Page 165 of The Wife Situation

“Like a queen who can’t be bothered with a menial task like walking.”

“I hope, one day, I can be the woman you believe I am,” she says as I set her down.

She steadies, then interlocks her fingers behind my neck as I rest my hands on her waist. We sway to a silent song.

“See, the funny thing is, you already are. I’m thrilled you don’t know though. I can’t have you knowing you can control any man you lay eyes on. That’d make my life even more fucking difficult than it already is,” I say into her ear.

“It’s never been like this withanyone,” she admits.

“How many times do I have to tell you that I’m notanyone?” I say, spinning us around. “I think I was made foryou.”

She’s giddy, drunk on life, onme, and I fucking love to see it.

“That’s the truest thing you’ve ever said,” she says.

“I hope so. You recklessly fucking married me, darling.”

She pulls away, meeting my eyes. The moment grows serious. “And that’s why this scares me. When I’m with you, I don’t care about anything. Only you and us. You make me reckless. I want to throw all inhibitions out the goddamn door. I just hope … I hope we don’t destroy each other in the end,” she whispers against my mouth.

She wants confirmation that this will be easy, that we’ll be together forever, that it can always be like this. Until I know we feel the same, it’s not something I can promise. I don’t want a year with Lexi. I want forever. And I’ll wait as long as it takes for her to realize and not be afraid to vocalize what she wants, even if her body gives her away.

“Whatever happens, I’ll have no fucking regrets,” I say.

“I trust you know what you’re doing.” Lexi takes my hand and leads me outside through the sliding glass door.

The moon rises over the horizon and the lights in the pool cast a neon glow. Lexi’s fingers work on the bottom buttons of my shirt until she reaches the top. Her hands trail down my chest and over my torso with light fingertips.

This woman’s torturous touch has my heart fluttering and my breathing uneven. She’s everything, all I’ve ever wanted, andnow that I’ve found her, I’m not letting her go. No woman has ever been able to grab hold of me so quickly, and Lexi has me in a fucking choke hold. And knows it.

She pushes the material over my back and the shirt falls to my feet. My eyes close as her hands glide over my tattoos, and she stops at my heart.

“I never noticed there’s space here.”

“That’s where your name will go.”

“Easton, that’s permanent,” she says.

I meet her gaze and tuck strands of dark hair behind her ear. “So are you. No matter what happens, you’ll always live here for what you’ve given me.”

“Your family’s company?”

I shake my head. “Hope.”

She sighs against my mouth, running her hand through my hair, pulling me toward her. “Are you going to kiss me?”

“Do you want me to?” I ask like I did the first timeIcrossed the line with her. I brush my nose against hers and anticipate her answer.

“Fuck yes,” she nearly begs, and we’re a mixture of teeth and tongues and desperate pants.

She tucks her hands into my pants and unbuttons and unzips them before pushing them down to my ankles. I growl against her skin, lifting the pretty dress she wore for me over her body. I trace her collarbone with my lips, tasting her sweet skin, mixed with the salty air. A ragged breath releases from her as I inch her panties down, my palm adding slight pressure between her legs. My finger slides between her slick slit, and she’s so fucking wet for me. Considering my cock is at full attention, there’s no hiding what she does to me.

Lexi glances down at how hard she makes me with desire behind her green eyes. She takes my hand and leads me into the warm water with her.

“Oh, this feels so good,” she moans, swimming to the deep end. The pool is heated; it was a requirement when I booked.

And when her mouth is back on mine, it’s exactly how I envisioned it.

The waves of the ocean crash in the distance, and the moonlight reflects over the water. We have the perfect view of it from our vantage point.

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