Page 15 of Faith

She didn’t respond. Her mother was being a little pushier than usual. And that was saying something. Her mother emailed every crackpot report about fertility she found.

“Nicola.”

“Do you have something bad to tell me? Are you and Dad doing okay?”

She noticed a movement out of the corner of her eye. It was Jensen walking across the lanai toward her. He had a massive cup of coffee in his hand. He was dressed down for the islands, or as dressed down as a Wulf would get in public. His tropical shirt was subdued in colors, but it had flecks of green within the design. His khaki pants were expertly tailored—no Wulf wore off the rack. He looked like a damned model. And, he looked...well, yummy. Dammit. Not yummy. No. He looked good. Good. And delicious. She wanted to take a big bite out of that perfect ass of his.

Dammit.

“Nicola, are you listening to me?”

“What? Sorry,Mama.”

“I said your father wants to go to a couples-only retreat.”

She blinked. The tone her mother used struck her as odd.

“I heard they are nice.”

“Nicola. I know you do other things in your sex life that I do not.”

Damn, she sometimes regretted telling her mother so much about her life. Too much maybe, but because of her childhood, her mother had been her best friend.

“I have no idea what you are talking about. Why are you opposed to couple’s retreats?”

Jensen had walked out to look out over the ocean, but he turned and looked back over his shoulder. She shrugged.

“I am not into that.”

“Into what?”

“Swinging.”

She pulled the phone out from her ear and looked at it, then returned it to her ear. “Excuse me?”

“These retreats are for swinging, switching partners, yes?”

Her mother had acclimated to western life so easily after moving to the US, but she was a little naïve.

“No. It’s just a place where there are no children. You have to be eighteen and older for most of them.”

“Oh. No swinging?”

“No. He just wants to take you some place romantic and relaxing. That’s all.”

“Hmm. No wonder he looked hurt when I yelled at him.”

She bit her lip trying not to laugh. She didn’t want to hurt her mother’s feelings. “Tell you what. Go talk to Dad and make up. Jensen is up so we can chat about all the work we have to do.”

“Hello, Mrs. M,” he called out.

“Tell him I said hello.”

“Mama says hello. Go find Dad.”

“Okay. Make sure you relax.”

“I will. Love you.”

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