What the fuck was that? Lisa thought as her breathing slowed and she became aware of her surroundings again. Jeff slowly eased out of her, releasing her leg so it could slide back to the tile floor of the shower. He stood to his full height, and pulled away from her a touch. She straightened, easing slowly to a more comfortable position.

The water was only lukewarm, and she was standing stark naked in front of a man she barely knew.

She looked up and could see he was every bit as freaked out as she was. Then she made the fatal mistake of letting her gaze drop to his chest. Holy hell. That. Was what had happened. One look at those pecs and that eight-pack and it was no wonder she'd ended up like this.

"So, um, are you ok?" he asked, tentatively touching her cheek to direct her gaze to his.

God. Was she?

"Yeah. Of course." Right. The man had caught her moaning his name while she masturbated in his shower, then she'd fucked him like a porn queen. Yeah, she might never be ok again. Hot shame flooded her cheeks and she swallowed, her throat tight and dry.

"Hey." His voice was soft. And so kind. He was always so damn kind. "I don't want to say I'm sorry, because that would be a complete lie, but I don't want you to feel—I don't know—bad or weird. That was completely on me. I invaded your privacy—because I thought something might be wrong—but still. And you were vulnerable right then. I shouldn't have—" He swore softly, turning his face away from hers.

Lisa could now feel the evidence of this catastrophe dripping down her leg. "Can we have this conversation in a bit. Maybe out of the shower?"

Jeff jerked back a touch, his mouth flattening into a tight line. "Of course. I'm sorry. I'll let you have some privacy." He stepped away and left the shower, picking up his clothes on the way out, not even bothering to don a towel. She watched that amazing ass as the door shut behind him, and then she collapsed back against the wall of the shower. There on the floor, wedged against the drain, was her handy dandy friend, all pink plastic and battery-operated utility. She buried her head in her hands.

If ever there was a time to be struck dead, now was it. Just put me out of my misery, she thought, because this right here had to be worse than death. Who knew having sex with your husband could be so completely delicious and humiliating all at the same time?

* * *

Jeff paced the floor of the kitchen, running fingers through his damp hair. He'd thrown on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, feet bare, five o'clock shadow firmly in place. He heard noises from upstairs and froze, but when no footsteps sounded on the staircase, he began pacing again.

God, what the hell had he been thinking? To barge in on a woman while she was in the shower? Then not have the common decency to turn around and walk out when it was apparent she wasn't in any sort of danger or pain—except the very best kind.

In his mind he saw her standing there again, slick, wet, hand between her legs, head thrown back as she said his name.

He started to get hard again.

Fuck!

There were footsteps on the stairs, and Lisa's head peeked around the corner of the doorway.

"Hi," he said, giving her his warmest smile. She was dressed in leggings and a sweatshirt, her wet hair in a knot on top of her head, her face free of makeup in that way that always made her look so young and pure. But now he knew what was underneath that sweet school teacher exterior, he might never be the same again.

"Hi," she answered, stepping into the room.

"Would you like a drink?" he offered.

"That's probably a good idea," she answered, shaking her head slightly. "The stronger the better."

He grabbed a bottle from the cabinet over the refrigerator and poured them each a tumbler of bourbon. As he slid it across the kitchen counter to her their fingers brushed, and a current of pure desire snaked its way up his arm.

She took a hefty swallow of her drink, grimacing as it went down.

"I'm so sorry—" she began at the same time he said, "About what happened—"

They stopped and laughed awkwardly.

"Let me go first," he said. She nodded her assent.

"I think I owe you an apology. Well, I owe you about six of them." He scratched his head and leaned a hip against the counter. "First of all, I'm sorry for barging in on you. I had no business doing that. I honestly thought you might be sick or hurt, but I should have tried a lot harder to get your attention with the door closed before I went tearing in there."

She looked exceedingly uncomfortable so he continued quickly, afraid she might up and run if he didn't hurry.

"When we made up the contract, I was so intent on making sure you didn't feel pressured and no one caught on this was fake, I didn't really think about the fact I was forcing you to go an entire year without any...companionship."

Her cheeks turned bright pink and he nearly came undone. Apologize, you idiot, he thought as he took a quick slug of courage from his tumbler.

"I'm in the same boat, but I've been on some pretty long deployments, so, well...you know what I mean. I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm sorry if the terms of our arrangement have left you lonely. I didn't intend it that way and if you need to make some arrangements with a friend, I'll understand. As long as you're discreet I'm sure it will be fine."

Shit. The idea of her doing what she'd just done with him, but with another man instead, really chapped his hide. It might be in name only, but she was legally his wife. His. He liked that. He didn't want other men in the picture.

"Or," he amended quickly. "Maybe what just happened wasn't a mistake. I'd be more than happy to amend our contract—take out the 'no sex' clause. We are married after all." He raised an eyebrow and watched her.

Her discomfort morphed into a grin. "It was pretty good, wasn't it?" she asked.

"Fucking spectacular." His voice was so rough it was nearly a growl.

"So sex is allowed? If we need to take the edge off or whatever?"

Jeff gulped. Holy fucking lucky day. "I'm good with that if you are."

"But just between us? I mean, it'll be monogamous sex."

"Absolutely." His mind spun back to their joint shower forty minutes ago. "Which brings me to my other apology. I'm so sorry for not thinking about protection."

"Oh!" She flapped a hand at him. "Don't worry about that, I'm covered. And clean. I mean, I hope you know I'd be clean."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Of course. And I am as well. Military makes sure we're tested regularly." He took a step closer to her. "So if you have the birth control covered, we're both clean, and this is monogamous sex, does that mean...?"

She laughed then and it made him feel like a hundred little birds had just taken off inside his chest.

"I think it means more shower sex, Colonel."

Hale-fucking-llujah indeed, Jeff thought.