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“Is it so hard to believe that I put this together on my own? For you. For us. You’re my wife, and I thought it only fitting that we sleep together on a bed that no one else has.”
It hadn’t occurred to me that he might have brought women or girlfriends here in the past. Just because I had no luck on the dating scene, certainly didn’t mean he didn’t.
“It’s beautiful. Really special. And unexpected.” Our eyes locked for a few beats, full of heat and longing. I licked my lips. We hadn’t been together since we returned from Vegas a few days ago. My knees weakened at the thought of sleeping with him again tonight.
He continued the tour by opening a door at the other side of the bed, revealing a tiny adjoining room. One person could walk into it, but too crowded for two. A few of his suits hung there, otherwise it was open.
“I cleared out some closet space for you here, and a few drawers in the dresser there.” He leaned against the doorframe, thumbs in his belt loops. “I moved a lot of my stuff down to theother bedroom, which I used as my office. Figured you’d have more clothes than me, and I wanted you to be comfortable. No sense starting our marriage off with a fight over space.”
“How thoughtful of you.” I grinned and mirrored him, leaning against the other side.
“Actually that was a suggestion Rex had texted me. The guys have been helpful like that, sending random thoughts for how to make our wives happy. They call it ‘husband training.’” With his cap on backwards and sly smile—oof—he made the best welcoming party ever.
“What else did they tell you?” I cocked my head, letting my eyes wander down his chest and lower.
He snickered and leaned forward, his forearm landing above my head on the door jamb, his face just above mine. “Can’t give away all of the secrets now. How would I ever impress you?”
I bit my lip. “I think I’m already impressed by you.”
“Yeah?” He leaned in close enough to kiss. “Would it impress you if I splay your body out on our bed and take full advantage of the situation now that you’re here?”
“That depends on what full advantage means.” My coy smile encouraged him further. We toyed with each other, angling our heads, seeing how close we could get to each other without touching.
“Should I elaborate, my little stalker?”
“Yes, please,” I whispered, our breaths mingling. My hands reached out to him. My fingertips dragged over his t-shirt, and outlined his abs.
“I’ll set you on my face and bury my tongue inside of you. Dying to taste you again. I’ll lick your clit until you come for me and scream my name. And just when you’ve had enough, I’ll roll you over, tie your hands on the bedpost, enter you from behind, and plant myself deep inside of you.”
“Is that all?” My cheeky response came out breathy, my chest heaving at his sexy talk.
“You tell me,” he dared. His hand squeezed at the smallest part of my waist, and his thumb grazed the underside of my breast.
I liked the challenge. “Maybe at that point, covered with me, you’d untie me, and let me lick you and suck you. I’ll deep throat you sogood.And the only name on your lips when you come, my husband, had better be mine.”
His lips finally touched my skin, gliding along my jawline and talking at the same time. “Fuck yes, Sophie. I’ll bet you’ll be a very good girl for me in our new bed.”
I whimpered my answer, letting his lips claim mine. My last coherent thought before he carried me to bed was how much I wanted this to be real. Not just the heat of his mouth or the sinful way he knew my body, but the safety, the surrender, the sense that I’d finally found someone who could appreciate me and still want more. I could so easily bare myself and my soul to him, but if I wasn’t careful, I could lose my heart, too.
After a week,the house became ours, like it had always been meant for two. The kitchen held both our coffee mugs waiting for our beloved liquid gold in the mornings. My makeup sat beside his beard trimmer, and two toothbrushes mingled in a pretty blue stoneware holder Jessa had given us as a wedding gift.
My clothes—at least this batch I had initially brought from New York—fit perfectly in the closet. Little did he know, I had enough clothes and shoes to fill three closets.
We were officially playing house, and the game of being married was afoot. Only if I spent too much time overthinking, I’d worry that one of us might lose in the end.
Every morning, I woke up in his arms and enjoyed our first cup of coffee for the day together. Every night, I tried not to read too much into the way he curled around me like he couldn’t sleep without me in the beautiful bed he’d made for us.
And in between, I pretended I wasn’t falling madly fast and hard for him.
23
ACTING OUT
KEATON
Waves of Sophie’sdark curls fanned out over my chest, her skin still warm against mine, our limbs entwined.
I didn’t dare move or breathe too loud or risk waking her up, because lying here like this made everything else fade away, from the brewery’s endless demands, to Melanie and her camera crew arriving today, to the ticking clock on our ninety-day deal.