The Marriage Intervention (13 page)

They’d left the bed unmade that morning, and the duvet was rumpled on top of the sheets. Josie felt a little thrill when Paul grabbed it and swept it to the floor.
 

He took Josie’s wine from her and set their glasses on the nightstand.
 

“I’ve missed this,” Paul said, pulling her towards him. “I’ve missed you.”

Josie wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him lightly on the nose.
 

“I’ve missed you, too,” she said.
 

Paul put his hands on her hips, and pulled her even closer. For the first time in … well, in what felt like forever, the two of them looked at each other without any traces of anger or resentment, without cold politeness, and instead with passion and a knowing.
 

He pushed her away, gently, and said, “Undress. I want to watch you.”
 

Josie turned around, hooked her thumbs in the waistband of her pants, and slowly slid them over her hips, arching her back before letting her pants slide down to the floor.
 

She looked back over her shoulder as she stepped out of them.
 

Paul’s intense gaze traveled the length of her body.
 

“Lay down,” he said.
 

Josie giggled. Paul stepped forward and gave her a nudge.
 

Once she was laying on her stomach on the bed, he began kissing her. He started with the back of her neck, then worked his way to her shoulder blades and then made a trail down her spine.
 

“Relax,” he whispered, sliding his hands down her butt.
 

She realized she was tense, and began consciously relaxing her muscles, one at a time. He continued kissing her back, her shoulders and her neck.
 

“I feel like a stick of melting butter,” she said.
 

“Well, you don’t look like one.” He flipped her over brought himself up so they were face to face. “You’re so hot. Remind me why we haven’t done this in so long.”
 

She felt him between her legs and arched up to meet him. “I have no idea.”
 

He slid into her and the sensation felt exactly like home.
 

“Well,” he said, his lips moving against hers, “we should do it more often.”
 

She groaned. “We totally should.”
 

As they moved together, she brought her hands up to cup his face. She made him a silent promise that she would work harder to make things right between them.
 

***

Laying in bed afterwards, Josie no longer felt like a melting stick of butter. She felt like a puddle soaking into the mattress. Her entire body was limp.
 

“I may never move again,” she said.
 

Paul laughed. “I feel energized. I could go for a run right now.”
 

“It’s time to turn over a new leaf,” Josie said. “Sex every night. Or at least every week.”
 

“I like the sound of that. I’m going to get us some water.”
 

When he was gone, Josie stretched out, and for some reason thought of the first time she had sex with Scott Smith. Her initial reaction was to douse the memory completely. She giggled a little when she thought of those signs at campsites: “Drown Your Campfire: Every Spark.” After all, she had just had amazing sex with her amazing husband and she should be thinking of no one else. Especially Scott Smith.
 

But for some reason, it made her feel good to think about the experience. Maybe because it hadn’t been very good. And it hadn’t been very good, most likely, because it had been on the evening they first met at the square downtown.
 

It’s not like the attraction was crackling all afternoon or anything, she thought. They had clearly had decent chemistry, but there was no melting butter.
 

After she gave him the mini-tour of Juniper, he insisted on walking her back to her car. He said it’s because a lady shouldn’t walk through town alone in the dark, but she suspected it’s because he wanted to steal a kiss or something more.
 

He confirmed her suspicions after she unlocked the driver side door. She turned around to say goodnight and he had both hands on the roof of the car, trapping her between his body and the door.
 

“Do you kiss on the first date?” he asked.
 

“No,” she said, drawing the word out for suspense. “But you’re in luck. This was a tour, not a date.”
 

He was on her then, his strong, wiry body pressed against hers like a log stuck on its way down a river: he wasn’t supposed to be there, but the flow of the water had him stuck, bumping up against her.
 

Now, Josie remembered thinking it didn’t feel quite right, but she attributed that feeling to the fact that they were strangers. At the time she told herself sex with some men was similar to wine tasting. Just like you weren’t supposed to judge a wine by the first sip, you couldn’t really judge a man by the first round of lovemaking. Was that true? In Scott’s case, he did show marked improvement in that department during the next couple of weeks.
 

Suddenly, Josie felt cold. She pulled the sheet up over her body. What was taking Paul so long?

That first time, Scott didn’t bother with the pleasantries of foreplay. She pushed her irritation out of her mind, telling herself it was because he was so turned on, so anxious to take her, so ready for her. The next time they got to this point, she was sure he would slow down. Well, that didn’t happen. Scott Smith was intimate at all the wrong times, running a fingertip up her thigh in a crowded room or sliding his tongue along her ear during a meeting when he pretended to whisper something to her. He was only intimate when intimacy was nearly impossible. When they couldn’t actually share the moment. She always had to pretend it wasn’t happening. And when they were in bed, when she wanted to enjoy it, he rushed through it, crushing those moments like a little kid tromping through a garden of seedlings.
 

Josie chuckled at that comparison.
 

After they had sex a couple of times, she managed to get Scott to slow down, but she could tell it took a real effort. He was a skilled lover, always knowing exactly which buttons to push. He could bring her to climax in three seconds flat, yet it seemed more automatic than personal.

Interesting.
 

On the other hand, Paul was always careful. He took his time. He craved intimacy whether they were alone or together. Not sneaky groping disguised as intimacy, but quick moments where Josie felt like they communicated in some secret language no one else could hear or understand. They hadn’t shared many of those moments lately, though.

She sighed as Paul walked back into the bedroom carrying two glasses of water.
 

“What’s wrong?”
 

That was another thing about Paul. He was a damned mind-reader. She could never brush him off with a casual “nothing,” because he always knew when some deep thought lurked beneath the surface.
 

So she didn’t bother lying now.
 

“I was just thinking about how I miss those little intimate moments we used to have.”
 

There. It was half of the truth, anyway. She could never tell him about her relationship with Scott. Especially now. Maybe if she had told him when they first met (“Hey, I had a fling with my principal before I met you. Yep, the guy I see every single weekday of my life. I thought we were soul mates, but it didn’t work out. And now he’s my boss. Nah, it’s no big deal.”). But now the secret had grown so big and Paul would make it even bigger by pointing out that it was weird and suspicious she hadn’t mentioned it before.
 

Paul sat on the edge of the bed and handed her a glass.

“Like that time we made out all the way across the sky ride in California at that boardwalk?”
 

“Yes. Or that time we went to a dinner party at Susie and Rick’s and we were going through the buffet line and you kissed the back of my neck while I was scooping scalloped potatoes onto your plate.”
 

“Oh yeah. I’d forgotten about that. You looked really sexy that night. Remember what we did after? How was that for intimate?”
 

“Ah, yes. The night of the new vibrator. How could I forget?”
 

At the mention of that magical little toy (why were they called sex toys, anyway? Those things were capable of some serious business!) Josie felt herself becoming aroused again.
 

“I know what you’re thinking,” Paul said, setting his water on the nightstand and taking hers, too. “I think it’s time that bad boy makes a reappearance.”
 

“We’re going to need new batteries,” Josie said. “Those ones have probably died from lack of use.”
 

Paul smiled. “I’ve got lots of batteries. Wait here.”
 

Josie walked into work Monday morning with a bit of a spring in her step. The April air felt fresh and clean and the leaves on the trees were unfurling just enough to brighten up the branches overhead and contrast the fluffy white clouds floating in the pristine blue sky.
 

“What a beautiful day,” she said to the trees, the sky, the clouds.

Yikes. I feel like a lovestruck woman in a romance novel.
 

She laughed out loud as she pulled open the school’s big wooden door.
 

“What’s so funny?” Scott stood just inside the building, obviously on his way out.
 

She held the door open for him, hoping it would accelerate this conversation.
 

“Oh, nothing. Just laughing at myself, that’s all. Have a great day!”
 

Okay, maybe you’re a little too perky, Garcia. This is so not you.
 

“Um, okay.” He looked bewildered. “I need to see you in my office today at lunch recess.”

“But I’ve got lunch duty.”
 

“I swapped you out with Caroline Lewis. I need to talk to you.”
 

Her arm was getting tired.
 

“Is that code for something we didn’t finish talking about over cocktails?”
 

He laughed, and stepped partway out the door, taking its weight off her arm.
 

“No, Josie. It really is important. Just some things to help you transition next year.”
 

“Oh. Okay. See you at lunch recess.”
 

***

So maybe she took a little longer than necessary to get from her classroom to Scott’s office when the bell rang for lunch recess. She was still basking in the memories of her steamy love session with Paul the night before. Her limbs felt relaxed and loose as she walked down the stairs.

“Hey,” Scott said.
 

All business.
 

“Hey,” she said back.
 

“We don’t have much time.” He looked at the clock, and then back at her. “So I’ll get right to it.”
 

Still standing, he began shuffling through a stack of papers on his desk.

“Okay,” she said, purposely deepening her voice so it conveyed the same somber tone his did.
 

He froze and looked up at her again. “Are you mocking me?”
 

“A little?” She smiled at him.
 

Finally, the tension in his shoulders dissipated and his movements slowed. “Are you stressed?” Josie said. “Sorry, I wouldn’t have mocked you if I knew you were stressed. What’s up?”
 

Scott sighed. “You know that position I applied for in Phoenix? Well, that position I accepted, I should say?”
 

Josie nodded.
 

“It’s not turning out to be exactly what I expected,” he said. “I’ve already signed the contract, but the district down there is reorganizing and I’m going to be taking on some additional supervisory duties I wasn’t aware of. It’s not that I don’t like supervising people, especially good people. It’s just that I really wanted to focus on curriculum.”
 

“I’m sure you’ll make it work,” Josie said. “Once you get down there and get into a routine I think you’ll find it’s just fine.”
 

“I hope so. Thanks. Anyway, that’s not what I called you here for. I wanted to talk to you about some of the after school programs, but I can’t find the list I need.”
 

“We can talk tomorrow,” Josie said.
 

“I have back to back meetings tomorrow,” he said. A growing sense of urgency radiated off him. “And the next day. This week is just nuts. I wanted to go over this stuff with you before spring break. Get it off my plate.”
 

Josie nodded, even though he wasn’t looking at her.
 

He looked at his watch and winced. “How about after school?” he said. “I didn’t realize recess is almost over. It’ll just take twenty minutes or so. Is that all right? Will Paul mind if you’re home a bit late?”
 

Before she could stop herself, her auto-answer spilled out of her mouth: “I doubt he’d even notice.”
 

Which, especially after last night, probably wasn’t true. She wanted to kick herself.
 

“If you were my wife,” Scott said, “I’d notice. Believe me.” He finally stopped moving and rubbed his hands over his face. “Anyway. There’s the bell. I’ll see you later.”
 

***

Now that Josie knew Scott’s intentions were work-related, she hurried down to his office when the final bell rang. He held up a bright orange folder. “Right here under my trusty apple paperweight,” he said. He shrugged. They both laughed.