“ Audrey,” he said, pushing her door open-but then he stopped. She wasn’t in there.

Good God, where was she? Had she run off somewhere else? His stomach dropped to his toes when the thought. If Holbrook ran into Audrey before Lodge did…

He couldn’t allow himself to think that way. What if was a dangerous game to play. Pulling the door to her chamber closed behind him, he turned to go search for her, but drew up short. Audrey stood across the sitting room from him, tears in her eyes, just inside the now open door to his chamber.

Lodge started to cross to her in a rush, a question on his lips that he couldn’t seem to voice. Before he made it halfway across the room, however, she asked a question of her own.

“ Am I squeamish?” Audrey asked of him.

He slid to a stop, his jaw hanging agape.

“ Am I?” she pressed, her brown eyes earnest and pained. “Am I prudish? Am I-am I cold when we make love?”

Lodge dragged a hand through his hair. “What brought this on?”

“ Does it matter?” A single tear slipped down Audrey’s cheek and she dashed it away impatiently. When he still didn’t answer after a few moments, she stamped her foot against the Parquet flooring. “Answer me, Lodge.”

This little fit of pique from his wife was as intoxicating to him as watching her find pleasure beneath him. Perhaps he did have a reason to thank Holbrook, after all. Of course, the final outcome of all of this had yet to be determined.

Lodge had the distinct impression that he’d better tread carefully in how he chose to answer his wife’s questions. “You’re not cold. But you aren’t very adventurous, either.”

Audrey’s mouth fell open as if she intended to issue him a rebuttal, but then snapped closed again. She crossed her arms over her chest in a manner which lifted her breasts in a decidedly alluring manner, though he doubted she had any idea what effect she was having on him at the moment. Again, she started to respond, but then pressed her lips together.