Beg for It(46)

“So what, it’s been like, a month?” Corinne had meant to tease, but at the sight of her sister’s face, she stopped. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I was taking a hiatus from the D. And the next thing I know, I can barely get a ‘hey lady’ from the guys hanging out in front of the mini mart.” Caitlyn wrinkled her nose. “Even my dating profiles are all dead, unless you count the guy who told me last week that he wanted to test my gag reflex.”

“Oh. Gross.”

“Yeah, I told him that his message made me puke, so there was that.” Caitlyn laughed, then looked serious again. “You’re not going to break up with him, are you? C’mon.”

“No. But I promised him a list of rules, and I really need to get on that.”

Caitlyn’s eyes widened. “So kinky.”

“You asked!”

“Well, sure. I guess I’m just curious, that’s all. I mean…you and Douglas never…did you? He wasn’t…?”

“No,” Corinne said a little sourly. “Definitely, he was not.”

“Did you know that when you got married?”

“I was in love with him when we got married. I thought it wouldn’t matter.”

Caitlyn was silent for a moment, before she crunched a pretzel loudly. “It did, huh?”

“Well. Yeah. Sex matters. But we didn’t get divorced because Douglas didn’t like kinky sex.” Corinne paused, thinking. “We got divorced because I wanted a partnership, and he wasn’t being a partner. Not in the way I wanted him to be.”

Caitlyn had heard enough stories about her sister’s husband that it couldn’t have been much of a surprise. She nodded, though. “But what you wanted was a guy who’d do what you told him to do. Right?”

“I…yes. I guess so.” Corinne’s brow furrowed. “When you say it that way, it makes me sound terrible.”

“No. I don’t think so. There’s a lot to be said for being up front with yourself about what makes you happy,” Caitlyn said. “If more people were honest about stuff in the beginning, they’d probably stay together longer. And I say this as someone who’s never had a relationship last longer than oh, about six months.”

Corinne was quiet for a moment or so, contemplating this advice. “Is it crazy for me to think that Reese knows me better than anyone ever has? Even after all this time? I mean, we’ve both changed, I think. I hope. And a lot of time has passed. But I still feel like he knows exactly how to push every button I have. The good ones and the bad ones.”

“I told you, he’s your one.” Caitlyn grinned.

Corinne shook her head, not to negate what her sister was saying, but more in a thoughtful way. “I don’t know about that. I’m not sure I believe in a one. But he’s something. He was from the first time we were together, and all these years, I never stopped thinking about him. He says he never stopped thinking about me. Maybe this time we can make it work, right? Not f*ck it all up. Anyway, it’s way too soon to tell.”

“You know, I’m all right staying here with the kids if you want to go on over there and give him what-for,” Caitlyn said casually. “Get your list on, whatever.”

Corinne laughed, sort of, but not quite embarrassed. “I haven’t written it yet.”

“Make him take dictation. Get it? Dick-tation!”

“I get it. God. You’re like, twelve.”

Caitlyn fluttered her lashes. “What can I say, it’s a gift? But seriously, call him back, if he wants you to go over there, you can go.”

“It’s not a question of if he wants me to go over there,” Corinne said archly. “It’s a question of if I tell him I’m coming over.”

“Ooh, hotsy totsy. How could I forget, you’re the empress!”

Corinne laughed. Reese had sometimes called her his queen. “Something like that. Okay, you sure you don’t mind?”

“Believe me, I have Interflix and a gallon of peanut butter chocolate ice cream, and nothing else going on. Go on. Just be back before the kids get up for school in the morning so I don’t have to wake up early.” Caitlyn grinned and made a shooing motion with her hands. “Go on. Go. You know you want to!”

“You’re the best sister, you know that?”

Caitlyn preened. “Yeah. I know.”





Chapter Twenty-Five



Reese had never felt as content as he did in this moment, his head cradled in Corinne’s lap. They were supposed to be watching a movie, but it had been playing the entire time, and they hadn’t paid much attention to it. Now, with her fingers running through his hair, he thought he might sleep—except that he didn’t want to miss a second of this.

She had promised him a list but had not yet given him one. Back during their first time around, he would’ve pestered her about it, but time had tempered him. Or maybe he was unsure about what, exactly, to expect from Corinne’s list. Uncertain if he was ready for it, no matter what he’d said.

“Tell me about the vacation company,” she said now.

Reese shrugged. “It’s a specialty thing. It started off catering to couples, honeymooners, that sort of thing. Over time the clientele became more focused. When I bought it, it was having trouble because the couple who ran it operated on good will, not written contracts, and they were getting screwed out of a lot of stuff by the venues that made promises and then didn’t deliver.”