Page 88 of The Husband Diet
‘I don’t like bony women. I want to touch as much woman as I can. And you’re the most feminine I’ve ever met.’
‘Of course. I’m two at the price of one.’
‘Silly.’
‘It’s true. Ira always said he should have traded me in for two size tens.’Way to go, dummy. Now he knows you were once a size twenty.
He ducked until our foreheads were touching. ‘I wouldn’t change you for ten sizetwos.’
And with that, he brought me close and kissed the top of my head before letting me slide safely back to my feet, savoring every inch of the way down his body. I was so excited I saw spots. His hand lingered on my back.
‘Are you OK?’ he whispered.
It turned out Julian knew how to tango. Why else would he have agreed if he was going to make a fool out of himself? After our instructor gave us some final pointers and the music began, Julian put one hand at the back of my waist, pulling me up against him but not in a blatant, rude way, and held my hand in position. And I was in his arms, with no place to go and no place to look, except for his shoulder.
My brain, or what was left of it, registered the familiar masculine scent of his lean body, the feel of his chest underneath his shirt, the whiteness of his teeth andallthe stuff we’d done in his bed. A slow flame of panic began to rise inside me. Yes, I was a free woman now, but what could happen from his moment on was a mystery.
Julian had a raw, primitive sexual pull on me. Forget tango, forget our manners. I wanted him here and now. Who cared if my classmates and instructor gasped at the sight of our writhing, naked and sweaty bodies on the wooden parquet, and at the sound of our pleasure-howls echoing in the dance studio, draining out the loud music… So much for keeping my distance.
But that was my alter ego talking and not me, because as Julian’s hips gyrated expertly and neared mine, grinning a sexy grin, I feared I wouldn’t be able to cope, but then he whispered, ‘So far, so good? I just hope I don’t step on your dainty little toes with my size twelve hind paws here,’ and I giggled. ‘You’ve got such a beautiful smile, Erica,’ he said. Yep. I was toast – no doubt about it.
And later, under the sheets, or rather, on top of them, I proved it to him.
‘Man,’ he gritted his teeth, eyes flashing. ‘You’ve got me totally wrapped around your finger.’
‘Have I now,’ I drawled as my lips traveled down his chest to deeper, darker seas.
‘Absolutely. I’d do anything for you, Erica…’
I stopped. Was now the time to mention Tuscany? Hell no! Why ruin a perfectly good evening?
To compensate my hesitance to speak, I once again passed the dummy crash test against his headboard that night – several times.
*
‘I have to show you something.’ He pulled out a sheaf of papers as we were lounging around in bed an hour later.
‘What’s this? A lawsuit?’
He laughed. ‘Are you ever serious?’
‘I’m always serious.’
‘It’s my new book.’
I jumped up. ‘You’re kidding me!’
‘It’s just a rough draft, of course. I pounded it out over the Christmas holidays. I figured time without you shouldn’t be a total loss, so—’
‘But that’s fantastic! Oh my God, Julian!’
He let me hug him tight and plant kisses all over him.
‘Wait until you read it,’ he laughed.
‘It’s amazing, I’m positive. Give me that. I’m not stopping until I finish it.’
I slid out of bed and he caught me around the waist.
