Page 41 of The Wife Situation

“Yes, I will spoil you with adventures for helping me. The world will fall in love with you, darling. My only regret will be not keeping you to myself.”

“Pick a truth or lie.” She meets my eyes with defiance.

“Truth, always.”

“Don’ttryto break me when it comes to love. You’ll lose.”

Her words come out as a warning … or achallenge. But it’s a moment of clarity, raw truth. She feels whatever this is bubbling between us. It’s the only confirmation I need to know this isn’t one-sided.

“And don’t smirk at me like that,” she warns.

I keep the expression firmly planted on my face.

The doors slide open. We step outside and wait for my driver, but my eyes scan around the perimeter, and I spot several paps.

“Will you text me when you arrive home?” I ask, tucking hair behind her ear.

“I will. They’re watching, aren’t they?”

I lean and whisper in her ear, “Yes. Have a good night, Lexi.”

“Good night,” she mutters and pulls away.

“I’ll be waiting for your answer.”

She nods, meeting my eyes, then gently wraps her hand behind my neck and slides her lips against mine. I wrap my arms around her waist as her tongue slides into my mouth.

My body sings with pleasure as I taste the scotch on her tongue, mixed with her strawberry lip balm. The kiss deepens and we lose control, slipping into the abyss and losing ourselves in one another’s touch. It’s only a kiss, one that shouldn’t stir desire deep within me, but it does. Alexis moans into my mouth, grabbing my shirt in her fist, and I don’t want it to stop. The intensity of it, of her, nearly destroys me on this side wall as the inferno inside me rages.

“Alexis,” I desperately whisper against her mouth as she releases a ragged breath.

“I’mnotsorry,” she says as the limo stops before her.

I open the door with swollen lips and a racing heart, unable to articulate my thoughts.

My mouth and body are on fire as I watch her move inside.

When she turns to look at me, she gives me a mischievous grin. “Three days. I’ll have my answer.”

I shut the door and stand with my arms crossed over my chest. The car speeds down the road, and I watch until it’s out of sight before I shake my head and laugh. If that was her putting on a show, unpredictably predictable, then I should guard myself.

Thirty minutes later, I’m sitting in the same spot I shared with Alexis on the couch, sketching the view. I flip the page and see the previous drawing was at the bar before she arrived. And a few pages before that, her reading at the park and the Tower Penthouse. Moments with her are already displayed in my artwork. Multiple in a week? This is moving quickly, almost too fast.

Afterward, I go upstairs and lie in bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering if this is a mistake. Suppose I get in too deep and end up being destroyed, like my brother.

A handful of moving pieces have to come together for this to work; above everything, it must be believable.

My phone vibrates and lights up on the nightstand. I grab it, laughing at how I saved her in my Contacts earlier.

My Wife

I’m home. Thanks for a fun night.

Easton

Anytime. Just know, I don’t wait for anyone.

My Wife

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