barefoot in the middle of her kitchen dressed only in a robe.
Frowning, Reese went back to sorting the mail.
Tammie Lee's story rolled through her mind and Jacqueline dragged in a fortifying breath. Since she'd come this far, she might as well go for broke. "There's more," she announced with as much dignity as she could muster.
"More?"
She nodded and stepped closer. "As a matter of fact, there's a great deal more. I happen to love you, Reese. I don't know what went wrong between us and...and whatever it was, I share the blame. But I'm lonely, Reese, and I want you back in my bed." Her voice caught. For one crazy moment, Jacqueline imagined herself as Tammie Lee's Aunt Frieda. She propped one hand on her hip, jutted out her shoulder and lowered her voice to a husky whisper. "I promise I'll be all the woman you'll ever need."
The look in her husband's eyes was beyond description as he dropped the mail. "Jacquie? Are you serious?"
She laughed in a way she hoped sounded sexy and sensuous. "Don't take my word for it. Come and find out for yourself."
Reese's mouth sagged, his face so comically eager that she nearly laughed out loud.
"Jacquie?" He reached for her then, and when his mouth covered hers, it was with the same openmouthed passion they'd experienced in their twenties. In the later years of their marriage, before he'd moved out of her bedroom, their lovemaking had become staid and controlled. Not now. Reese all but ruined her robe in his eagerness to undress her.
When they stumbled into the bedroom and fell onto the bed, they were giggling like teenagers. Their lovemaking was explosive, primal, thrilling. The only sounds to be heard were their moans and deep satisfied sighs.
After they'd finished, Jacqueline lay cradled in her husband's arms, her eyes moist as she listened to the solid, even beat of Reese's heart. There was so much that needed to be said, but in the contentment of the moment, none of it seemed important. What mattered was savoring this time, treasuring each other. If nothing else, Jacqueline would have this one night with her husband to remind her that she was very much alive and every inch a woman.
"I never dreamed," Reese whispered close to her ear. "I'd given up hope that we'd ever share a bed again. I love you. I've always loved you, but I didn't know how to make things different."
She sighed and kissed his bare chest. "I'm not giving you up."
"There's no one else who wants me."
Jacqueline froze. "What do you mean?"
He gave a resigned sigh. "We'll speak of this only once and then never again. Agreed?"
"Agreed."
"I had an affair ten years ago. Which I realize you knew about. It ended quickly and badly. I felt terrible and I still can't believe I was so stupid."
"But every Tuesday night - "
He didn't let her finish. "I know. I wanted you to think I was still involved. It was stupid and childish, and I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I was looking for a reaction from you. Something - anything - that showed me you cared."
"The night I made dinner for you and the phone rang and you left...."
"I know what you thought, but you were wrong. It was business. We'd blown a transformer. I swear to you there wasn't another woman that night or any other night in a very long time."
"All these years..." She had trouble taking it in.
"Once I started this, I didn't know how to stop."
"We've both been such fools." Jacqueline wrapped her arms around his neck and wondered how she'd ever survived outside her husband's embrace. All this time, the only thing that had stood between them was pride.
"I don't know what came over you tonight, but I thank God for it," Reese said.
"You can thank Tammie Lee's Aunt Frieda."
"Who?"
"It doesn't matter." She pressed her head against his shoulder and smiled. Every day, she found more reasons to be grateful to her daughter-in-law. Reese had been right about that. She finally did have her daughter, and even if Tammie Lee happened to speak with a southern drawl, she was as precious to her as any daughter could be to a mother.
CHAPTER 46
ALIX TOWNSEND
A lix woke to the sound of smothered groans. Leaning up on one elbow, she stared into the darkness, listening intently. Oddly enough, the muffled agony seemed to be coming from the living room. As her eyes adjusted to the dark she noticed something else out of