t.”  
    “There aren’t any guarantees in life, Lyss. You know that. But for what it’s worth, I think we’re going to make it. I want us to.”  
    “Me too. But ... is ‘wanting’ enough? I can want to look like a supermodel, but if I don’t put in the time at the gym and eat healthily, it’s not going to happen.”  
    “Not such a great analogy. You already look like a supermodel.”  
    Rolling my eyes at him, I shook my head. “Be serious.”  
    “Okay,” he said. “I’m being serious. So what do we do, seriously speaking? To put in the time, as you say? Seems like time is the one thing we can’t put in. Unless you know how to create more hours in the week.”  
    Damn, I wished I did. Wouldn’t that be great? About ten more hours for sleep each week, five for downtime, and five for sex. Maybe ten for sex. What good was a ripped, shirtless husband if I never got to touch him? “We can’t free up much time, I agree. But that doesn't mean we can’t free up any time. We both managed to keep this Saturday free—for all the good it did us.”  
    “Yeah, but that was for a special occasion.”  
    “A honeymoon is a special occasion.”  
    “So, what ... should we try to set the date for that?”
    “It would be a start,” I said, my fingers crossed. “I’m worried that five years from