The Arrangement by Thayer King

her speculatively. “You were never so…uh…enthusiastic when we were together.”
    When they were together, they’d rarely made love. He had a busy practice and frankly, his lovemaking was nothing to get excited about. Toward the end of their relationship, they barely saw each other. She now knew it was because he was dating her cousin on the side. “Well, I’m sure you’re much happier with Janice as well.”
    “Janice isn’t that responsive either.” He straightened his tie and cleared his throat. “Um, so maybe we should talk. Maybe give things between us a try again?”
    Ariadne didn’t even bother to try to hide her disbelief or her disgust. “Are you kidding? I’m married.”
    “Yeah, but to a guy you told me that you hated about six months ago. Did you think I’d forgotten him? We spent the entire night New Year’s Eve trying to avoid him.”
    “Well, that was repressed passion,” she said, irritated to be saying it because it was true and she hadn’t realized it until last night and because she’d been so dead set against ever letting the excuse pass her lips. She’d barely been able to meet Asher’s gaze at the breakfast table this morning. She’d gotten out of bed while he still slept, showered, and then went down to breakfast. They hadn’t had a chance to discuss last night.
    This must have been what Erika had feared all along. They were only a few weeks into a marriage that was supposed to last for two years and she’d already slept with him despite her certainty that it would never happen. Just the thought of telling Erika about sleeping with Asher made her stomach twist in knots, but she knew she’d have to do it. Even if it never happened again, she knew her friend would find out. Ariadne was pretty sure that her guilt was visible. Erika would take one look at her and know.
    “Ariadne, I’m not an idiot. What’s really going on with you and that guy?”
    “He’s my husband,” she stated firmly. In every sense of the word , she added mentally. She didn’t know where she and Asher went from here. Sleeping with him had the potential to make the remainder of their faux marriage very awkward. “That’s all you need to know.” She started to leave and then stopped. “Oh, wait, there is one more thing. Even if I wasn’t with Ash, you and I would be done. Leaving me for my cousin was a shitty thing to do.”
    “Hey, she pursued me.”
    “That doesn’t matter. You owed me your fidelity. And instead you proved yourself incapable of loyalty. I guess I should thank Janice for showing me the truth about you before things got more serious between us.”
    When she entered the bedroom she was sharing with Asher, he was making the bed. He’d stripped the bed of the previous linens and piled them on the floor near the door. She immediately began to help him. They worked together silently. She fluffed the pillows and placed them on the bed when they were done.
    She moved to her bag. “I need to get dressed before we go to the mall.” After her shower, she’d redressed in the clothes she’d intended to sleep in last night. She bent and unzipped her suitcase.
    “Do you want to talk about last night?”
    “What is there to say?” She carefully avoided his gaze.
    Crossing his arms over his chest, Asher sighed. “You’ve been avoiding me. Do you regret what we did?”
    She picked up her shirt and shook it out. “I don’t know.” And she truly didn’t. She didn’t want to hurt Erika f or anything in the world, but sleeping with Asher last night wasn’t the sort of experience she could regret. Being with him was simply amazing. When she looked up, Asher was grinning. She frowned at him. “What?”
    He laughed and she gritted her teeth. “Sorry. It’s just that I was certain you were going to tell me it was all a mistake. Uncertainty, I can deal with.”
    Deciding not to waste time pondering his meaning, she said, “I have to get dressed. You can either leave or turn