"No, not complaining. I'm asking. I've just never… Look, it's not like I haven't had sex before. I just never had such an appetite for it as I seem to now. With him." She rolled her own eyes, chuckled at herself. "Christ, Margo, five minutes with him and I want to bite him."
"And since the taste suits you, what's the problem?"
"Because I wondered if you could get too dependent on certain aspects."
"On great sex?"
"Yeah, all right. On really great sex. Then people change, and move on."
"Sometimes they do." She thought of herself, and of Josh. Smiled. "Sometimes they don't."
"Sometimes they do," Kate repeated. "Candy got me thinking—"
"Oh, please. Damn it, Kate, you said you didn't buy that shit she was spewing."
"About him using me? Absolutely not. It just made me think about our relationship. If it is a relationship. We don't have anything in common really but, well, sex."
With a long sigh, Margo leaned back, helped herself to another cookie. "What do you do when you're not busy pounding each other into puddles of passion?"
"Very funny. We do stuff."
"Such as?"
"I don't know. Listen to music."
"You like the same music?"
"Sure. Who doesn't like rock and roll? Sometimes we watch movies. He's got this incredible collection of old black and whites."
"Oh, you mean the old movies you like."
"Hmm." She shrugged. "We walk on the beach, or he whips me through a workout. He's tough about that." More than pleased, she flexed her biceps. "I've got definition."
"Hmm. I guess you never talk, though."
"Sure, we talk. About work, family, food. He's got this thing about nutrition."
"Always serious, huh?"
"No, I mean we have a good time. We laugh a lot. And we play with the dogs, or he works on one of his cars and I watch. You know—stuff."
"Let me see if I have this straight. You like the same music, the same kind of movies, which translates into being entertained together. You enjoy walking on the beach, pumping iron, share an affection for a pair of mongrel dogs." Margo shook her head. "I can see the problem. Other than sex, you might as well be a couple of strangers. Dump him now, Kate, before it gets ugly."
"I should have known you'd make a joke out of it."
"You're the joke. Listen to yourself. You've got a terrific man, a wonderful, satisfying relationship that includes great sex and mutual interests, and you're sitting there looking for hitches."
"Well, if you find them before they happen, you can work around them."
"It isn't an audit, Kate, it's a love affair. Relax and enjoy it."
"I am. Mostly. Nearly." She shrugged again. "I've just got a lot on my mind." And, she thought, it might be time to bring up the fact that she'd been offered a partnership at Bittle. "There's some, ah, adjustments coming up," she began, but was interrupted as Ann came out, carrying the baby.
"The little man woke up hungry. I've changed him," Ann said, cooing as she carried him toward Margo's open arms. "Yes, I did. Changed him and put on one of his fancy suits. There's a lad. There's a darling."
"Oh, isn't he gorgeous?" Margo cuddled him, and smelling mother, J. T. sent up a call for dinner. "He's more beautiful every time I look at him. Just like a man, can't wait for a woman to open her blouse. There you are, sweetie."
He settled happily at her breast, his small fists kneading, his newborn blue eyes intent on hers.