Page 86 of Gracefully Yours

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We’d wokenup two more times in the middle of the night, seeking out each other’s bodies for pleasure, and by the time both of us roused from the bed in the morning, it was almost ten.

“Good morning,” Charlotte said, rubbing her eyes as she stretched her arms, her pebbled nipples peeking through the sheet.

“Morning.” And because I could, I bent down to kiss her. Just a simple kiss on the lips.

“What’s on the agenda for the day, husband?”

God, I liked that.

“Well, wife, I was thinking we could hide away and see no one, and do absolutely nothing.”

“Mmm. That sounds nice.”

Besides, after we checked out of our room, we’d be home for Christmas, and since most of us didn't have family in town, we were celebrating with a gift exchange with all our friends. And then we’d go back to pretending.

It was weird that somehow this, just the two of us, felt more real than when we were pretending for our friends’ sake.

“Want to order breakfast?” I held up the room service menu I’d thankfully requested the day before.

And I had already ordered champagne for tonight. Might as well celebrate getting married while we could, right?

“Pancakes?” Her eyes lit up as she looked at all the options. Luckily, I had splurged on an extravagant hotel, and their room service menu wasn’t too shabby.

I chuckled. “Breakfast of champions. Let’s do it.”

She took the menu from my hands. “Better get me a ham and cheese omelet and some breakfast potatoes, too. Maybe a side of bacon.”

“Work up an appetite there, baby?”

Charlotte looked bashful, as if I hadn’t just been inside her yesterday, the blood rushing to her cheeks. “Maybe.” Her posture straightened, and she turned to face me fully. “But it’s okay, because you can help me work it off later.” She winked.

I choked. Who was this girl, and where was my blushing bride? Except, I liked it.

“Oh, I fully intend to.” I gave a playful wiggle of my eyebrows before heading to the phone to place our order. Knowing we’d eat all of it, I added fruit as well as some additional items for me.

I’d go for an extra run tomorrow to make up for all the cake from yesterday as well. Not that I minded. I enjoyed staying fit, but that second slice of cake wouldn’t hurt. Neither had the third.

After making sure that Char’s pancakes were gluten-free, I hopped in the shower, knowing full well that if we took one together, we’d spend too much time doing things that would just get us dirty all over again.

When I got out, I pulled on a pair of navy sweatpants, letting them hang loose on my hips, and with a towel slung around my shoulders, a knock sounded at the door.

“Oh, perfect,” Charlotte groaned. “Food. I’m starving.” She’d pulled on a satin robe, tied at the waist with a sash, and her blonde locks were tumbling out of the messy bun she’d pulled her hair into last night after we’d gotten out of the bath.

Carrying over the tray of food onto the bed, I sat beside her on top of the covers.

I popped a piece of bacon into my mouth before turning to look at her, finding her staring at my bare chest.

“Now feed me, husband,” she said, batting her eyelashes as I swallowed roughly.

Picking up a strawberry, I brought it to her lips, mesmerized as I watched her bite into it, the juices spilling all over my fingers, but I didn’t care.

But then my brain stuttered to a halt as she sucked my finger into her mouth, the strawberry forgotten as she licked up the juices.Fuck me.I was losing my mind. She wasn’t even trying to affect me, and she was.

That was always the case with us, wasn’t it?

I’d been losing my mind over her since she’d sat on my dorm bed, eating marshmallows by the bag.

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