“Ridley? Baby are you okay?”
He skidded to a stop inside the doorway when he saw Ridley asleep on the bed. She was curled up on top of the comforter with her head pillowed on her arm.
She also looked like sex personified.
Jackson groaned as his entire body tightened. What the hell? Ridley’s lush body was covered with some pink and lace night gown that looked like it had been designed specifically to make any man who saw it lose IQ points. Add to that the effect of her curly hair framing her face and all the cleavage revealed by the deep cut of the gown and he was fighting a losing battle. He clenched his fists. She was perfect and looked completely… fuckable. There was no other way to describe it and it was killing him.
Ridley chose that moment to wake up. Her lashes fluttered and she let out a soft little sigh that he felt right in his dick. God, what was that slick pink stuff on her lips? It made him think about those full lips wrapped around…
Fuck. He had to control himself. He couldn’t just maul her like a wild animal.
“What the hell is going on?”
It came out a little more harshly than he intended and Ridley jumped. She glanced around frantically and only calmed when she realized it was him.
“Jackson, you’re home. When did you get here?” Then she looked down at what she was wearing and blushed a pink that turned him on fiercely.
“I just got here and the kitchen was on fire. What is going on? And what the hell are you wearing?”
Ridley grabbed the sheet and wrapped it around her, which didn’t help his unrelenting erection much. It would probably help more if she put the sheet over him. Ridley could look sexy in anything.
“Nothing. I was just… nothing.” Her face crumpled and she ran into the bathroom, the door slamming behind her.
Perplexed, Jackson followed her until he heard something that nearly took him to his knees.
Crying.
?
An hour later, Ridley still hadn’t come out of the bathroom. Nick had shown up with the boys so he figured they’d been spending time with their aunt and uncle while Ridley had been at home wearing sexy lingerie and almost burning the house down.
What he couldn’t figure out was why? Was she trying to make it harder for him to stay away from her? Then it hit him. She was no doubt worried that if he wasn’t getting sex at home that he was getting it somewhere else. There were plenty of men who used a dry spell at home as an excuse to go out and screw anything in a skirt and even though he knew Ridley trusted him, she was still pregnant and hormonal. She was probably worrying herself sick about whether he was tempted.
He didn’t even want to tackle opening the oven yet, so he microwaved some frozen chicken fingers for the boys and listened to their stories about Uncle Nick’s new game system. Ridley walked by while he was supervising shower time but he didn’t try to talk to her then. It wasn’t until after he’d gotten both boys tucked into bed that she appeared in the doorway to their room. He watched as she gave them both hugs and kisses.
Out in the hallway, he took her hand. “Hey, can we talk?”
She didn’t look enthusiastic about it but followed him to their room. He closed the door behind them, trying to collect his thoughts. There was certainly no delicate way to tell his wife that he wasn’t cheating and never would.
“About earlier, when you were wearing the … night gown. You don’t have to do that. I mean, you’re probably worried that I’m getting … that… elsewhere. But I’m not. Getting that anywhere else. I would never do that to you so you don’t have to wear that stuff or whatever.”
She lay down on her side and closed her eyes. The dark shadows under her eyes had only gotten more pronounced over the last few weeks. His worry for her was like a constant companion. She was only getting more absentminded and tired. He was trying to do the right thing and take care of her instead of mauling her like a horny bastard.
He thought he'd been prepared for how beautiful she'd be pregnant since he saw his sister-in-law go through it but he'd been taken off guard by how much he wanted her.
“I’m sorry about the kitchen. The oven is probably ruined,” she whispered.
Relief swept through him. She was just worried about the damage to the kitchen.
“Don’t worry about that. It’s time for a new oven anyway.”
Her eyes narrowed and he thought she was going to call him out on the obvious lie. Even though he’d reassured Ridley many times that he was a wealthy man and could afford to buy her whatever she wanted, he’d noticed she was still very frugal and rarely asked for any extravagances. As such, he’d made it a personal mission to spoil her whenever possible. He should have known she’d be worried about the cost of kitchen renovations.
But that was a concern they could take care of tomorrow. His immediate concern was taking the haunted look from her eyes.
“Now do you need anything? Food, water, maybe a foot rub?”
Ridley swallowed a few times and wouldn’t look at him. When she swiped at her cheeks, he knelt on the floor in front of her. Her eyes were red and slightly swollen and it crushed him to see her looking so sad.