Listed: Volume V by Noelle Adams

to the apartment afterwards, Emily was glad she had summoned
the courage to do it, but she was ready to cross it off her list and be done
with it.
    She
went to the office immediately and was surprised that Paul wasn’t there. She’d
figured he would have spent the evening buried in work to distract himself from
thinking about her.
    She
searched the apartment and finally found him in the master bathroom. He’d just
gotten out of the shower, but he opened the door at her knock, a towel slung
low around his hips.
    “How
was it?” he asked, smiling at her, his face mostly relaxed although his eyes
looked a little stressed.
    “It
was fine,” she said, grinning back despite the fatigue that kept creeping up on
her. “I did pretty well.”
    “I’m
sure you did.” He came out of the bathroom and went into the closet to get a
pair of pajama pants.
    “What
have you been doing?” she asked. “I thought you’d still be working.”
    “I
couldn’t focus, so I worked out instead.”
    The
words were mild, but Emily suddenly understood what they meant. He’d probably
spent the last couple of hours working out his frustrations on the weights and
treadmill. He was acting perfectly calm about the whole situation, but she knew
it must have been hard for him.
    Paul
dropped his towel and pulled on the soft, black pajama pants. Emily watched,
absently admiring his lean hips, long legs, and other impressive body parts.
    He
studied her face after he pulled up the pants. “You don’t look like you had a
very good time.”
    She
shrugged. “I’m really glad I did it, and I’m glad I did a good job. But I
definitely don’t want to do it again.”
    His
lips turned up slightly. “Good. I know some men are fine with it, but I’m not
sure I could handle having my wife stripping for other men regularly.”
    She
walked over to hug him. “Thanks for understanding, Paul,” she whispered.
    He
hugged her back. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t really need to.
    When
they finally pulled apart, Paul glanced down at her. She was still wearing the
prim librarian outfit and very high heels. “Did you want to show me your
dance?” he asked, a new note entering his voice.
    Emily
sighed. “I do, but maybe not tonight. I’m actually not feeling all that great
right now.”
    Paul’s
expression changed. He raised a hand to feel her forehead and then her cheek.
“Why don’t you just take some Tylenol and go to bed?”
    She
nodded. “I might take a bath first.”
    Paul
went to draw her a bath while she took off her sexy clothes and dumped them in
a heap on the closet floor. Paul had poured the lemon and eucalyptus oil into
the bath, and the familiar soothing fragrance made her feel a little better
immediately.
    Paul
sat next to the tub while she soaked. He didn’t say much. She didn’t either.
The evening had taken all the energy she had, and she could feel another fever
coming on.
    But
she was glad Paul was beside her. At one point she reached over to take his
hand, and she didn’t let it go.
    He
was an intensely complicated man. He was guarded and needy, controlling and
generous, possessive and deeply loving, experienced at everything except being
in a real relationship.
    He
was her husband.
    When
the water in her bath was starting to cool, she opened her eyes and looked over
at him. He’d been gazing at her, something deep and aching in his expression.
    A
couple of tears streamed down her cheeks. She was feeling too sick now to stop
them. “Thanks for not making this evening hard for me, Paul. I know it took a
lot for you to…to be all right with me doing this.”
    After
a moment's hesitation, he admitted, "It shouldn't have been as hard for me
as it was."
    She
gave a little shrug. "But it was hard, and I understand why. And it
means so much that you…that you…" She couldn't figure out how to finish.
    She
didn't have to. Something cracked on Paul’s face for just a moment before he
composed it. "It's about you, baby. It's