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  "Did she say why she canceled?" I asked Lila hesitantly, even though I knew the answer. I guess I just wanted to know what she might have had the gall to tell my secretary.

  Lila glanced down at the carpet, her hands clasped primly in front of her. When she looked back up at me, there was censure in her eyes. At first, I thought it was directed at me, but then I knew it wasn't based on the cool sniff in her tone. "She felt your work was more important than your family. I tried to assure her, Zach, that this was an emergency."

  I leaned back in my chair and rubbed the bridge of my nose in frustration. Why in the hell would Moira even think that about me? We've talked about this time and time again--about my need to bust ass and pay my dues at Cannon's. She's been in support of this, and so I'm late to dinner once... okay, a few times... well, fuck... a lot of the time, still... she knows it's not intentional. It's for the greater good of our entire family.

  And yet, there was a small fissure of guilt that seemed to be burning through me. I could have easily reviewed this prospectus after dinner, I suppose. It was well within my means to put this off for just a bit, but then I got caught up in the need to outshine everyone and figured Moira would understand.

  Abruptly standing up from my desk, I grabbed the prospectus in one hand and my suit jacket from the back of my chair with the other. "Call Randall back. Tell him dinner's back on; I'll finish this up later tonight."

  "But," Lila said softly. "I took the liberty of ordering you some dinner. It should be here soon."

  "Sorry," I said without really any apology as I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed Moira. "I really need to make this dinner."

  It rang and rang as I walk toward the door. When her voice mail picked up, I disconnected and redialed. Moira and I had a system. We were both often too busy or wrapped up in something and couldn't answer the phone right away. If it was really important, we just dialed right back again. A second call meant it was important, and we made every effort to answer it.

  Lila stepped back from the doorway just as Moira's voice mail picked up again. I halted, redialed once more, and put the phone to my ear. My eyes cut over to Lila, but she kept her own lowered in a futile attempt to give me privacy. I got Moira's voice mail for a third time, and it was then, without a doubt, that I knew I was being ignored.

  Disconnecting, I lowered the phone, slowly sliding it in my pocket while guilt and anger warred within me. I was trying to make it right, and she was avoiding me. My beautiful, brilliant, but stubborn, wife was giving me the cold shoulder.

  The old Zach would jet on home, pull her ass out of bed, and spank her before I fucked the ornery out of her. But all of a sudden, that just felt like too much effort on my part. I turned back toward my desk and threw my jacket on one of my guest chairs. "Let me know when the food gets here," I said absently to Lila.

  "Sure," she discreetly responded. "And I'll stick around until you finish in case you need something else."

  "Thanks," I muttered and slumped down in my seat, in some ways hoping it would take me hours to review the prospectus and avoid the imminent argument that I knew would be coming when I got home.

  It turns out that it didn't take me all that long to go through the new prospectus. The mistake had been well identified, and the new figures were easy enough to reconcile. I had one small change to a graphic that I thought would pack a better punch in a bar form, but otherwise, I finished it before I even finished eating my food. Of course, I invited Lila to join me. She sat on the opposite side of my desk while we munched on a Thai peanut quinoa salad, and we went over the next day's agenda. That, of course, led to discussion about preparation for the next day's meetings, and we made some tweaks to a few reports that would be presented. Before I knew it, it was almost ten PM, and I felt incredibly guilty for keeping Lila working that late.

  "Shit," I said as I glanced at my watch. "I can't believe the time. I'm really sorry, Lila."

  "No worries," she said with a bright smile. She then stretched a bit, arching her back, which pushed her breasts out against the tight cut of her white, silk blouse. For the first time, I noticed that Lila was a very sexy woman.

  I wasn't sure she was always that way. I meant yeah... she was really pretty with dark brown hair and golden eyes. When I hired her almost ten months ago, she didn't quite dress that way, favoring dark suits with blouses buttoned up to her neck. She often wore her hair in a tight bun and sported eyeglasses. Again, pretty woman... the severe, business-like suits not able to take away from that, but she was Ivy-league educated, a hard-as-hell worker, and had glowing recommendations. I didn't give a fuck what she looked like, but now, sitting here, I was starting to wonder when things changed.

  When she started going a bit sexier in her clothes.

  Wearing hear hair down.

  Ditching the glasses.

  Calling me Zach.

  Spending late nights working when I did.

  Becoming the person I had call my wife to cancel on time and again.

  Fuck... that couldn't be--

  Nope... no fucking way. Wasn't even going to consider that.

  I got up and hastily packed my briefcase, telling Lila in my most-professional tone, "Miss Hendrick... make sure you submit your overtime. You get time and a half."

  She looked hurt when I said that and even tried to argue. "But Zach... that's not necessary--"

  "No, I insist," I said, and then got the hell out of there as fast as I could.

  Now, standing outside the door to my bedroom where I share a marriage bed with Moira, I suddenly feel exhausted. I got the distinct impression tonight that Lila was coming on to me a bit, or was trying to get me to notice her, and this would normally be something I'd lay out to Moira to help me figure out what to do. But now I'm feeling the distance that has come between us over the last few months, and I know, without a doubt, that I can't talk to her about Lila because she's already pissed as hell at me.

  Squaring my shoulders, I take a deep breath and slowly turn the knob. I open the door, fully expecting to have Moira come at me with gloves off, but instead, I find her sleeping. She's wearing one of my t-shirts, her normal preferred choice of sleepwear, and her face looks peaceful and relaxed. She even left my beside lamp on to welcome me home, and while that usually warms me, it makes me feel like utter shit that I'm slinking it at 10:30 PM.

  Laying my briefcase on the chair by the door, I silently pad across the carpet to our walk-in closet. I quickly disrobe, keeping my boxers on, and then give a quick brush to my teeth. When I slide into bed, I turn on my side toward Moira and just watch her sleep for a bit.

  No matter the ugly between us right now, no matter how angry either of us may be, it never, ever fails to amaze me how much my heart swells to absolute fullness just looking at her. I don't think the way we feel about each other is normal; at least from what I can gather talking to and observing other couples. Moira and I have something undeniably deep and solid. It's survived me coming to her as an untamed and wild man with a completely narrowed view of the world. She survived me leaving her--abandoning her for all the wrong reasons--and she never gave up, coming after me halfway around the world in the deep jungles of the Amazon.

  In turn, I surrendered the only life I ever really knew and felt comfortable with, because Moira was a necessity to me. I stepped into and became a part of the modern world because I loved a modern woman. I truly cannot survive life without her, and I know without a doubt that we can work through this mess.

  I consider waking her up.

  To talk?

  To argue?

  To fuck?

  Yes... fuck. It's what we do best, second only to procreating the two most beautiful kids in the world, which involved fucking to do that.

  I bring my hand to her chest, feeling the soft skin at the base of her throat just underneath my fingertips. Sliding my hand down, I gently curve over her breasts and graze along her cotton-covered stomach. I push outward, skim over a lace-clad hip, and then snake my
fingertips under the edge of her panties.

  Her brow furrows, her mouth parts slightly, and I start to get hard thinking about her rolling over so she'll submit to me.

  But she doesn't.

  Her hand comes up and she pushes my own away from her, barely opening her groggy eyes. "Not tonight," she mutters as she turns over in the bed, giving me her back. She pulls her legs up and curls into herself tight... almost protectively. Against me? Against intimacy with me?

  What the fuck?

  A dark feeling of dread fills me up, and I wonder where my wife has gone. Moira has never pulled away from me like that. She's certainly not been in the mood for sex on a few prior occasions and had no qualms with telling me that. I have no qualms with hearing that, because no matter her reasons for "not being in the mood," she has never once not followed that denial up with a full-on cuddle session. She would always plow her body in tight against mine, wrap her arms around my waist for a good squeeze, and burrow her face into my neck. She'd whisper sweet nothings and then she'd get drowsy... fall asleep in my embrace.

  We've always, always shared intimacy. Whether it's me being balls deep inside of her, or me just holding her snugly in her slumber, Moira and I are at our best when we are touching.

  Holding.

  Bonding.

  Cementing.

  Fuck. This is the first time she's ever turned away from me, and I'm not quite sure how to handle it. For the first time in our marriage, I feel unbalanced where my wife is concerned, and I'm not quite sure how to address it with her. We've always talked.

  Always.

  And yet, now... all I can think about is how thick that invisible wall just became the minute she turned her back on me, refusing to give me the courtesy of her attention.

  Chapter 3

  Moira

  The minute I curl into myself after turning away from Zach, I suck my breath in deep and hold it to see what he does. Tonight was headed for a knockdown, drag-out fight, but the longer I sat in bed and watched the clock tick away the time, the more I realized the fight probably wasn't going to happen.

  Ten-thirty-fucking-PM and he's just now getting home. I thought whatever the hell he was working on tonight was just going to make him late for dinner, not keep him hours on end, which means that he was avoiding coming home as much as I was avoiding his calls earlier tonight.

  I wasn't surprised he called not long after I relayed my message to Lila. I figured if she gave it back to him word for word, he would call and try to cajole me into going forward with dinner. He would use all of that Zach-charm he's learned since moving into the modern world, and it would have worked too.

  Damn him.

  But by ten PM, my steam had started to fizzle, then I started getting tired, and I had decided to go to sleep, figuring the fight would be there when the sun rose. I had just started to doze off when I heard him come in. Heard him taking his clothes off, the sink running in the bathroom, felt the soft dip of the mattress when he climbed into bed.

  His hand on my chest, sliding downward, inching under the elastic of my panties.

  If there is one way in this world where Zach has utter and complete control over me, it's with his sexual prowess. The man can merely cock a sexy eyebrow at me, and I'm panting for him. I remember once, a few years ago, when Cannon was about six months old, Zach had spent the day out on the golf course, a surprising hobby he picked up while working on his Master's degree. It still cracks me up to think of Zach playing such a civilized game, but that particular day, I was not happy. I had a fussy baby, I was feeling crappy about myself because I still had some baby weight on my tummy that I couldn't seem to get rid of, and all I asked him to do was bring me some damn diapers on the way home from the golf course.

  Apparently, or so the story goes from Zach, he ended up having a beer with his golfing buddies afterward and it just slipped his mind.

  That day... Zach got a rare peek at the tempest that comes with marrying a certified Irish redhead. I launched into a tirade that was just shy of an all-out shriek as I railed against him for every unfairness that was being bestowed upon me. I lit into him good, not giving a damn that I had just laid Cannon down for a nap, so it was a good thing the kid has always been a fantastic sleeper.

  Zach merely let me roll with it, his posture patient, and his eyes understanding of my plight as a harried new mom. That pissed me off even more, and I picked up a book and threw it at him. After he easily sidestepped my missile, he was on me in three long strides.

  Before I could open my mouth to say another word, before I could even blink my eyes, he had me flat on the couch and was ripping my pants and underwear off. When I tried to say something, he merely rolled me over, slapped my ass hard, and then rolled me on my back again. In what has become a patented-Zach-Easton move, he rendered me senseless with his fingers and tongue between my legs, even having the gall to apologize while he did some of the best work I had ever experienced.

  I didn't need the apologies by the time my second orgasm was cresting. By the time he made me come for the third time, I was willing to forgive him any transgression.

  And the smug bastard knew it.

  Which is why as I lay here with my eyes closed and my legs curled in to my body, I wait to see what the man will do. I wait to see if I'll get CEO-wannabe Zach or I'll get the uncivilized man that tends to take me whenever and wherever he wants. Trust me when I say, I'll never look at a church vestibule the same way again, and I'm still waiting for the time when we might get struck down by God's wrath for the quickie we had there.

  Feeling the mattress shift, I slowly let out my breath. I hope it sounds natural and that Zach doesn't realize that I'm over here totally faking a deep sleep. I hope he doesn't realize that because he'll know it means I'm wondering if he's going to make a further move on me, and I'm equally dreading it as much as I'm craving it.

  He knows I can't say no, so let me amend my prior thought... I'm not equally dreading and craving it. It's more like forty-percent dreading it, sixty-percent craving it. No, well... more like thirty dreading, seventy craving. Or, actually, I could never dread his touch.

  Will he hurry up and just let me have it?

  The mattress shifts again. I'm on the verge of giving a little sigh so he knows I'm not deep under when I hear him mutter, "Fuck this shit."

  That's all the warning I get before Zach's arm goes around my waist, and he's dragging me out of the bed. I give a startled yelp and consider putting up a bit of a struggle, but then I'm spun in his arms and his mouth is on mine while my legs automatically start to latch around his hips.

  He kisses me deep and wet, finishing me off by sinking his teeth into my lower lip with a growl. Sucking hard, he lets it pop free as he walks us across the room. I can feel him growing hard, his perfect and amazing cock seeming to naturally seek out the desperation between my own legs that my husband creates.

  I have no clue what he plans to do to me, and I don't care. I know it will be great, and I relish in letting go every bit of anger and frustration, so we can have this time together. This amazing act that never fails to bubble hot between the two of us when we take the time to give in to it.

  Zach merely walks me to the other side of the room, pressing my body right into the wall as his hand comes up to grip the hair at the back of my head. He gives me a hard look, conveying his displeasure that I turned away from him in bed.

  I try to look contrite, but I fail miserably. No matter how hard I try, I can't stop the corners of my lips from twitching up. He gives my head a shake and growls, "Little faker."

  Now I really smile, big and bright, because I know I'm just moments away from probably being fucked into a coma, but Zach surprises me when he loosens his hold around my waist and my body slides south. When my feet hit the carpet, his fingers tighten in my hair and he pushes down on my head.

  My knees bend oh so willingly. How many times since we've known each other has he put me on my knees, and how many times have my panties soaked j
ust knowing how much that turns him on?

  His face is still thunderous, and perhaps I overestimated how much I pissed him off by denying him earlier, but I'm good for it. I'll make it up to him.

  Zach takes a step back as I descend all the way down until my knees press into soft, wool carpet, and he is pushing his boxers down with his free hand. His cock is so rigid. It's standing straight up... dark and dusty with that thick vein that runs along the underside that my tongue has traced dozens of times over the years.

  My husband and I... we are so in tune that words are hardly ever necessary when we are like this together. He merely stares down at me, takes his cock in hand, and leans in toward my mouth. I open automatically, look up at him with slightly apologetic eyes that are still filled with mischief, and take him in deep.

  Zach groans... tilting his head back and closing his eyes. He lets me move on him for a few strokes, his fingers still tightly woven through my locks. I keep my eyes raised, watching the pleasure on his face... loving how much he loves what I can do to him.

  I falter though when Zach's eyes slowly open, and he moves his gaze down to me. His look is haunted, and he whispers, "Please don't ever turn your back on me like that again."

  I pull my head back, letting his shaft slip from my mouth. "Zach... honey--"

  He drops to his knees, hands coming to my face, and he leans in so our eyes are only inches apart. "I can handle a lot of things, Moira, but your antipathy isn't one of them."

  My heart viciously squeezes, and I hastily assure him. "I won't."

  "We always need to talk things out, okay?" he asks urgently.

  "Right... okay."

  "And it's okay to be mad at each other."

  "Sure it is."

  "But never turn your back on me," he presses. "No matter how mad you are at me, please never close yourself off."

  I can't help it... I throw my arms around him, bury my face in his neck, and make sure he understands how sorry I am. "I won't, baby. I was really mad, and I knew you'd be able to roll right over me with your touches, and I'm glad you did. I always want your touch, no matter what."

  "Okay," Zach says as he pulls me off him so he can look at me. His eyes are warm and relieved, and then turn a bit warmer. "Enough talking for now."