Page 59 of The Brutal Arrangement

“Who the fuck am I kidding?” I grumbled to myself as I drove home.

I just wanted to see her. Like I did every fucking day.

I hurried inside and called out for her. “Lucy?”

And like every fucking day, I caught myself from addingI’m home. That’d be too damn domestic.

She came out of the bedroom, rubbing her face as though I’d just caught her napping.

“Holy fuck.” I blinked, then stared, gobsmacked by how different she looked.

The brown hair was gone, shortened and lighter now. Somehow, it changed her whole face, making her look even sweeter and more innocent.

More beautiful, which hadn’t seemed possible.

She cringed. “Sorry. Maybe I should’ve asked first.” When she lifted her hand to her hair as if to hide it, I approached.

“What? No. It’s just different.”

She nodded. “Not really. This is my natural color.”

“I know.”

The immediate blush on her cheeks made me almost smile. Little things like that were getting to me more and more each day. While I could tell she liked me in bed when I was the rough asshole in charge, I wondered if that was theonlyway she’d ever view me.

“I know that’s your natural color,” I said again, just to make her blush more. She didn’t shave everything near her pussy, and I liked that she was natural like that, too.

“Right. Um. You would know that,” she agreed, almost sheepish.

I tipped her chin up, staring into the same blue eyes. She could change her hair any way she wanted, but these baby blues would always be the same. Soulful and open. Vulnerable.

Fuck this need for distance. I couldn’t deny that over the last couple of weeks, I was getting attached to her.

“I’m sorry if it was too bold of a change to make,” she added shyly.

“It’s not,” I replied. “I like it.”

Her eyes opened wider yet. “You… do?”

I scowled. “Why can’t I like it?”

She opened and closed her mouth as she seemed stumped for what to say. “I, uh… Never mind.”

When she tried to lower her head, I gripped her chin with more force and narrowed my eyes until she faced me. “I do mind. What is it? Why can’t I like it?” I ran my fingers through her silky hair. I liked it like this, easier to grip and hold on to, and we both knew how much she liked me to grab her hair when I fucked her hard. Everything this woman did suited me. She never once broke for me when I gave her my worst in bed. But the more that I lived with her like this, the more I wanted to see every other side of her. Out of bed. Casual. Just everyday things.

Dammit. So much for keeping this distance.

“I just… I didn’t realize you liked me at all.”

I deepened my scowl, alarmed and annoyed that she’d say such a thing. “What?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you or?—”

I tipped her chin up higher yet, reminding me how much of a benefit it was that she was shorter than me. “Does this make you think I don’t like you?” I growled, pushing my dick that wasalready getting hard against her stomach. She couldn’t miss it. The flare of awareness in her eyes hinted that she didn’t.

“Um. No. I know you… I know you are turned on. Like that. But I didn’t think you cared for me in any other way.”

Our marriage hadn’t started traditionally. She wasn’t even the bride I thought I’d be stuck with. Now that I had come to learn her body and how to pleasure her, I realized how much better it was that Lucy had swapped with Katerina.

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