Page 101 of Lust & Lies

Dolores had even written a note on it with the temperature and amount of time Aiden needed to leave it in the oven.

“I’ll wait for you,” I told him, noticing his glass of lemonade on the counter.

“Alright. I’ll only be a minute.”

I sipped my lemonade while he put the food in the oven and set the temp and timer.

“This won’t take long,” he told me, grabbing his lemonade. “In the meantime, we can sit on the porch like an old couple.”

“Come on, old man.”

“Okay, old lady.”

We went outside and sank into the two chairs on the patio, glasses in hand. I sipped my drink, savoring the tartness of the lemonade. However, I couldn’t help but notice the way Aiden kept staring at me instead of his drink.

“What?” I asked, trying not to blush.

“Nothing. Just memorizing this moment,” he said softly. “You. Me. Us. Right now. At our dream house. No stress. Just happiness and lemonade. This feels perfect.”

That’s because he didn’t know of the stress I was holding in. I thought back to my dream and how badly we’d wanted to escape reality for a while.Mission accomplished. This was whatI’d wanted. I needed to stop letting doubts stress me and enjoy this time with my husband.

“This is perfect,” I told him. “And you made it happen. Thank you, Aiden.”

I reached across the space between us and placed my hand over his. He turned his palm up, linking our fingers together. And right there, on our back patio, sipping lemonade and holding Aiden’s hand, I knew this was the life I wanted.

A quiet life, away from the hustle and bustle of the world, with just me and my husband. Oh, and our garden. This was the life. And it was mine. I just hoped I cherished it and didn’t let my doubts tarnish it. We sat there for a while longer before Aiden spoke up again.

“The food should be ready now.”

“How do you know? I didn’t hear the timer.”

He smirked as we stood. “Chef’s instinct.”

I shook my head as we walked inside. Sure enough, the faint beep of the oven timer filled the kitchen.

“Unbelievable. You really do have chef instincts.”

He tugged on a pair of oven mitts while I drifted to the island. The smell hit me the moment he opened the oven, creamy, savory, rich. My stomach growled, and my mouth watered.

“I love the smell of shrimp and chicken alfredo,” I said, ready to sink my teeth into it.

“I know,” he stated, pulling the dish out and setting it on the counter.

I felt lazy just sitting around doing nothing. I may not be able to cook, but I could prepare our plates. I got up and grabbed two plates, setting them down on the island while he stirred the steaming pasta.

“Pour us some juice while I plate the food,” I told him, already reaching for the serving spoon.

“Yes, boss,” he agreed, moving to the fridge to get the juice.

We moved around the kitchen in sync, no missteps, no fumbling or bumping into each other. Just an easy familiarity that made it feel like we’d been doing this for years. Perhaps we had, and I just couldn’t remember it.

Instead of sitting across from me once everything was ready, he pulled out my chair for me and then pulled out the one beside mine and sat down.Clingy ass.Holding in my smile, I dug into the food. The first bite had me moaning, my eyes fluttering shut.

“Oh my God, this is so good.”

Aiden chuckled low. “Foodie.”

“Absolutely. I’m not even ashamed to admit it,” I told him, twirling another forkful.