Page 81 of Wicked Games
He got his chance when my parents flew in for a visit after we purchased our home in April. Mother fell in love with the photos I sent her of our stately Victorian home on Observatory Avenue. God, we loved our magnificent house with its big yard for the dogs to play. As I’d told Ryder, our parents were almost interchangeable except for Celeste’s warmth. She’d become Ryder’s biggest champion when he decided to publish his book; the same book that was causing him to panic.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and pulled up the tab I kept open on my phone. “Guess what else happened?”
Ryder spun around and looked at me with huge eyes. “What?”
“Someone’s book made the New York Time’s best seller list.”
“Shut up!” he said then grabbed my phone. “I don’t believe it. Never in my wildest dreams did I think this was possible.”
“Told you so,” I said smugly. “Do you know what else this means?”
Ryder looked up from the phone and smiled. “How does eloping to Las Vegas sound?”
“I was thinking more like a beach wedding in Miami. We know a lady.”
“Yes, it would mean more if our families and friends witnessed our marriage.”
“You call Carmen and ask,” I said. “She likes you better.”
“True. I’ll get on it.”
“You need to finish the sequel for Leo and Reed.”
“I’m feeling more motivated to finish the book now,” he said, picking up the pace a bit.
“I’m motivated to help you plot the sex scenes. Just because Leo and Reed are a happy couple doesn’t mean they can’t tear it up in the bedroom.”
“Maybe Leo can burn dinner and Reed can angry-fuck him over the kitchen table,” Ryder said.
“Why is Leo always the one fucking up?” I asked.
“It comes naturally to him.” Ryder smiled wickedly. “Did I tell you Horatio, a man from Leo’s past, shows up in this book.”
“Not that again,” I moaned. I’d only spoken to Hiram once after leaving the hospital. It was cleansing, and we both got the closure denied to us years ago. Ryder still liked to bust my balls about it though.
“Reed isn’t worried about Horatio; he knows where Leo’s heart lies.”
“It’s about damn time. Reed is quite a knucklehead,” I teased.
“Takes one to know one.”
When we got back home, Ryder hustled to his study while I got busy making plans. My guy was drawn to adventure and romance, and I was going to give it to him.
One week later…
“HONEY,I’M HOME,”IYELLEDwhen I entered the house after walking the dogs. I saw Lucien’s car parked in the driveway and knew he had returned from his trip to the FBI field office in San Francisco. “Lucky?” I unhooked the leashes from Duchess’s and Duke’s collars, and they trotted into the kitchen for a drink.
I tossed my keys onto the table we kept by the door and saw a large manila envelope that had Sebastian Somersby written on it in large black letters. The envelope was battered and stained like it had been bouncing around in the mail for a long time. Who the hell knew my real address? When I inspected the envelope closer, I saw the postage stamps were tiny images of my fictional characters taken from my book cover.
“What’s he up to?” I asked while opening the envelope. I pulled out a battered map with crude drawings, a dotted line, and an X to mark the spot. At the top was written: Mi Corazón. I covered my mouth to stifle my joyous laughter because I didn’t want Lucien to think I was laughing at his drawings, even if they looked like our eight-year-old neighbor, Mary, drew them.
The fork and spoon represented our kitchen, the paint palette for my restoration studio, books for my office, and a bed with a heart above it and an X below it that marked it as the location I would find my treasure. My first thought was to head straight to the bedroom, but I stopped at the locations in order.
In our kitchen, I found a pastry box with a decorated chocolate cake inside. The elegant writing said:Boundless treasures await you if you dare. I stopped by my studio and saw a bouquet of my favorite Tropicana roses. I plucked up the card nestled between the blooms and smiled at Lucien’s messy writing, making it obvious he hadn’t decorated the cake. He’d written:An adventure I can always guarantee.Tears had already started falling by the time I reached my office to find the next hint. A bottle of chilled champagne and two crystal flutes sat in the middle of my desk along with a heart-shaped note. Through my teary vision, I read:There will never be another who loves you more than me.I grabbed the champagne and flutes and headed up to our bedroom where my treasure waited for me. There was a note taped on the closed door that said:Only thrill-seekers may enter.
I pushed open the door, and Lucien sat in the center of our bed, naked as the day he was born. “Hi,” he said. “Miss me?”
“Always,” I answered. I set the champagne and flutes on the dresser and stripped my clothes off as fast as I could. “Now I get to claim my treasure. I should take a shower first though. The August sun is brutal today.”