chapter one
♥
“Ok, what’s wrong with you?”
Ridley Wells Alexander looked up from the bowl of triple fudge brownies she was currently mixing. “What do you mean? Nothing’s wrong.”
Her twin sister yanked the bowl out of her arms. “If you beat that batter any harder it’s going to file a restraining order against you.”
Ridley scowled. She couldn’t even blame all the changes of the past few years for her sister’s dramatics. Getting married and having a baby hadn’t changed Raina in the least. She was just as meddlesome and overly dramatic as always.
She was also Ri’s very best friend.
“I’m just frustrated.”
Raina carefully tipped the bowl and filled the clear glass baking dish on the counter with the decadent chocolate batter. As per their usual routine, she handed Ridley the spoon to lick while she swiped a finger through the batter left in the bowl. Ridley moaned as the chocolate hit her taste buds. When she looked over at her sister, Raina was watching her with a horrified expression.
“What?” she asked, uncharacteristically annoyed. She was always the easygoing twin but it had been harder and harder lately to keep a smile on her face.
“Nothing. I just wasn’t expecting you to make out with the spoon,” Raina joked. “Do I need to have a talk with my brother-in-law about how to keep the home fires burning?”
Silence fell over the room as thick as a blanket. Ridley carefully set the spoon down on the counter, not even bothering to lick the rest of the batter off. Her appetite was gone.
Raina watched her curiously as she put the bowl in the sink. “I was just kidding, Ri. I wasn’t trying to upset you. Considering how the two of you go at it, clearly Jackson doesn’t need any help.”
Ridley shrugged. “Lately he does,” she muttered.
“Holy crap. You’re serious aren’t you?” Raina’s mouth fell open.
“Please don’t make fun, Ray. I just can’t… not about this.” Ri knew her sister never meant any harm, it was just her nature to mock everything. She’d always claimed “bitchy” was her native language. But this was too close to home for her to take a joke. It was too close to her heart.
“Oh honey!” Raina pulled her into a hug. “I would never make fun about … well, about that. I was just shocked. I’m used to the two of you being all over each other, that’s all. But it’s normal for things to slow down. No one goes through years of marriage getting freaky on a daily basis.”
Silence settled between them. Ridley closed her eyes, humiliation burning through her like wildfire with what she was about to admit.
As usual, Raina sensed how upset she was instantly. She led her over to the kitchen table and pulled out two chairs. Ridley sat and kept her eyes on the floor. She jumped when a warm hand settled over hers. When she looked up, Raina’s eyes were soft but understanding.
“What’s going on, baby girl?”
Immediately tears welled. Hearing that soft understanding voice from her sister who was usually joking around or being snarky was the last straw. She’d been strong for months. Ridley didn’t have any strength left.
“It’s been three months, Raina. He hasn’t touched me since I really started showing. I guess I’m lucky this is my first baby and I didn’t pop out right away.”
The shocked intake of breath was the only indication that Raina heard her. The hand covering hers tightened.
“Well, then … well.”
Ri sighed. “I know. That’s really bad. He’s probably getting it somewhere else!”
“No, no. We’re not going to do that.” Raina leaned over and brushed away the tears on her cheeks. “Jackson loves you and he would never do that to you. I’ve always been the crazy twin so you don’t get to take on that role even if you’re knocked up.”
Ri chuckled softly even as her head started hurting. She’d been crying so much lately that it felt like she had a permanent headache.
“Mommy? Why are you crying?”
Her stepson, Jase, appeared at her side. His hand rubbed over her baby bump. “Is our baby making you sick? Maybe you need the ginga ale again?”
Ridley smiled at his attempt to say ginger ale. He’d seen Jackson pour her a glass enough times to know it was one of the only things she could keep down when she felt sick. Her other stepson, Chris, appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, his dark eyes worried. Raina held out her arms to him and he ran over, immediately snuggling into her embrace.
He peeked over at her hesitantly. “What’s wrong, Mom?”
Unlike Jase, it had taken Chris a little while to adjust to calling her Mom. Sensitive and cautious by nature, she suspected he’d been afraid to call her that. After all, the only thing he’d known about mothers for years was that his had died. The day he’d called her that spontaneously was one of the best of her life.
Raina kissed him on top of his head. “Sometimes women cry, my sweet boy. The sooner you learn that, the better.”
Ridley shook her head. “I’m fine, sweetie. You know I cry at everything these days.”
Jase patted her cheek until she looked down at him. He puckered his lips and gave her a little kiss. “Love you, Mommy.”
“I love you too, sweetie.” She let out a little sigh and squeezed him extra tight. She loved her life and her amazing new family. Nothing would hurt her more than losing them. That’s why she had to figure out what was wrong with her husband.
After the boys ran off to play with the new video game system their Uncle Nick had just bought, Ridley looked up to find her sister watching her with narrowed eyes.
“What’s that look?”
Raina glanced over her shoulder before answering. “This situation cannot continue. We have to do something.”
Suddenly she was ashamed that she’d spilled such intimate details. If Jackson was telling people these sorts of things she’d be mortified. What was between them was private. It was something they would have to work out together. It wasn’t his fault if he didn’t find her pregnant body sexy. He was probably trying not to hurt her feelings by commenting on the weight she’d gained. He knew she was sensitive about it. It just seemed so unfair that her twin hadn’t gained very much and she felt like such a cow. Then again, Raina had always kept her weight low from her years modeling while Ridley loved to cook. And the evidence was on her hips and thighs.
“Never mind, Ray. I shouldn’t have even said anything.”
“Screw that! This is war. What he’s doing is just… it’s cruel. If your libido is anything like mine, you want it now more than ever. He needs to be taking care of you in every way.”
Her face burned at her sister’s frank talk. “Raina, this is ridiculous. I’m hardly going to force him to … do it.”
Raina got up and walked out of the kitchen. Puzzled, Ri was about to go after her when the timer went off for the brownies. They’d cooled and she was cutting the first piece by the time Raina came back carrying a small cardboard box.
“Found it. Everything you need to fix this is in this box.”
Munching on the chewy brownie, she leaned over and peered into the box. Lace in every color of the rainbow was jumbled together in a heap.
“Raina, I couldn’t fit into that expensive lingerie you buy even when I wasn’t carrying forty pounds of baby weight.”
“It’s pregnancy lingerie. It’s designed to highlight and conceal all the appropriate areas. I did some pregnancy modeling, remember? Whoo, you don’t even want to know how crazy Nick went for some of this stuff.”
Normally she would be mortified at hearing anything about her brother-in-laws preferences in the lingerie department. But in this particular case, she could only hope his brother shared his interests.
“I’m not sure I can pull this off. You know how to be a sexpot. I don’t. I just don’t … feel sexy anymore.”
Raina smirked. “Trust me, it’s all in the attitude you project. Pretend you feel hot and you will be. All you have to do is wear something skimpy, give him the look and you’re in business. Men are simple and they can’t say no to sex.”
Ri couldn’t help laughing at that. “Way to generalize, sis.”
“Am I wrong?”
Ridley sighed. “I guess not. Ok, show me what we’ve got.”
♥
Ridley pulled out a box of pasta and a jar of canned sauce. Gone were the days when she had the energy to cook everything from scratch. Her shoulders drooped. Honestly, they'd been ordering out an awful lot lately since she hadn't felt up to cooking. But since Raina had offered to keep the boys for a while, she could at least make dinner before she attempted to twist herself into one of the lace nightmares in Raina's box of horrors.
She glanced over at the box sitting on the floor next to the couch. Taking it upstairs and out of sight would have required energy she simply didn't have so she'd settled for draping a throw blanket over it. Jackson would have laughed but it seemed a little inappropriate to have racy lingerie just sitting out in plain view.
Even though there was no one there but her. Ridley had to laugh at herself.
She looked in the refrigerator again and noticed they didn't have shredded cheese. She could always shred some but how long would that take? Her feet were starting to hurt and it was going to take her awhile to get cleaned up and into the lingerie. With a sigh, she gave up and pulled open the freezer. Her mother-in-law kept them stocked with casseroles so she could always just reheat one of those.
Thank God for Julia, she thought.
Once a chicken casserole was in the oven, Ridley made her way upstairs. She set the box on the bed and then went into the ensuite bathroom to start the tub. After a nice relaxing bath and then putting on her favorite scented body lotion, she would be set. Maybe some of the issue was that she hadn't had the energy to primp much lately. She had one particular body lotion Jackson used to go crazy for but she hadn't used it in a while. Ridley smiled. Perhaps Raina was right. She just needed to feel sexy again and then they'd be back on the horse.
She took off her clothes, making sure not to look at herself in the mirror, and stepped into the bath. The water wasn’t as warm as she’d like, one more thing she’d had to give up with pregnancy, but the scent of the body oil she'd drizzled over the water wafted up to her nose, wrapping her in a soft, inviting haze. Ridley couldn't hold back a little moan when the water rose up to her neck. She lifted her foot, trailing her toe over the tub spigot. It was so nice to get off her feet and relax. She took her time, washing with her loofah sponge and then got out and slathered her entire body in the vanilla scented lotion Jackson loved.
Then she walked in her bedroom, eyeing the box on the bed like it was filled with poisonous snakes. It was time.
The first thing she pulled out had so many snaps and ribbons that Ridley wasn’t entirely sure how to put it on. She set that one aside. The next was fire engine red and although it would look great on her skin tone, she wasn’t sure she had the confidence to carry off red right then.
Baby steps. Let’s start slow, she thought.
When she saw the petal pink babydoll, she smiled. It was a little sweeter than she’d expect her sister to go for so it must have been something that was sent to her. Raina was always getting sample clothes from designers hoping she’d highlight them on her fashion blog. It was a nice perk but usually wasn’t something that benefited Ridley since she and her sister had completely opposite taste in clothes.
But it was coming in handy now.
She pulled the babydoll over her head and it floated down around her in a cloud of lace and silk. Her hands trailed over the smooth fabric, positioning the cups over her now full breasts. It highlighted her new cleavage perfectly and skimmed over her round baby bump. It was also way more comfortable than she’d expected. She went into the bathroom to see how it looked in the full-length mirror.
“Wow. I look hot.” Ridley turned to see the back of the gown and almost choked. Somehow she’d missed that the back of it was completely sheer so her bare bottom was on display.
“Jackson is definitely going to like this one.”
Her husband had always been crazy for her bottom and this sheer nightie was definitely catering to that. It was nice to feel sexy so Ridley used her newfound energy to style her hair into a side part and pulled the top part up into a ponytail so her curls cascaded over her shoulders saucily. Then she put on a little mascara and a soft pink lipstick. When she was done, she grinned at her reflection.
She was definitely getting some tonight!
After cleaning up the bathroom, Ridley decided to wait for Jackson in the bed. She felt weird going downstairs dressed like this, even if she had a robe on, plus if they were going to end up in the bedroom anyway, why bother?
She pulled the covers back and let out a little sigh when she got off her feet. Everything exhausted her lately and all that primping had taken longer than she’d expected. Fifteen minutes went by and Ridley glanced at her cell phone. Jackson should be home soon.
That was the last thing she remembered before she fell asleep.