Page 90 of Accidentally, Scandalously Yours

He comes to a halt when he sees the mess of cooking utensils, dishes, and burned food, but before he can say anything, I hold up my hand, indicating he should not, underanycircumstance, make a comment on the state of the kitchen. He has the good sense to take heed of my warning and simply says, “I thought I’d take you out for dinner tonight.”

“You are a smart man. But today, I’m connecting pretty fucking deeply with my desire to never go out again, so I’m going to say no to that.” I throw my arms wide. “Welcome home, honey. I made you dinner.”

He curses under his breath and comes my way. “Today was pretty rough, huh?”

“Rough doesn’t come close to accurately describing today. I think I’ll come up with a new word for the dictionary that defines today’s feelings.” I cock my head. “How do you think one goes about submitting new words for consideration? Maybe I’ll steal some of your money and bribe the dictionary people.”

“Do you think a million will cover it?” He snakes his arm around my waist and pulls me close, looking down at me with an expression that says so many things. He’s worried about me. He’s ready to kill whoever upset me. He’s desperate to take all my hurt and suffer his way through it for me. “Or maybe a billion?”

I grip his shirt with both hands and inhale his scent. God, I love how he smells. I want to wear his cologne just so I always have him with me. “You’d be that crazy, wouldn’t you?”

“Whatever you need, Kristen. It’s yours.”

I glide a hand up his body so I can curve my fingers around his neck and pull his mouth down to mine. “You are reckless,” I breathe before kissing him.

His body responds immediately, like he’s been starved of me. His mouth parts and his tongue slides over mine while his hands take possession of me. They demand I press myself hard against him. Mold myself to him. Explore him.

It’s been the longest day,the worst day, and I’ve felt like I couldn’t breathe through most of it, but this moment with Bradford clears all that stress away. It unravels the knots in my stomach. Releases the thick air strangling my lungs. Moments like this aren’t something that have ever existed for me before, and knowing I have them now with my husband is one of the best things I’ve ever known.

He drowns in this kiss with me and when we finally drag our mouths from each other, I cling to him, grasping his jacket like my life depends on it. “I forbid you from ever going to work again,” I say breathlessly as I stare up into eyes I want to lose myself in for eternity.

“I knew I should have stayed with you today” he says at the same time that texts begin lighting up my phone. Six arrive quickly, one after the other. Bradford reaches for my cell that’s sitting on the kitchen island and hands it to me.

I don’t check who they’re from because I’m certain they’re from Jenna and the girls who have been bombarding me with messages all day. A group chat might just be the bane of my existence if it involves as many daily texts as I received today.

“You don’t want to check those?” Bradford asks when I silence my phone.

“God no.”

That look ofI’m going to fucking kill someonereturns to his face. “Is it your father? What’s he done now?”

I smile as I place my hand to his chest. To his heart. “I love you wanting to protect me, but you don’t need to kill anyone right now. Those texts are from the girls and I refuse to read them.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve already read ten million texts from them today. Group chats should be banned. Today alone, I’ve learned exactly which vibrators and dildos are Poppy’s favorites; that Adeline’s planning to check out a new sex club; that Lorelei has had sex with Ashton in public places all over the world; that Jessica is up for almost anything sexually; and that Charlize gets off on praise kink.” My eyes widen as amusement fills Bradford’s. “These are things I do not need to know about people.”

“And now I also know more about those women than I ever needed to know.”

“You’re welcome. And you should prepare yourself to learn more because if I have to suffer through thousands of texts, you’ll have to as well. Especially since it’s your fault I’m now in that group text.”

He chuckles. “It’s my fault because I talked Elvis into putting that ring on your finger?”

“I told you you’re a smart man.”

“And that was absolutely the smartest thing I’ve ever done.” He pulls me in close for another kiss before searching my eyes. “What was the worst thing about today?”

“You know, most people want to know the good things that happened when they check in at the end of the day, not the worst.”

“We’ll get to those things, but first I need to know what I can fix.”

“Not everything can be fixed, Bradford. And trust me, that was a hard lesson to learn in therapy, but it’s the truth.”

“Well, it’s not a lesson I’ve learned, so humor me. Tell me how your heart is breathing and why.”

“I think you just need to take a look around the kitchen to know how my heart is breathing.” I glance at the chaos strewn from one end of the kitchen to the other, hating the fact I not only failed at cooking dinner, but also hating that I now have to clean it up. Bradford’s housekeeper buzzed around me earlier, wanting to take over, but I refused her help and told her I would clean up as well. “I really wanted to have dinner ready for you when you got home, but it turns out I probably won’t ever be a domestic goddess.” I’ve been trying for years now and I think I’m finally giving up on that goal.

“What were you cooking?”

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