Page 80 of After the Vows

“But you can’t. Trust me. Even Paisley’s evil genius can’t erase thepain.”

“Your friends stood by you through all of it.”

She smiles. “And then we founded a business together so they can never get rid of me.”

“Wildcat, they wouldn’t get rid of you without the brewery.”

She shrugs and glances away.

“Another layer peeled away,” I mutter. “What do you say, wildcat? You want to make this fake marriage into a real relationship?”

She bites her lip as she studies me. I drop all of my walls and allow her to witness how much I want her. How much I want this. How desperate I am for her.

“Should we make some ground rules?”

I frown. “What ground rules?”

“One, I’m keeping my house in case things go belly up. And, two, I still get to be friends with Natalia whether we’re involved or not.”

I thread my hand through her hair and tug until her neck is exposed to me.

“One, you can keep your house but things aren’t going belly up. And, two, you can always be friends with Natalia because you’ll be her stepmother.”

“Don’t jump the—”

I smash my lips on hers. I’m done discussing this. She agreed. We’ll work on the details later. Hopefully, once she’s attached to me so tight, she can’t let go.

She moans and I thrust my tongue into her mouth. I’m desperate to taste her untamed flavor again. She wraps her legs around me and I whirl around to pin her to the wall.

My cock presses against my zipper. I’m ready to explode and we’re both still fully dressed. Lucky for me, we don’t need to get naked to get some satisfaction.

I sneak my hand between us and snap Chloe’s jeans open.

“Are you guys fighting?” Natalia shouts.

I rip my mouth from Chloe’s and lean my forehead against her shoulder while I catch my breath.

“We’re not fighting!” Chloe hollers.

“Good! Because I’m hungry.”

Chloe laughs and I pull back to watch. Her face is full of happiness. She’s beautiful. And one of these days she’s going to not cringe when I tell her how beautiful she is.

But not right now. Right now, I need to feed my wife and daughter.

Chapter 27

First date – especially anxiety inducing when it’s with your ‘fake’ husband

Chloe

Istare at myself in the mirror. “This is a bad idea. What was I thinking? Who goes to a beginner surfing lesson as a first date?”

“Is it a first date if you’re married?” Paisley asks. I glare at her through the phone. We’re FaceTiming since I’m at home trying on bikinis for my date with Lucas. “Sorry. I didn’t mean…”

“Why do you think this is a bad idea?” Sophia asks. “He told you to plan the date.”

“Which is romantic,” Maya adds.

---