Page 45 of Midnight Wedding

“Good. I pay her enough to make sure she’s extremely kind.”

“When do I get a full tour?” I gesture at the door behind me.

“Never. Forget about that part of the house.” He comes toward me. I catch a whiff of something smoky wafting off him. “I know that locked door is going to drive you insane, but forget it exists.”

“That’s going to be hard.” I step closer to him and sniff a few times. “Why do you smell like a bonfire?”

“Work.”

“Lots of burning rubble in the computer chip business?”

“Yes. And no.” He puts one hand on my hip and the other snakes up my back. I let out a surprised whimper when he grips my hair. “Are you going to make my life difficult, little thief?”

“I’m not a thief. And probably.”

“You ask too many questions.”

“And you act too stupidly mysterious. How’s a computer chip guy afford a house like this?”

He’s smirking as he dips down and brushes his lips against my neck. I groan and try to push him away, but that’s like trying to move a mountain.

“You’re too clever.”

“And you’re way too shady. Remember when I saw you murder a guy?”

“I assumed we wouldn’t talk about that again.”

“Arsen. Who did I marry?”

He lets out a low grumble in the back of his throat. “I’ll tell you, but you have to give me something in return.”

“That’s not really the basis for a reasonable relationship.”

“We don’t have one of those.”

“Fine. What do you want?”

“I brought some of your clothes over. I want to watch you get changed.”

I laugh stupidly before realizing he’s not kidding. “That’s flattering and also a total red flag. I don’t want to exchange sexual favors for basic information about my husband.”

“And yet here we are.”

“You just want to watch?”

“That’s all. I just want to watch.”

“Weird. But no touching. Deal?”

“Deal.” He grips my hair tighter. “I like your nose ring.”

“Thanks?”

Then he lets me go. I slip past him and he lightly pats my ass. I try to swat him back, but he’s already grinning and following me back to his bedroom.

True to his word, the weirdo sits in a big leather chair in the corner of the room and crosses one leg. My old gym bag is sitting on the bed stuffed with a lot of my things. “How’d you get this anyway?”

“Your mother sent it over. She’s a nice woman.”

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