Good Husband Material

“I wondered where you’d gone to.”

She whirled around, startled. “Josh!”

He slipped an arm around her waist, just like when they’d been dancing. Except this time they were utterly alone and in the dark.

“I’m glad you’re doing so well,” he said. “For years I worried about you, all alone in the big city.”

She forced herself to relax as they naturally fell into a slow walk, heading for an area behind the building where a few picnic tables were scattered under some ancient live oak trees.

“I was never alone. My sister’s in Dallas.” That was why she’d applied to nursing schools there instead of Houston. That, and because she’d wanted to get as far away from Josh as she could, so she wouldn’t be tempted to go back. Ending their marriage had been the most painful decision of her life. She hadn’t wanted to go through it more than once.

“Yeah, but you didn’t have me.”

“Undeniably true. But by some miracle, I muddled through without you. Or any man.”

He took her hand and led her over to the tables, bending down to squint at the top of first one, then another.

“What are you doing?”

“Ah, here it is.” He took his key chain out of his pocket. It had a little LED flashlight attached, and he shined it on the top of the picnic table.

The beam of light illuminated a heart, with the initials J.C. and N.B. enclosed. Josh had carved it into the table when they’d first started dating their junior year. The carving had been painted over many times, but it survived along with about a hundred others.

“Defacing public property. Shame on you.”

“I wanted everyone to know you were mine.” He reached up and smoothed her hair behind her ear. “You haven’t changed. I mean, really. People say that, but you still look just as I remember you. No…better.”

“It’s the soft lighting,” she joked, but inside she was quaking. She couldn’t think clearly when he was touching her. She knew there was a very good reason not to be out here alone with Josh Carlson, but none came to mind. Nothing came to her mind except a hot desire she’d been sure was a part of her adolescent past.

Then he leaned in and kissed her, and she ceased thinking altogether.

Chapter Two

Josh couldn’t believe how good it felt to have Natalie in his arms and his mouth on hers. She looked the same, she smelled the same, she even tasted the same, which was unlike any other girl he’d ever been with.

Despite what he’d told her, he’d known ahead of time she would be at the reunion. Melissa had warned him. But the warning had been more of an enticement, really. He’d wanted to see how she’d turned out. They were still practically kids when they’d split up—just twenty-three.

He’d half hoped Natalie would be fat and matronly, with plenty of wrinkles and gray hair. Some of the girls he’d gone to high school with certainly had aged in that way. But not Natalie.

Physically, she’d hardly changed at all. Oh, she’d put on a few pounds—weight that was sorely needed. As a teenager she’d been way too thin. Now her still-slender figure had real womanly curves. He liked them—a lot.

She had the same high cheekbones and lush lips, same thick, dark hair, slightly wavy, the ends curling about her bare shoulders.

And she still kissed with no holds barred. He wondered if he could turn her on as easily as he once had. He knew where to touch. But even after a couple of beers, he questioned the wisdom of lighting her fire. They were grown-ups now, and sex wasn’t a game anymore. Sex had repercussions, and not just physical ones.

Yet, he couldn’t stop kissing her.

A door opened and he heard raucous rock music pouring out. He removed his hand from Natalie’s breast, where it had mysteriously strayed without his conscious decision.

“We really shouldn’t be doing this,” Natalie said, her chest heaving so hard she was about to come out of her sundress.

“Why not?” he asked, though he knew the answer.

“Because some memories should be left alone.”

“And some memories should be taken out and examined,” he countered. “To see if they’re really as good as you remember.”

He coaxed a smile out of her. “And was it?” she asked.

“I don’t know yet. I have more examining to do.”

She allowed him to kiss her again. Kissing was innocent, after all. They couldn’t exactly rip their clothes off and make love right here.

As he delved into her mouth with his tongue, he wished he hadn’t thought about ripping off clothes. Because knowing they couldn’t get naked right here had only made him wonder where they could get naked.

“I’ve got a room at the Holiday Inn,” he whispered in her ear. But only because he wanted to get her reaction. Not because he thought she would take him up on his proposition.

He expected her to express shock or anger or at least issue a curt refusal. But she was the one to surprise him. “I can’t. I’m staying with Melissa.” Her voice was filled with regret.

“Do you really think she’d object if you went off with me? She’s been campaigning for us to get back together ever since our divorce.”

“Yeah. Get together, get married, live happily ever after.” She paused to kiss him some more, pulling the tails of his shirt from his pants so she could slide her hands up his bare back. The touch of her warm, soft hands made him shudder with desire. Oh, what this woman could do to him. He would be her slave if she wanted it. “She would not approve of what we’re…talking about doing,” Natalie concluded.

“It’s a class reunion.”

“You keep saying that.” She reached for his hand and placed it back on her breast. “Like a class reunion is some kind of free ticket to bad behavior.”

He dipped his head down and kissed the top of her breast. “And we’re doing more than talking.” If they didn’t come to a satisfactory plan very soon, they would be out of their clothes in a much-too-public place. He’d forgotten just how crazy Natalie could make him.

He forced himself to pull away, and push the strap of her dress up her arm and back on her shoulder where it belonged. “My car is twenty steps away. You can call Melissa’s cell from there. Better yet, leave a message on her home phone.”

“Yeah, with one of her kids. ‘Tell Mommy her slutty friend Natalie is getting laid instead of coming home tonight.’”

Josh chuckled. “C’mon, Nat. I wore Stetson for you, you know. Normally I never touch the stuff.” But the smell of it had brought back all kinds of memories. Really good ones.

Sensing her reluctance, he kissed her again—kissed her until, one by one, her tense muscles relaxed and she became liquid in his arms.

“All right,” she finally said with a naughty gleam in her eye. “Forget Melissa. I’m mad at her anyway for lying to me.”

Adrenaline shot through Josh’s body. She’d said yes. He and Natalie were going to make love.

He hadn’t come here to seduce Natalie. Yeah, he’d worn the Stetson cologne, but that was more to see if she would remember—and maybe to remind her of the good times, not the bad. But the moment he’d seen her, looking not so different from the teenage girl he’d fallen in love with, he’d known that he wanted her in his bed that night.

He’d given up one-night stands a long time ago. And since two marriages with bad endings had proved he wasn’t good husband material, marriage was out of the question.

This was different, though. This was Natalie, the woman he’d once loved so desperately, probably more than anyone on earth except his kids. Spending one night with her would not be the same as some empty, frantic one-nighter. This would be a trip down memory lane, a welcome oasis of nostalgia in a life that was so caught up in work and raising kids that he never had time for just Josh anymore.

By the time they reached his Jaguar, he’d beeped open the lock. He settled her on the leather passenger seat.