Read Online Next Song I Sing (NEXT TIME AROUND) by Donna McDonald - Free Book Online Page A

a lover to come to bed. She was used to them ushering her into it with some speed and enthusiasm.
    Jasper Wade had always been the only exception.
    She was still quite fond of the man she had married and looked forward to seeing him once a month. He made her feel cared for in a way the other men in her life did not, though she couldn’t remember the last time Jasper seemed very interested in being intimate.
    Jasper sighed as he watched Rayonna use the body she was so proud of to try and get a literal rise out of him. It was simply not going to work this morning. He had dreamed of making love to Chloe all night. The memory of Chloe’s lush breasts above his hands made Rayonna’s lean build seem like a child’s to him.
    He’d snuck a change of clothes from his closet and locked himself in the bathroom to change, hoping to sneak back out before she woke completely. To his chagrin, Rayonna had been awake, unhappy, and pacing when he’d exited the bathroom.
    Whatever he’d originally seen in the woman when they married, it eluded him now as he studied Rayonna’s nude form in all its perfection. Her body looked like a cool marble statue, still as flawless as ever. It just wasn’t as alluring to him as Chloe’s.
    If this total lack of interest in Rayonna’s nudity had happened without Chloe’s memory haunting him, Jasper would have been headed to the doctor to have his libido checked. Maybe after a certain age it took more than a naked woman to rouse a man, though he doubted the same was true for Sam, who was his age.
    One thing was for certain, the time for tolerating a empty relationship was over. Now he had no choice but to stand his ground and tell Rayonna how it was, how his attitude had changed. He owed that much honesty to both of them.
    “So who is the woman, Jasper?” Rayonna asked finally, very unhappy with his guilty expression because it meant there really was a woman. She had only been trying to goad him into a denial.
    Her question drew Jasper out of his thoughts of Chloe, only to have to deal with the reality of it.
    “There’s no woman yet, Rayonna. I just decided there was never going to be one until I treated this like a real divorce, specifically one where we no longer share a bed. You have the rest of your collection of lovers. I’m sure you won’t miss me,” Jasper told her, believing every word.
    Rayonna walked over and pressed her completely naked body against his fully clothed one. “Of course I will miss you, Jasper. There’s no other man like you. Can’t I please have a chance to change your mind? Perhaps once more to celebrate the love we once shared.”
    “Sorry—no,” Jasper said firmly, regretting only that he let himself linger too long in an unhealthy situation with his ex-wife. He wasn’t even tempted to take her to bed when there was a woman in this very hotel who kissed him in a way that made him feel like a genuinely sexual person again.
    “You’re welcome to come back and visit anytime, but in the future, I’ll be putting you in a separate room,” Jasper said.
    Rayonna sighed in frustration. She could hear the resolution in Jasper’s voice. After eight years of marriage and two more of remaining lovers, she well knew Jasper wouldn’t be changing his mind.
    She shouldn’t let herself get so bothered by it, Rayonna thought. It was never that difficult to find an attentive man. Jasper wasn’t even her best lover. It was just that he was the most kind, unselfish one. She didn’t really want to lose him completely.
    “You are the only real home and family that I’ve ever had,” Rayonna said sadly, walking away from him. “Without you, I have no one who genuinely loves me. I miss belonging to you and find it deeply sad that you no longer want me.”
    She pulled on underwear, white shorts, and a pink midriff baring tank top while Jasper watched. Her work as a model suited her and she had a body people appreciated. Part of her initial attraction to Jasper was that he