Page 46 of Stealing His Cupcake
Instead of dwelling on murder, my thoughts focus on the beautiful woman lying next to me. I still can’t believe she’s truly here.
Perhaps she’s not. Perhaps I’ve finally lost my mind. If I had, then, just like Amy said, I never want to wake up. She’s my dream come true, a dream I didn’t even know I had before she showed up in my life. I promised to cherish and spoil her and I’m going to do just that. Money might not buy happiness, but it can buy the perfect wedding ring and have it speed-delivered to me on a Sunday morning.
Chapter 34
Amy
There’snothingquitelikethe smell of freshly cooked bacon in the morning. Well, it’s probably not morning since the sun outside the massive floor-to-ceiling windows is almost at the highest point of its daily journey, but since I just woke up and Wyatt is apparently making breakfast, I think it’s fair to consider it a morning. I stretch out in the absurdly cozy bed, suppressing the urge to giggle gleefully. My pussy is tender in just the right way, reminding me of the mind-blowing sex we had last night. Our wedding night. I slap my hands over my mouth to contain the embarrassing squeal that threatens to escape. Am I really this excited about being married to a complete stranger?
Yes. Yes, I am, and I don’t think it’s only because of my fear of abandonment. Wyatt is just such a nice person. Sure, he has flaws, but who doesn’t? I’ve overlooked Craig’s flaws for a whole year and he’d been mean to me most of the time. Why wouldn’t I do the same for a man who actually treats me well?
After taking the much-needed shower, I hesitate over my pathetically small selection of clothing. I have enough lounge gear. Comfortable shortsand leggings, T-shirts and tops I usually wear at home where no one can see the washed out colors and the occasional hole. But there will be no dressing to impress, because the dress I wore yesterday was the only pretty item of clothing I’ve packed, and even if I wanted to wear it again today, it’s nowhere to be found. I don’t have a solid recollection of where it ended up after I pulled it off last night, but it’s not on the bed or on the floor anywhere. Neither are the rest of the clothes we took off so fervently before—
Another giggle, breaking free, interrupts the thought. Before having the most amazing sex of my life. Damn. I still can’t believe I came twice. Usually I’m lucky to finish at all.
Since I have no other options, I settle on the least stretched-out leggings and a top with a slightly fraying hemline. Looking at myself in the mirror, I snort. I’m the embodiment of sexiness. Not. I try not to let doubts creep into my mind, but they still linger. What if Wyatt regrets his decision after seeing me like this? What if he moves on to a different obsession? A skinny, catwalk-like one? With his looks, he’d have no trouble seducing a model. There’s no reason for him to settle for a chubby mouse like me. And what if I misunderstood his intentions? Damn, what if I imagined the whole thing, like an extra lifelike dream or a hallucination? Did yesterday even happen? The more I think about it, the more far-fetched everything that happened seems. More like a movie plot than something that actually happens in real life.
The bedroom door creaks open. Wyatt peeks in, his face lighting up with a knee-wobbling smile when he sees me. “You’re up. Perfect. Breakfast is ready. I was going to bring it to bed, but perhaps you’d like to have it on the back porch?”
A back porch. Apartment born and bred, the only times I’ve ever been to a back porch was when visiting my school friends, of which I didn’t have many. Mainly Kayla, but since her family lived two floors above us back then, they had no back porch either. “I’d love that,” I whisper, unsure how to act around him.
Solving the problem for me, Wyatt pulls me flush against his chest and captures my mouth in a sensual kiss. “You look beautiful,wife.”
“I don’t. I have nothing to wear.” Which is not Wyatt’s fault and I hate that it sounds like I’m blaming him.
“We’ll fix that after breakfast.” Before I can protest, he leads me through the spacious living area to the glass door in the back.
The view is breathtaking. Behind the roofed porch, there’s a garden surrounded by trees—so many trees, stretching as far as I can see. Wyatt lives in a freaking forest! As my eyes drift to our joined hands, I correct myself.Welive in a freaking forest.
The thought is a little daunting. I don’t know the first thing about living in the countryside, about taking care of a house, a garden, and are those vegetable patches in that small, fenced-off area? Does Wyatt grow his own vegetables? The man is really full of surprises. All of my food so far has come strictly from a supermarket. I don’t know the first thing about growing tomatoes. Or at least I hope those reddish balls hanging from the waist-high plants are tomatoes. There are more plants I don’t recognize, surrounded by several trees. I can identify one as an apple tree. Not because of my botanical skills, but because small green apples dot the branches.
The lawn isn’t perfectly manicured. It’s mowed, yes, but still somewhat wild. Flowers and various plants I’ve probably seen in biology classes but forgot the names of grow all around the garden, especially further away from the house where it meets the forest. The forest that seems endless and very, very wild from where I’m standing. And there’s no fence. Wyatt has a fence protecting his vegetables, but not his house.
Glancing at him, I realize he’s been watching me take everything in with a hopeful expression and I’m just standing here, scowling at the trees. “It’s beautiful,” I say, meaning it. The house is magnificent. Despite the modern design and the abundance of floor-to-ceiling windows facing the forest, the building doesn’t feel out of place. It blends in with its surroundings, enhancing nature instead of trampling over it. The natural feel of the garden further stresses that.
The back porch is perfect. Aside from the small seating area, it even has a porch swing which, in my book, marks the pinnacle of happy living.
“But?” Wyatt softly urges, having correctly guessed there is a but. “It’s okay, Amy, just tell me. If you want something changed around here, we’ll change it. And if you prefer living in the city, we’ll move.”
We’ll move. Just like that. He didn’t even blink while saying it. He’d abandon his beautiful home if I didn’t like it. Dammit! Now is not the time to tear up. “No, I love the house,” I say quickly, blinking the tears away. “It’s great. The porch is… I’ve always dreamed of having one. I know nothing about gardening, but I will learn.” I’ve never been good at memorizing boring school stuff or solving the gibberish equations for math classes, but when it comes to working with my hands, I pick things up quickly. “It’s just… This is probably going to sound absolutely stupid, but is it safe here?”
“Few people know my identity and those who do know to leave me alone,” Wyatt replies, misunderstanding my question. “The house has an excellent security system and I have enough weapons here to—”
“That’s not what I meant!” I hastily interrupt him. I really don’t want to know what weapons he has here or if he’s ever had to use them because someone came to murder him in his sleep. I can do without that information, thank you very much. “I meant, like, safe from wild animals? This is a forest,” I reiterate like an idiot, waving my hand toward the endless trees.
Wyatt grins. “That it is.”
“Don’t laugh at me.” I try to frown, but find myself grinning back at him. “I’ve never lived near a forest. The biggest animals roaming our block were a couple of raccoons. Some rats and an occasional stray cat. But this is, like, thewilderness. Aren’t there dangerous animals here? Wolves or bears! Bears eat people, don’t they?”
Pacifying me with a kiss, Wyatt replies, “I would never laugh at you, cupcake. Not in a mean way, at least. As for the animals, there are some, but most are safe. I get a lot of squirrels and chipmunks stealing the fruit when it’s ripe. Deer tend to pass through the garden, but that’s mostly at night and they take off at the slightest noise. Wolves generally avoid populatedareas. You can sometimes hear them howl in the distance, but I’ve never seen one around here. I did see a bear once on a walk through the forest, but it was more afraid of me than I was of it. If we keep the trash can lids shut properly and not leave any food lying outside, bears have no reason to come here.
“This is a fairly populated area. We’re only ten miles away from the town, the nearest neighbor is just at the end of that road, and there’s a lake behind that forest with plenty of cabins scattered around it. It only looks like we’re in the middle of the wilderness because I like it that way. I would never bring you anywhere that’s not safe.”
“I didn’t think you would.” I really didn’t. After all his proclamations, I don’t think he’d bring me here just to watch me get eaten by a bear. It makes me feel like an idiot that I even asked him about it. “I’m sorry. I told you it was stupid.”
Shaking his head, Wyatt pulls me closer against his chest. “If it worries you, it’s not stupid. I have to admit I never even considered what shock it must be for a city girl to suddenly move into the middle of nowhere. I meant it when I said we can live in the city if you prefer it. I don’t really mind either way.” A small lie, one I don’t think he even realizes. He does mind. He loves it here.
“I wasn’t a ‘city girl’,” I put air quotes around the words, “by choice. I just had no reason to move. I can’t say I’ve dreamed of living in the middle of a forest, but that’s mostly because I’ve never really thought about the future. I love how calm this place is. There’s no traffic or sirens or yelling from the apartment above. It smells different, too.” Like a pine-scented candle. Except the scent is coming from actual pines. “Unless a rabid zombie bear tries to eat me, I think I’ll love it here.”
