Page 37 of Best Kept Vows

"Damn," he muttered after a while, his voice still rough. "That was…."

"Amazing," I finished for him, a smile playing on my lips.

"Yeah," he agreed, pulling me closer. "Fucking amazing."

“Kitchen sex?”

“We’ve had sex in the kitchen before,” he reminded me.

But not for a long time.

“And I intend for us to have some more.” He cradled me in his arms, his cock now soft and slipping out of me.

I laughed as he carried me to our bedroom.

“You know, I didn’t have time to eat you,” he murmured. “I think I need to do that when we take a shower.”

That night, as we fell asleep, tangled into one another, I felt that my heart would burst open with happiness. We were back. Right? It was all going to be alright, wasn’t it?

But even through my orgasmic haze, I knew that as fun as this was, it wasn’t going to resolve our issues. I wished we could talk about them—but then we’d end up fighting. None of this spoke of a healthy marriage.

CHAPTER 14

Sebastian

There was peace in my home, and it felt like Lia and I were making progress.

I tried my best to be home every evening, but I wasn’t able to get home today because we were wining and dining a customer. Lia said that was fine because she was going to have drinks and dinner with her colleagues.

“To a successful partnership agreement,” Theo Marlow, a furniture designer, said as he raised his glass for a toast.

We all toasted.

Jane was there as the COO, along with Marek East, our Chief Commercial Officer who had landed the mammoth deal, and Stacy Thunes, our head of HR.

Since Jane asked me to have a drink at her place, I’d started to avoid being alone with her in rooms and even in public settings, taking another colleague along.

It was a precaution because Jane’s behavior bothered the hell out of me—sheflirtedand, on more than one occasion,brought up Lia, asking questions that I felt were inappropriate. It wasn’t overt, so I couldn’t tell her to cut it out, but I had veered our conversations away from my wife.

At least with others around, she wasn’t going to be so forward. Well, that’s what I thought as we ordered food and drinks at the Artillery Bar in Savannah’s historic district. The eatery was known for its upscale cocktails, shareable plates, and sleek vintage charm, and seemed a fitting place for celebration.

Our table was still buzzing from a successful meeting and the lucrative deal we’d closed, but I didn’t want to be here. I wanted to be home with my wife. I had admitted that my need to be with her was driven by fear of losing her. I was scared that, with her new degree and job, she’d leave me, and that thought was intolerable.

I loved Lia—but more than that, Ineededher in my life. Considering how everyone in my family and everyone at work all wanted something from me, it was a balm to my soul to have someone who wantedme.

“Thank you for your trust in us.” Marek clinked his glass of whiskey with Theo’s.

“I have to say, Sebastian, you have turned the company around,” Theo noted.

Had I?It didn’t feel that way with the revenue going the way it was.

I felt like the sword of Damocles was hanging over my head, ready to strike.

Tick-Tock. Tick-Tock.

“Well, Theo, with this amazing leadership teamsupporting us, I see no other way but success.” It was true. I trusted my leaders. They were great. However, given the market's direction and the company’s long history of mismanagement from a process and personnel perspective, it was a tough climb out of a very deep hole.

The conversation, thankfully, moved on to golf as both Theo and Marek were avid golfers, and they compared notes over some championship game they’d both been to.