The Great Bedroom War
The Great Bedroom War
Book Two of the Return to Redemption Series
Romance Writers of America® Golden Heart
®
Finalist
by
Laurie Kellogg
The Great Bedroom War
By Laurie Kellogg
Electronic Edition
Copyright 2012 Laurie Kellogg
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations. Thank you for respecting this author’s hard work.
Disclaimer
This novel is a work of fiction. Any references to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locations are used only to provide authenticity and are used factiously. All other characters, places, incidents, and dialogue are products of the author’s imagination and should not be construed as real. Any resemblance between the novel’s characters and setting and actual individuals or places is completely coincidental. All inaccuracies or mistakes are the author’s fault and accidental. The author apologizes for any factual discrepancies or typographical errors. If you find any, please contact the author so she can correct them for future copies.
Editor
Gwynlyn MacKenzie
Copy Editor
Heidi Luchterhand
Proofreader
Elizabeth Walls
Chapter 1
Excerpt of A Little Bit of Déjà Vu
Acknowledgements
Dedicated to my brother and sister
Whenever we argued as children, our father constantly reminded us we should cherish each other since, as siblings who share the same mother and father, we’re genetically closer than we will ever be to anyone else. (
Now there’s a scary thought
.)
First and foremost, I praise God for giving me the imagination and ability to write. So many people have contributed to my writing career and helped mold me into the author I’ve become. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank:
My husband who’s given me more support than any writer could hope for, and who is the kind of man who inspires all of the best characteristics of the heroes in my stories
My son, not just for his encouragement and marketing advice, but for blessing me with the best daughter-in-law any woman ever had, who gave me an adorable grandson
My wise daughter who never doubts me and who did me the favor of marrying a wonderful man, who is also a talented author
My mom, who gave me the love of reading and who never lets me forget there are other things in life besides writing
My late father and my dear friend, Sheri. Both of you believed in me but left us too soon to share in my joy. I miss you both every day.
My most faithful cheerleaders, my sister and sisters-in-law
My nieces and nephews, who motivated me to keep going and compelled me to set an example of perseverance
My brother and brother-in-law, who never considered my writing a hobby
My previous neighbor and good friend who convinced me to join RWA® and begin to write
My critique partner and sister-of-the-heart who never lets me down in pointing out why my babies aren’t pretty enough for the runway
My beta-readers and good friends
Romance Writers of America
®
and all its generous members who helped me learn to use the talent I was blessed with
The members of the RWA
®
chapters Bucks County Romance Writers, New Jersey Romance Writers, and The Golden Network
All my Golden Heart
®
friends from 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2011— especially my 2009 Ruby-Slippered Sisters who I share a multi-author blog with at
http://www.rubyslipperedsisterhood.com
The Great Bedroom War
CHAPTER 1
Every red-blooded American male has one of two things on his mind at the end of a romantic evening. Samantha Riverá prayed her date was wondering if the Phillies had won.
She slanted an uncertain smile at Adam Chase as he walked her to the wraparound porch that hugged one corner of her home in Redemption, Pennsylvania. “A penny for your thoughts?”
“That’s all?” His chuckle warped into a soft snort. “Considering the rate of inflation, what I’m thinking is worth at least a buck. Although it would probably get my face slapped.”
Her stomach lurched. Okay, scratch baseball....unless he was considering sliding into a metaphorical home plate.
“Ahhh.” Sam gave a slow, perceptive nod worthy of a carnival psychic. “S-E-X.”
“Hey, I admit it’s been a while, but I still remember how to spell it,” he said, laughing. “I was actually wondering if you have any idea how long it’s been since—”
“Is this the third Tuesday in September?” she teased, trying not to recall the last incredible night she’d spent in her ex-husband’s arms.
“I meant for me.” Adam turned serious, ignoring her attempt to be funny. “This is our sixth date, Sam. Do you realize how hard it is—”
Oh, jeez. She smothered a smile over his choice of words. Evidently she was the one with sex on the brain. Except, despite how much her body had hungered to be touched since her divorce, emotionally she wasn’t ready.
Not even for second base.
“—I mean, what I’m trying to ask, not very successfully,” he began again. “Are you interested in me as more than a friend, or not?”
“Of course.” A woman would have to be lying on a mortician’s slab not to be attracted to a golden hunk like Adam. His sun-streaked hair, bronzed face, and broad shoulders made him look more like a California surfer than a prominent doctor.
“Then quit trying to laugh your way out of asking me in for coffee.”
She froze in her tracks, sucking in a deep breath and inhaling the cloying scent of the petunias she’d planted along the walkway. “I-I’m sorry, Adam. I can’t yet. I have a teenage daughter to set an example for, and I need to feel a lot more than physical attraction to sleep—”
“You’re not over Nick, are you?”
She swallowed her reflexive denial. The shame and resentment that Adam’s astute diagnosis ignited became a fire-breathing dragon puffing from her neckline and singeing her cheeks. Instead of answering, she gazed up at the Queen Anne Victorian farmhouse her ex-husband had surprised her with seven years ago for her twenty-fifth birthday. Admitting the truth was bittersweet—like swallowing a piece of jagged, hard candy whole.
She wanted to be over Nicolás Riverá. Except in the thirteen years she’d been married to the second-generation Mexican-American, he’d become ingrained in her life—and psyche.
“It’s been over a year since he left you and Dani,” Adam pointed out, no doubt interpreting her silence as ambivalence.
“That’s not entirely accurate.” She could imagine the way Nick would bristle at Adam’s words. All Nick would hear was an implication that he was an irresponsible lout who’d abandoned the mother of his child the way his biological father had left Nick’s mom. “
I
deserted
Nick
when I refused to move to Los Angeles with him. After growing up in Philly, I thought he’d had enough of living in the city, too.”
“I can understand you not wanting to leave the slower pace of a small town. But divorcing him—”
“My reasons weren’t just about leaving the life I’ve made here.” Although, it truly would’ve broken her heart to say good-bye to her friends, not to mention the covered bridges and country charm surrounding Redemption. Samantha shook her head and heaved a regret-filled sigh. “That was the tip of the iceberg. Our marriage was in trouble long before that.” Ever since she’d lost their son.
“So what’s the problem?” Adam wound a blond tendril of her shoulder-length hair around his index finger. “Forget him and move on.”
“Right. It’s kind of tough to forget the father of my child when he calls every few days and is still paying most of my bills, even though, legally, he doesn’t have to.”
And how could she
not
remember a guy who’d washed and refueled her car every week and always saved her the last peanut butter cup?
Despite Nick’s self-imposed commitment, he’d never fallen in love with her the way she’d prayed. Instead, his perfunctory devotion became a sharp wedge between them, chipping away at their relationship like one of Michelangelo’s chisels.
“I don’t get you, Sam. If your ex is so great, why the hell did you divorce him?”
“Because he’s a total control freak who has to call all the shots. For example—did he discuss his transfer to L.A. with me? No. He simply came home one afternoon and told me we were moving.” She waved toward the house. “Not only did he buy our home—which I admit I love—without consulting me, he also contacted a realtor to sell it before I could even object to moving three thousand miles away from you, our sick daughter’s doctor.”
“It’s nice to know you think I’m that indispensable.” Adam chuckled, making light of her concern the same way Nick had.
She fired a withering look at Adam. “I realize some of the most prominent specialists are in Los Angeles. But Dani and I trust
you
.”
“Sorry for laughing. You’re right. He was a high-handed jerk.”
“I was also sick of feeling like an obligation. Nick only married me because I was pregnant.”
All her life she’d been a burden to someone—first to her great aunt for accepting custody of Sam after her parents were killed and then to Nick. But unlike her begrudging relative, there wasn’t much her ex-husband hadn’t insisted on doing for her. Except give her the only things she really wanted—his love, his trust....and another baby.
“What you have to understand is Nick has an overdeveloped sense of responsibility,” she explained. “He acted as if, in fulfilling his duty, he earned the right to make every doggone decision in our marriage.” She glanced at her watch, surprised to see how late it had gotten. “Look, it’s almost eleven-thirty.” She dug her keys out of her purse. “I have to be up at six for work.”
The defeat in Adam’s eyes was a first-class ticket to Guiltsville. She had no respect for women who led men on. She squeezed his arm and smiled. “I’m sorry. I won’t blame you if you don’t call again. But I really enjoy your company, so I hope you’ll be patient with me a little longer.”
He shook his head, wearing an understanding smile. “I’m not about to give up, yet.”
His obliging attitude was one reason she liked him so much. Nick would’ve kissed her senseless, trying to change her mind. But disturbingly enough, Adam’s accommodating nature was also one of the things that tended to irk her. How pathetic was that?
His longing gaze dropped to her silk camisole, making her regret wearing something so clingy. “I’ve been hooked on you since you first brought Dani to me.”
The dragon’s flames licked their way up to her forehead. How many times had she accused Nick of having a jealous imagination when it came to their daughter’s doctor?