Page 103 of Flame
The air gets warmer. Thicker. Stickier. I can barely breathe.
“Say it, Foxx.”
He laughs harder.
My hand shakes around the paddle. “Why are you laughing?”
“What are you doing, Bianca?”
I scoot around in my seat until I face him. The lines around his eyes aren’t the severe ones that usually develop when he’s irritated or furious. This time, they’re crinkled in a different way. Out of happiness, maybe.
The look on his face steals my breath. The dark, mysterious Foxx Carmichael looks relaxed and entertained. I can barely process it.
“Look, you usually say like four words at a time,” I say, my blood pressure rising. “And all of a sudden you’re Mr. Chatterbox.”
His chest shakes as he continues to chuckle.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love that you’re sharing things with me.Love that for us.” I cock my head to the side and point at him. “But if you’re going anywhere near where I think you were going, I need you to get back to the old Foxx and get to the point before I have a heart attack. Then you’ll have to paddle this thing all the way back alone and then carry me to the car—ugh.”
His smile stretches from ear to ear. “Are you going to say it back?”
“I don’t know,” I say, returning his smile. “I don’t know what you were going to say.”
“We don’t have a solid history of you actually repeating what I need to hear.”
“Ooh, I think that was worth the tussle.” I sit up straight, my stomach in knots. “Let’s give it a shot. You say it first, and I’ll repeat it.”
“But will you mean it?”
“I don’t say anything I don’t mean.”
His smile turns cheekier. His eyes darken. I know this look, and it’s not the one I want to see.
“Stop it,” I say.
“Yeah, I think we should wait and have this conversation later.” He pivots the kayak around to head back upstream. “I’d hate to have one of our disagreements on the open water.”
“First, this isn’t the open water. But, more importantly, our disagreement is going to be much, much worse if you make me wait to hear what you were going to say.”
He smirks. “It’ll be worth it, wife.”
I smirk right back. “Oh, you’re right. It will be, husband.”
CHAPTER23
Bianca
Istep back from the mirror and give myself a once-over. “Not bad, Mrs. Carmichael. Not bad.”
The sound ofMrs. Carmichaelmakes me giggle. But that’s what two glasses of wine, a hot bath, and a solid game plan on how to torture your husband will do to you.
Foxx said he needed to take a little time and make some calls. I think he was just trying to mess with me, but I assured him it was a great idea. I needed a bath and to make some calls myself. He couldn’t say no to that. He respects me and my work too much to get in the way. And I think he hoped I was making calls to walk away for good.
I made zero calls. But I did wash, scrub, and shave every inch of my body.
Astrid hit it out of the ballpark with the lingerie selection. The piece I chose is almost too pretty to wear—and I wouldn’t wear it at all if I didn’t know it would drive Foxx out of his mind.
Beautiful white embroidered lace that’s long and flowy. The goddess silhouette accentuates my waist. Long slits are cut from the embellishment nestled under my breasts, which appear fuller and heavier than usual, to the floor. I almost discarded the white thong but decided at the last minute to give the look a shred of modesty.
