Love Uncovered (Forbidden Fruit) Read Free Page A

managed to do, your dad has. He took care of your mom and you and Abby. Put you both through college, paid for our wedding and still had something to invest in the market.”
    The bitterness in his voice caught her off guard. “You take care of us. You’re a great dad.”
    “ Jules, what happens in four years when Emily’s ready to go to college? Or two years after that when Amanda and Emily are both in school? Then when they’re ready get married, Jake’ll be off to college. I have no idea how we’re going to pay for all that.”
    “We’ll figure it out. Jake’s getting older. I’ll be able to help out more.”
    “That’s not what I meant. I want to take care of them, of you. But I don’t see how. I never thought I’d be stuck in an office all the time. I hate my job, but with the way the economy’s going, I worry every day I won’t have it. It’s a fucked up feeling.”
    She held onto his hand, stroking her thumb back and forth over the pulse beating at his wrist. She didn’t want to spook him. It had been so long since they’d talked like this. She hadn’t known this was how he felt. She wanted to reassure him, but she didn’t want him to stop talking . She sat in the growing dark and waited.
    “I love you guys. You know that, right?”
    “Of course.”
    “It’s just. I feel like I put my life on hold to do my job. You didn’t make me do it.” He hurried on. “I wanted to. I’m honored to be your husband and our kids’ father. I mean it, Jules.” He squeezed her hand, almost willing her to believe him. “I want to be a provider like your dad was, hell like my dad was when he was around. But it feels like it’s never enough. I do everything I think I’m supposed to and it’s not enough. It’s all so tenuous. I can’t seem to get ahead of the obligations.”
    “It’s a different world. And it wasn’t as perfect as it looked anyway. Our kids know you love them because you’re around to show them. My dad travelled all the time. Our kids aren’t going to grow up feeling like they have to hold up some kind of accomplishment for you to notice them.”
    She squeezed his hand a little tighter. She’d been so caught up in meeting her own obligations, taking care of everything and everyone; she’d forgotten what he had been like before they got married. How much time he’d spent outside, rock climbing or paddling. She hadn’t told him to stop. It was just one more thing that slipped away. The trip to the lake was the most adventurous thing he did now. She had lost sight of how much it must have cost him to give all that up.
    “You’ re a good man, Max, and a great dad and husband.” Her words sounded small and woefully insignificant but she was too shocked by his confession to say more right away. She gave his hand a squeeze and stood up. “We need more beer.”
     
     
    She could barely make him out in the dark when she came back with the beer. She took a swallow before she sat back down and handed the bottle to Max.
    “What do you want to do now?”
    “We could have sex.”
    “Your enthusiasm is overwhelming,” he said, raising the bottle in mock salute.
    “I’m just thinking. You’re always complaining that we don’t have enough sex.”
    He turned to face her, the playfulness gone. “I don’t want obligatory sex, Jules. A quick fuck or blow job just so you can check that box on your mental list. Had sex with husband – check.” His voice was mocking and her rage rose instantly, threatening to overwhelm her. “I want you to want it, too.”
    Something inside her snapped. All the nights when they made love and she didn’t come. All the times she put what everyone else needed before herself. The rage and want erupted from deep inside her. “Make me! I want you to make me want it. Help me feel something – anything but angry and alone.”
    She launched herself out of the chair. Before he could respond , she flew down the steps and disappeared into the