“Max.” I shivered as his lips fell to my shoulder.
“I have to go back to Boston in the morning. To finish up everything from tonight,” he said, clearly sounding like he wished there were any other option. “It shouldn’t take me long, but I’m going to leave first thing, so I’ll be back before noon, and then we’ll talk about this. About them.”
I nodded, my throat too thick to speak as he ushered me into our bed. The only thing that felt better than the comfort of climbing into familiar sheets was when Max settled in next to me and drew me to him, his thigh fitting between mine like a hot pillow.
The ridge of his knuckles lifted my chin. “I love you, my little wife.”
My pulse withered in my chest. We’d just said those words for the first time to each other only a few days ago. The feeling had been there for longer, but like a foundation laid beneath the surface. Still, the words felt tenuous—what we had witheach other still felt fragile and uncertain. A victim of our ever-changing circumstances.
Would you still if it cost you your dream?
It was what I thought, but what I said was, “I love you too.”
And I couldn’t let him continue to be the one always saving me. Not because I was too independent to be saved, but because I loved him too much to let him be the one to suffer. I would figure out how to fix this. Somehow. Some way. And then I’d find my way back to him once it was safe.
But that was tomorrow’s problem.
Tonight…I’d take one more night in this fantasy with him. My husband.
The king of flowers. And the king of my heart.
Chapter 29
Daisy
“Coming!” I called to the knock on the door, setting down the vial of rose extract I’d started earlier in the week.
A part of me instantly hoped it was Max, but logic punctured that thought like a balloon. Max wouldn’t knock at his own home, and he was in Boston.
He left the bed this morning with a kiss to my forehead, almost before the dawn had risen. I knew it was because he wanted to leave so he could get back, but I didn’t want him to leave at all.
I winced with every last step to the front door. I felt so achy this morning. So big. Was it the shoes from last night? They were flats but still new. Or was it the standing? We’d lapped that ballroom so many times, I’d lost count, and I hadn’t been complaining. The way Max made me feel at his side was addictive. Powerful and protected.
Until that one moment shattered everything.
“Do you really want to be responsible for ruining his business?”
I peeked through the window and immediately opened the door.
“Hey, Harp.” My hand set on my stomach.
“Morning, Daze. Hope I didn’t wake you.” She extended her arms. “But I brought blueberry muffins and honey.”
I moved aside. “Max sent you, didn’t he?”
A sheepish smile worked one side of her mouth. “He said you might want some company this morning.”
My tongue lay heavy in my mouth as I followed her into the kitchen. I worked myself onto one of the seats at the counter, feeling like it was so much more work to move this morning than yesterday.
“Are you okay?” she asked, unpacking the basket of baked goods.
I rubbed my belly, feeling Lucy sitting low. “Yeah, just feeling really…big this morning.”
“Well, you’ve only got, what? Two weeks until your due date?”
“Thirteen days,” I answered as she set a plate with a muffin in front of me. “Thank you.”
“Of course,” she said and grabbed a knife for the honey. “How was the gala?”
