Fay Robinson - Mr. And Mrs. Wrong

“All couples fight.”

“And half of them end up divorced.”

Now it was his turn to feel restless, smothered by the topic she’d chosen. “That won’t happen to us. I’m crazy about you. You know that.”

“But it is happening to us. Don’t you get that? With this separation we’re already part of the way there. Our marriage is failing.”

“No, it isn’t. I admit we have problems, but we can fix them.”

“How? How do we fix them?”

“I can think of a couple of things for starters.” He moved toward her, intending to take her in his arms and apologize for having been such an ass earlier, but she scooted around the desk out of his reach.

“No, don’t start this, Jack. Stay over there and promise you won’t touch me.”

“Why can’t I touch you?”

“Because.”

The answer made no sense, so he came forward again. They did a little dance back and forth. He went left. She went left. He went right. She went right. “This is crazy,” he said, stopping. “I feel like I’m in first grade again, playing tag with Mary Louise McGillray. Why can’t I touch you?”

“Because for once I’d like to have a conversation with you without ending up flat on my back with my underpants around my ankles.”

“We’re in my office. That’s not going to happen.”

“Of course it will. We played a game of Toad in the Hole not more than two weeks ago on this very desk, and we’ve been downright acrobatic in that chair several times.”

He smothered his amusement at her euphemistic choice of words, knowing that if he laughed, he’d only make her mad.

She was deadly serious. Her expression told him that. And she had a point. They’d engaged in a little creative sex in his office before, and their arguments often did end with it.

But in his own defense…every time they’d made love here had been after hours and with the door locked. This was afternoon, and the building was full of people. He wasn’t about to do anything. Holding her had been the only thing on his mind.

Well…probably.

He grumbled to himself. Okay, admittedly, when he held her he usually ended up kissing her. And when he kissed her, they both had a way of coming out of their clothes. But she was his wife, dammit, and he enjoyed making love to her. In resignation, he backed up and folded his arms across his chest. “All right, I’ll stay over here. Let’s talk this out. What do you think we should do?”

“I want us to go for marriage counseling.”

“Ah, hell, no. You can forget about that.”

“Jack, please. The least you can do is consider it. Don’t be pigheaded.”

“I’m not airing our problems in front of some stranger. I categorically refuse.”

She swore under her breath. “Fine. Then you come up with something. You never go along with anything I suggest.”

“If we’d dated longer or taken the time for a real engagement, we’d probably have worked out the things we’re fighting about now. Do you agree with that?”

“Yes, I guess so.”

“So is there any rule that says we can’t start over again? That makes a hell of a lot more sense to me than going to some guy we don’t know and whining about how we don’t have anything in common.”

“What exactly are you suggesting?”

“That we pretend we’re not married and do it right this time. We go out. We try stuff we haven’t tried before and take an interest in each other’s hobbies. We get to know each other better.”

He’d caught her interest. Her mouth had started a slight upward turn. “As in a real courtship?” she asked.

“Sure, if that’s what you want to call it. Dates. Movies. Picnics. All the things couples do when they meet and start to fall in love, but that we didn’t do the first time around.”

“We spent all our time together in bed.”

“I know, and it was a mistake. But to prove my sincerity, I’ll even go fishing with you.”

“You’re joking. You hate the thought of baiting a hook.”

“You can do that part for me. And in return, I’ll teach you how to play golf.”

She wrinkled her nose in distaste, then faked a smile. “Golf. Sounds…wonderful.”

“You don’t have to like it or even pretend to like it, but you do have to try it. That’ll be our new rule. We don’t discount anything, even if it doesn’t sound fun or it’s not what we’d normally do. If the other person enjoys it, we give it a shot.”

“Would you still keep the apartment?”

“For the time being.”

“Oh.” Her mouth fell a bit.

“That’s the sensible thing to do. Where we live is the biggest problem between us, and we’re not going to resolve it easily. We know that already. But we can make a commitment while we’re courting and try to mutually work out a solution.”

“Without fighting, I hope.”

“Definitely without fighting. No fighting will be allowed.”

“We could even pretend to get engaged after a few months, couldn’t we?”

“Absolutely. You could plan a real wedding this time.”

Her eyes lit up. “With a long dress and a church ceremony and everything?”

“If that would make you happy. Invitations. Reception. Flowers. The works.”

“Oh, Jack!”

“So what do you say?”

Her delight suddenly turned to obvious distress. Her whole body seemed to sag. “But we can’t. Oh, God, it would’ve been perfect, but we can’t do it. It’s too late.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Yes, it is!” Pain leaped into her eyes. “Why couldn’t you have come up with this idea four months ago, instead of moving out and starting all your stupid games? Ooh, I could just kill you!”

“What the hell…” Why was she suddenly furious at him?

“We can’t have a courtship now!”

“Why not?”

“Because, Mr. ‘I forgot my basketball,’ I’m going to have a baby!”

THE WORD FLOORED suddenly made sense to Lucky as she watched Jack sway and his knees buckle. “Oh, no!” She grabbed him, but he was too heavy for her to keep upright. Muscle and bone seemed to melt and slide downward. All she could do was hold on around his middle and guide him as he sat down hard on the carpet.

He prided himself on being tough, but at the moment he looked more like a vulnerable little boy who’d gotten the shock of his life. Her anger fizzled, or maybe her love for him was stronger than her anger. She was equally responsible for this little problem, and it hadn’t been fair to put all the blame on him. And, too, this was supposed to be one of the happiest moments in a couple’s life, and she had spoiled it for him, for both of them. She’d never forgive herself for that.

“I’m so sorry.” She knelt and tried to help him regain his equilibrium. “I didn’t plan to tell you like this. I was heartless to blurt it out in anger. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just… I didn’t expect… How did this happen? The pill’s supposed to be nearly one-hundred percent effective.”

“Nearly being the problem. My doctor said that in clinical trials, the type I was taking works ninety-nine point nine percent of the time, but in the real world, the failure rate is more like five to eight percent. Even missing one pill, or varying the time you take them each day, can cause disaster.”

“Did you skip one by mistake?”

“No, I’m positive I didn’t, but apparently certain other medications can also reduce their effectiveness.”

“Sinus infection,” he said, figuring it out.

“Uh-huh. I had that bad one in the spring. I received a shot and a prescription for antibiotics. If I’d known…”

“Hey, it doesn’t matter. Whatever the cause, I’m glad. Hell, I’m thrilled.” He grinned stupidly. “I’m going to be a father!”