Page 10 of Naughty Desires

Chapter Four

Lily

“What was in the box? I’ve been dying to find out.” Alexis hangs up her jacket in the staff room as I finish taping up Dr. Steadman’s box. I have no idea how I’m going to return it without dying of embarrassment, but keeping it isn’t an option.

“Kinky sex stuff.” I push the box into a corner and pick up my tea, now lukewarm after my struggles with the tape. “Handcuffs, vibrator, naughty nurse and doctor costumes . . .”

Silence.

“Alexis?”

“The dog.” Alexis breathes out a sigh. “I’d heard rumors about Dr. Steadman. Like he’s into threesomes and he’s got a sex room in his basement . . .”

“Well, from the contents of the package, I’d say some of them are true. But it’s crazy that he would give this stuff to us. Who does that? He barely knows us. Chris has seen him twice, and I’ve seen him once. Until he gave me the package, we’d never had a conversation about anything other than teeth. It’s weird. Maybe I should call the police.”

“Are you kidding me?” Alexis’s voice rises in pitch. “He could obviously tell you guys are having marital difficulties, and he’s trying to help in his own special kinky way.”

“Well, it totally backfired. We were having fun with it until Chris put on the doctor coat and then all this stuff came out about his mom and how he feels like a failure. A few minutes later he was back in the living room watching TV like it never happened.”

“But it did happen,” Alexis says. “It happened and something changed. Chris opened up a little bit.”

“I guess. But so what?” I gesture to the box. “He wants me to return it.”

“What do you want?”

I want my Chris back. I want our marriage and our laughter. I want us to be happy and looking forward to the future we had planned together. I want sexy times and cuddle times and his strong arms wrapped around me.

“I want to keep it.” I bite my lip when my eyes start to water. “I don’t think we would have ever gone to a store and bought that kind of stuff. And it was fun to pull it out and be shocked and surprised together. He laughed, Alexis. Like he used to do. And he joked around. For a while there I thought he might suggest we go upstairs and try it out.”

“Then keep it,” she says. “There are two people in your marriage. It’s been all about him for over a year. You’ve tiptoed around him and made a comfortable place for him to hide away from the world at the cost of your happiness. It’s time to stop being a martyr. You’re a good person. A good wife. Now it’s time to be naughty. Put yourself out there. Take a risk. Let him know what you want. If he rejects you, so what? He’s rejected you every night since he got laid off. If you don’t try, nothing will change. But if you do try, maybe something will, like it did when he opened up to you.”

I sip my tea, letting the bitter liquid wash over my tongue. I started drinking my tea black when money was tight, and I’ve grown accustomed to the taste. “What am I supposed to do? Turn on the vibrator and wave it in front of the TV?”

“Try the role play. Be someone else for a night and let him do the same. Maybe a naughty nurse is what he needs to get over his doctor issues.”

I give up on my tea and fill the kettle. “What if he says no?”

“Honey. Looking the way you look, dressed up in some kind of naughty outfit, I can guarantee that his ass will not be staying in his chair for long. And if it does, you might as well pack your bags, because you’ll know he no longer has a dick.”

Laughter bubbles up in my chest. “You’re a good friend. Did I ever tell you that?”

“I’m a horny friend.” She pulls out her phone. “And I think I might have a cavity. There’s more than one doctor who might be getting some loving tonight.”

I rinse out my cup as she skims through her address book. “You are not booking another appointment with Dr. Steadman.”

“Oh yes, I am. Life is too short not to take a risk.”

“Like dressing up as a naughty nurse?”

“Yes, just like that.” Her smile fades. “It kills me to see you putting so much energy into trying to save your marriage and getting nothing back. I like Chris. I think you guys are good together. But it’s time that dude gets his head out of his ass, and if he doesn’t do it tonight, I’m fixing you up with Rex Morgan.”

My breath catches in my throat. “You talked to Rex?”

“Not yet.” She gives me a sly grin. “Although if things don’t work out with our friendly neighborhood dentist, I might call him up for a little chat.”

No doubt she would. Alexis isn’t the kind of woman who lets anything stand in the way of what she wants. When she caught her husband cheating with his secretary, she booted his ass out the door, and no amount of groveling would bring him back. She has an enviable self-esteem and the kind of confidence I always wish I had.

“He won’t stand a chance,” I say after she makes an emergency end-of-the-day dentist appointment for a toothache she doesn’t have.

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