"Mary Taffs - Martha's Madness" - читать интересную книгу автора (Taffs Mary)

He didn't answer because his show came back on. That was all he seemed interested in doing anymore -
sprawling on the loveseat in front of the TV, watching shows that were first broadcast in the '50's or
'60's. They'd been here for almost three months in this wonderful oceanfront house, and Michael hadn't
bothered to walk on the beach yet. Most days he probably didn't even look out the windows to watch
the waves. She brought most of his meals to him here in the master suite, and the rest of the time she was
on her own. Of course, she could happily spend her whole life doing nothing more than enjoying the
sights and sounds of this beach. But still, this wasn't exactly what she'd expected when he told her about
the vacation time he'd taken - to cheer her up, as he'd been careful to mention.

The phone rang and he answered it immediately. He always needed to be the first to know who was
calling and why. After a moment, he said, "That's great! I'll be there in half an hour." He hung up and
clicked off the TV. "The part for my car's in and they're going to put it in this afternoon." He stood up and
stretched.

"That's good. We can drop your car off on the way." She wouldn't question his sudden about- face. Any
reason that got him moving was okay with her.

"Jesus, Britt, forget about the wedding, will you? Now that my car's going to be fixed today, we don't
have time for crap like that. You start packing while I take it down there. I'll help when I get back, and if
we're lucky, we can be out of this hick town by tomorrow."

Her stomach twisted. "I thought we weren't leaving until Monday night." She'd been counting on that -
she needed an extra couple of days. She wasn't ready to go back to California and look for a new job.
Not yet. She needed to let go of her last bit of hope first, the hope that Michael would learn to love living
here and agree to stay and build a business with her. She stared out the window at the surf, wishing she
could let go of her dream as easily as the sand relinquished each wave.

"That was just because of my car, you know that." Michael wrapped his arms around her. "Britt honey, I
know you'd like to stay here longer, but we can't. I've got to be at work on Wednesday. If we drive
back tomorrow instead of Monday night, we'll have a couple of days to play first. You've been missing
all those great ethnic restaurants, too - and you know how hot you make me when we go dancing." He
snuggled up close and started exploring her breasts. "Just thinking about it turns me on. Let's do it right
now."

All he had to do was touch her and everything else became unimportant. It had been that way since they
first met. People always said that relationships built on sex couldn't last, but their marriage had outlasted
those of most of their college friends - including the ones they were supposed to see this afternoon.
Carolyn and Tony had been together all through college, just like Brittany and Michael, and they too had
married within weeks of graduation. Their marriage had lasted less than seven years, although their
friendship was still strong. Five years later, Carolyn was getting married again, and Tony would be there
to watch. Brittany and Michael had to be there to support him!

Brittany exerted all her willpower to pull away from Michael and put several feet of distance between
them. "We need to go to the wedding, Michael. Tony's going to be there, and - "

"Don't give me that crap. The Crown Prince is a grown man and doesn't need his hand held all the time.
If he's got any brains, the only reason he's going is to laugh at the guy the Ice Queen's got her mitts into
now." He took a couple of steps toward her and added, "As for you, don't play games. We're either
going to do it right this minute, or I've got to cruise. Which is it?" He punctuated his question by slipping