Page 79 of My Husband Problem

I didn’t give myself an orgasm last night before I fell asleep as part of my pelvic floor physical therapy. I did it because Ihadto. He had me all worked up, and I couldn’t fall asleep without it. And then I had very dirty dreams. About him.

That’s not new. It happens a lot, in fact. But last night…whew.

Which is why I slipped out of the house extra early this morning, left him a note, went to hide out in my office at the arena, and answered his text asking if I’m okay and if he can take me to lunch with a simpleokay.

But now he’s putting me off.

I suppose something could have come up with work in Portland, and he had to jump on a conference call or something.

Astrid: That’s fine. Everything okay?

I send it before I think about it. Why do I care if everything’s okay? He’s a grown man who has been running his huge, very successful business for years on his own. Certainly without me.

Declan:I have people at the house. But don’t come home. And Oscar is fine, he’s with Patty. And the ducks are fine.

I stare at the message, trying to make sense of it. But not a single word of what he sent truly computes.

He has people at the house? My house? That almost sounds…social. I do appreciate that he knew Oscar and the ducks would be a concern to me. But I’m not supposed to come home? To my own house?

Oh, he has to know that is not going to work.

“I need to run home for a minute,” I say to Nora and Sutton.

I got bored alone in my office after a few hours, so I headed to city hall again, and have been hanging out in the Parks and Rec office.

Nora didn’t hesitate to put me to work. I cut out cardstock cookies, cupcakes, and pies for some down-the-road bake sale, then they gave me an extra laptop to design a flyer for a bus trip over to Autre to the animal park.

But now, Sutton suddenly straightens, and Nora says quickly, “No, don’t go home! Stay with us.”

“What? Why?”

Sutton jumps in. “Yeah, stay here. We could use your help with…” She scans the whiteboard.

“Gardening Club,” Nora replies without looking.

I prop a hand on my hip. I am not the Gardening Club type. I have lots of flowers and plants around my house, but they were all there when I moved in, and thankfully, the Louisiana climate takes care of them without me needing to do a thing.

While I do appreciate the beautiful lushness of my yard, I don’t have the first idea how to keep it going without the temperate climate, occasional rainfall, and seeming constant humidity.

They know something about what’s going on at my house.

“Okay, girls, why can’t I go home?”

“Alex is just over at your place hanging out with Declan,” Nora says breezily, waving a hand.

I think about that. First, is Alex “people”? Declan could have just said my brother was over at the house. And why can’t I come home if Alex is there? And is one person “people”? No.

Besides, I wouldn't exactly call Declan and Alex friends. They’re acquaintances. And now they’re brothers-in-law. As the Grays' owner, Declan is Alex’s ex-boss, too. Alex is over getting cut from the team, but I still wouldn’t call the menfriends.

“Why is Alex hanging out with Declan?” I ask.

“He knows Declan doesn’t know anyone here. He’s trying to help him feel more comfortable.”

Nora won’t meet my eyes. My very sweet future sister-in-law is a terrible liar.

“Alex is Team Miles,” I tell her.

“I don’t think so,” she says, her gaze finally bouncing up to mine. “I mean, he doesn’t think you and Miles should get married or anything.”