“My alarm,” he agreed as he reached over to turn it off. Then he leaned back in and placed a kiss on top of my head. “Maybe tonight we can have a repeat of last night?”
“So, you want leftovers of the chicken and dumplings?” I teased. “That’s good because it will save me from cooking again.”
Ridge pulled me over his lap and smacked my ass. The heat of that slap stirred my libido back to life, even though I was sure our shenanigans from last night would be sufficient to carry me over for a while. When I moaned, Ridge slid me off his lap and quickly tumbled out of bed on his side before I could reach him.
“Nope. I have to get to work and put out any fires Whitney might have set last night. You need to hold onto that lusty vibe until tonight, sweets.”
“You’re no fun.”
“I think I’m all the fun. Proved it last night.”
I shook my head playfully. “Nope. The belt thing was my idea.”
“Let’s call that one a joint effort. You only wanted to see me whip it off, I’m the one who decided to use it on you in a special way.” My hand clasped around my throat as if I could feel the phantom weight of the leather there. Another moan left me as the memory swamped me in a rush of hormones.
“How about we agree to stop talking about it until we can do something about it? The last thing I want to do is get you all hot and bothered and then send you to work with unnaturally beautiful entertainers who are used to seducing everyone in their path.”
Ridge chuckled at that. “None of them hold a candle to you, sweets.”
“They better not ever start.” It was on the tip of my tongue to mention his assistant as well, but I decided it was better not to put those thoughts in his head. It was bad enough that Moreland had placed a kernel of doubt in my mind about what Fiona might be up to with my husband.
I never doubted Ridge. He would tell me if she attempted to seduce him. We had agreed to full disclosure at the start of our marriage because I’d been a bit put off by the way one of the women he worked with had been a little too handsy with him at an event. From that point forward, Ridge had always told me the minute anyone did anything inappropriate. Not only had he told me, but he’d also immediately taken them out of his sphere. If they weren’t outright fired for inappropriate behavior, they were moved to a position that didn’t interact with him and given a stern warning about how any continued improper behavior would cost them their job or their contract.
As soon as Ridge left, I got up to dress because we only had a couple more days until the party and Moreland had to go back to Florida so that he could be on the ship tomorrow morning for muster. The couple days he had taken off couldn’t be extended because he was trying to save up time for his honeymoon with Gabby.
“Sorry,” I whispered as if my husband was still in the house and could hear me.
“He’s not still there, is he?” When Moreland whispered as well, I knew my anxiety had gotten the best of me.
I shook my head. “Sorry,” I said at normal level. “He went to work. When you called this morning, he picked up my phone, and I thought it was all about to be flushed down the toilet. He thought it was your mom, obviously from the ID, but I don’t know how he didn’t call me out. I started to sweat buckets that he’d pick up the call and you would answer. Then we’d have to lie about why you were at your mom’s house on a Wednesday.”
“It’s a whole lot of work trying to surprise a man who has his fingers on the pulse of an entire metropolitan area.” I could almost hear the way More must have grinned at me.
“No kidding. I hope I never have to do this again. Surprise parties are not as fun when you’re the one having to organize them.”
Moreland laughed. “Well, I need to get busy with the measurements, so you can be sure to have Dad and Uncle Rick put everything together for you.”
“Wait, why would they have to do it?” I switched us to a video call rather than audio and saw the way the smile dropped off Moreland’s face in an instant.
“I’m so sorry, Vi. You’ve worked so hard for this. Gabby will be here and she’s going to take video for me, so I don’t miss the bastard’s surprised face, but I got the call this morning.”
“NO!” I yelled. “You’re supposed to have two more weeks before you go out. What the hell happened?”
“We’re going underway earlier than planned. Something popped off and since we’re already scheduled to head out in two weeks for training exercises, the word came down that we would be the show of force needed. I can’t really say any more than that.” He laughed without much humor in the sound. “Listen to me trying to sound special. I don’t really know more than that right now. I have to be back tonight. I already had my seabag packed just in case, and Gabby is putting together the rest of my stuff for me. I’m so sorry, Vi.”
“Ah, well, not like you can tell the country to fuck off for your best friend’s birthday.” I had no business pouting when my friend had to leave his family, and his fiancée behind for who knew how long. The training exercises were originally only supposed to be six weeks long. If Moreland’s ship was being called to action, he could potentially be out to sea for six months or more. “Wait! You won’t have to postpone your wedding, will you?”
Moreland shook his head. “Let’s hope not. Gabby’s been a champ so far, but I think that might cause her to lose her cool for once.”
I glanced around the space. “Go on, get out of here so you can get back in time to throw the bone to your woman before you head out. I’ve got this part.”
“Are you sure?” I chuckled because Moreland asked as he tossed me the tape measure.
“Positive. Give Gabs a hug for me, and Moreland?”
“Yeah?”
“Please, stay safe and come back home in one piece.”
