How did that work? Did the women have a lingerie fashion show for the men? Were there demonstrations of the more adventurous toys? Did everyone sit around in a circle playing a sexy board game the way we played cards with the neighbors? How did that play at the soccer game the next morning?
I had to keep myself from staring at Liz and wondering how it started. Maybe they both wanted to have affairs and thought swinging a better option than breaking up. Had it been her idea or his? My mind hadn’t spun with scenarios like this since college, when I wrote short stories at a frantic pace. I’d been working on a novel before I had Janelle. It was buried in the storage closet beneath boxes of her baby clothes.
“Are you two planning on having more children?” Seth Watts seemed to be asking the question of my cleavage. Okay, so if it hadn’t been his idea, he obviously was thrilled with the plan.
“Maybe once we’re settled,” Scott answered, sipping his drink. Funny, I remembered a heated argument three years ago involving me threatening to castrate him if he had a vasectomy.
I wanted another baby; he swore up and down we couldn’t afford the two we had. My girlfriends had thought I was crazy to keep him from having the procedure if he was willing, but I just couldn’t close the door completely. We kept it locked up tight with birth control, but at least there was a key in case I ever managed to change his mind.
I tilted my head as I stared at him, wondering what he meant. Was he offering me a baby in exchange for moving? Or was this new job giving him enough confidence about money to want another child?
“We’ll have to see if Scott really travels less, like he keeps promising.” I smiled at him, warming to see the gesture returned. With as angry as we’d both been earlier, it was nice to see time was calming him as well.
“I see you two are negotiating.” Kit leaned closer to me. “Make sure you find a house with enough bedrooms, just in case.”
“In the summer, there are lots of festivals right here.” Scott held my hand in his as we walked through Waterfront Park. Just a few blocks from our hotel, the vast promenade provided an oasis not unlike Central Park. Except in Portland, greenery abounded and parks could be found every few blocks. Waterfront Park ran the length of the seawall keeping the docile Willamette River, which split the city in two, at bay.
At night the water barely rippled, becoming a reflecting pool for the lights of the city. We passed a large ship that served as a floating maritime museum, and a half submerged submarine beckoned from across the river. It was a highlight of the science museum I planned on taking the kids to as soon as they got to town. I might be wary of moving to Portland, but if I moved them I was going to do everything I could to make sure they loved it. Including becoming a personalized tour guide for the city.
“Maybe you could take a day off and we could all do a festival together.”
“I’ll have weekends free, Jess, I promise. But there is a Brewfest that I’m excited about. Did you know there are more micro-breweries here per person than anywhere else in the country?”
“And more strip clubs.”
Scott stopped, halting me with him. “I don’t go to strip clubs.”
“I know, I was just saying. I’ve been reading a lot about the city and that comes up over and over. That and all the hybrid cars.”
“There are also more restaurants than any other city except San Francisco. You’ll get another job. You’re a great writer.”
I brought my hand to the back of his neck, stroking his warm skin until he dipped his head and touched his mouth to mine. Lightly, gently, just brushing his lips over mine, teasing until I opened beneath him. Just as I did he pulled away, staring down at me with deep brown eyes full of lust and longing. He ran the tip of his tongue along his lower lip as if he were tasting me.
My sex clenched at the realization. Before our evening turned into another argument, muted only by the presence of strangers, we’d been headed that way. Sex was something we’d always managed to do well. If only we communicated as clearly when we used words.
“Do you want to keep walking? We could take one of the bridges to the Eastbank Esplanade.”
“Maybe tomorrow. It’s getting cold.”
He shrugged out of his long black coat and wrapped me up in it. The coat was still warm from his body and enveloped me in his scent. “It’s still warmer than New York. And it hardly ever snows.”
“You can stop selling me. I’m keeping an open mind, but I’m not promising anything. If I do agree to move, it’ll cost you.”
He twined our fingers and we started walking again. “Can I afford it?”
“You don’t have much choice.” I shoved my free hand into the pocket of his coat, coming up with a business card. At the next streetlamp I pulled it out, and laughed out loud at Liz Watts’ sparkling purple card. “What’s this?”
“While you were freshening up with Kit, Liz gave me her card in case we need any help getting settled.”
“Oh, I’m sure that’s why she gave you her card while I was gone.” My pulse sped up at the thought of Scott here alone while I was in New York. There were temptations, and there was just plain dumb. I tossed the card in a nearby trash.
Chapter 6
M en. They could make million dollar decisions all day at work, but reality could render them stupid. “Do you remember Ashley’s bachelorette party?
