Their Marriage Contract by Val Daniels

Author:Val Daniels
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2011-06-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

He’d made a mistake. There was no point in denying it any longer. Now how did he correct it? Josh wondered as he went directly to the appropriate section of the store for the bread Marisa had asked him to pick up on his way home.

He had every aisle memorized. And he’d thought grocery shopping would be a part of his past. Now he was stopping at the store on his way home every day.

He’d always been organized, making lists and going once a week. Marisa treated the store like her pantry, running to it whenever she needed something.

He didn’t understand the way Marisa’s mind worked at all.

He could admit to himself that it had been stupid to expect marriage to solve all his problems—or even one of them, he thought wryly.

Well, one had been solved. He wasn’t talking to himself anymore. He wasn’t talking much to anyone. He couldn’t risk saying the wrong thing and seeing that crushed look in Marisa’s eyes.

He liked having Ryan around. The boy made dinner conversations interesting.

And he liked having Marisa around, too. He liked looking at her, hearing her motherly exchanges with Ryan. He loved being enveloped in her soft scent when she passed him. Never mind that her presence doubled one of his other problems—one he thought for sure marriage would take care of. Lord knew he wanted her, but she didn’t seem ready to take the relationship to the next step yet. The way she froze when he touched her—something he hadn’t tried since the ‘honeymoon’—he wasn’t sure anymore if she’d ever be ready.

So he wandered around in a constant, miserable state of arousal. How could he fix things? How did he get out of this mess he’d gotten himself into?

He wasn’t a quitter. He couldn’t just ask for a divorce. He’d made promises, for one thing. Whatever else he felt, he felt responsible. For her. For Ryan.

But he’d created a disaster. He had to find a way to rectify his mistakes.

The promises! He would keep the promises and then he could ask for a divorce. Some, like being a father figure to Ryan, were long-term, but he could get a nice start. Spend an hour with him a day. Get close. Get a pattern going. If they established a solid relationship now, they could continue it later—even after a divorce. He could get all the repairs at Marisa’s house done, make sure she got her teaching degree...

By the time he arrived at Marisa’s house—home, he corrected—he had quite a list of answers.

When he entered the kitchen, Ryan was sitting at the table arguing with his mother. But it was comfortable, the kind of argument two people had who were easy enough with each other to say what they felt.

Marisa looked up at Josh. “Oh, hi,” she said, as if surprised to see him. What? She didn’t expect him?

Ryan brightened. “You tell her, Josh.”

“Tell who what?”

“Mrs. Brack gave us homework,” the boy said, gesturing at the workbook in front of him.

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