Page 84 of Code of Heart

But what gnawed at her more was the slow, creeping understanding that learning to live with a stranger—even one who could kiss her into oblivion and touch her like she was something precious—was far harder than she anticipated.

The not-so-cute nuances were piling up.

The perpetually sticky toothpaste tube they now shared, no matter how many times she wiped it clean. Like clockwork, she would find it smeared again after he used it, the faintest reminder that even in their most mundane routines, they moved out of sync.

Or how he turned the neatly made bed into a mangled mess every night, sheets and blankets untucked and tangled becauseit’s too restrictive, as he put it.

And she didn’t want to think about the dishwasher again.

He would run it half-full, and yet somehow still leave a pile of dishes in the sink that clearly could have fit. It was like a strategic puzzle he refused to play.

It’s an adjustment period; she told herself for the hundredth time.Every couple goes through this.

And yet…

That old, familiar fear—the one that lived directly beneath her skin—whispered louder with each passing day.He’s already bored with me, like everyone else was.

She banished the negative thoughts away as she turned into the driveway, exhaling a long breath of relief. It was finally Friday.

A spark of determination lit inside her.

If Levi wasn’t going to make time to escape work for her, she would give him every reason to want to, using the only thing that he couldn’t say no to.

A slow, devilish grin curved her lips as she exited the car and went inside.

It was time to lure her husband home.

CHAPTER 39

Levi

It had been a brutal week, and Levi could feel every bit of it in the tight coil of his shoulders and the pounding tension headache threatening to settle behind his eyes.

Back-to-back meetings consumed his entire morning, leaving him no time to actually get any meaningful work done. The hour after lunch had been spent hunched over his desk, poring through a relentless flood of emails and grim updates about Project DL. His calendar mocked him with one final meeting scheduled late in the day. The perfect end to a thoroughly miserable week.

And then it hit him.

It was Friday.

A cold dread settled in his gut as he leaned back in his chair, running a tired hand down his face. He worked late every single night this week. He had barely seen Aurelia, let alone spent any real time with her. The sex was phenomenal, but that was all they had time for.

It wasn’t enough.

Isaac’s words echoed in his mind.I think you’re working too much.

He hadn’t wanted to believe it. But what had he been doing? Avoiding home? Avoiding the complicated emotions that surfaced every time he walked through the door and saw a wife he barely knew waiting for him? Or worse…disappointing her before they’d even had a chance to build their relationship?

He kept his troubles to himself under the guise of protecting her, not wanting to burden her with his stress. But maybe thatwasn’t as noble as he told himself. Maybe that was cowardice dressed up as chivalry.

Whatever it was, it had to stop.

He wasn’t spending another Friday night buried in work. No, tonight he was going to take his wife out, look her in the eyes, and finally start building something real between them. He pushed away from his desk, already strategizing how to pull together a proper date, when his phone lit up.

Aurelia’s name flashed across the screen.

The tension in his chest loosened a fraction as a smile tugged at his lips. He answered immediately.

“Good afternoon, my wife,” he drawled.