Violet
"Do you think you could come here this weekend to help me?"
"You know I prefer texts,” my husband's best friend, who also happened to be his cousin, said to me.
"I know, but I'll forget to delete them and if Ridge finds them…" I let that warning hang in the air for a moment.
Moreland sighed. "Fine. Gabby has a bridesmaid thing this weekend. She won't mind if I'm gone for a few days. What if he sees me in town?"
"I don't know. Play it off and tell him you wanted to surprise your parents with a visit."
More chuckled deeply. "Like he'd believe that."
"Do I need to tell Gale and Rodney how you feel about visiting them?" I asked, with a hint of a threat mixed in.
"Damn woman! No need to resort to blackmail. Keep your panties on, I'll be there Saturday. I still can't believe he hasn’t suspected something.”
It was my turn to sigh. "I think he has. Every time I have to meet with someone else to finalize things, it seems like he’s right there, leaning over my shoulder, and asking where I'm going and why I won't tell him."
"Sorry, Vi. You knew this was going to be a difficult task when you set out to throw a surprise party for the most in-the-know man in the world." He chuckled again, but I didn't find it funny.
My husband was making life very difficult. Once the party was over, I was going to require that he make it all up to me somehow. Maybe we could finally take that vacation we’d been talking about. Just the two of us, relaxation, and maybe with the lower stress levels, we’d finally make that baby we talked about trying for last year. I wished I could just tell the man and get it all over with. The secrecy and planning were starting to wear on me and cause more stress than I needed to be under. It was another thing for me to beat myself up over when another month passed and we still weren’t pregnant.
"It makes me feel guilty," I explained at the absolute wrong time.
"What makes you feel guilty?" Ridge asked as he walked into the room with his tie partially off. I looked up into his gorgeous sea foam-hued eyes as he closed the distance between us.
Shit.
I hadn't even heard him come into the house.
"Gabby asked for my help coming up with games to play at the bridal shower she's attending this weekend, but I spaced on it. Moreland just called to ask what was up with me." I waggled my phone in front of him, and as expected, my husband grabbed it out of my hand and put it right to his ear.
"What's up, man?"
"Jesus, you're like a fucking specter that pops up out of nowhere all the time. What if I was trying to talk dirty to your wife?" I rolled my eyes at More's joke. It was a testament to the man’s booming voice that I could still hear him clear-as-day without the need for my cell to be on speakerphone.
"She'd probably laugh at you, but if you need your ego brought down a peg or two, you could make the attempt."
"Nah, I'm just glad Gabs is easily impressed with the game I'm running. I'll leave high maintenance Violet to you and your devil tongue."
"Speaking of my devil tongue…" I could hear Moreland groan on the other end of the line as my husband waggled his eyebrows at me. "I need to go give my woman a proper hello. Later." He hung up and tossed my phone down on the couch.
"What are you doing home so early in the day?" I asked.
Ridge glanced down at the watch he always wore. His calendar was linked to it, so I figured he was double checking that there wasn't something on the schedule he needed to remember. "I blocked the afternoon off for you," he stated.
"For me?" I was shocked by that, though only because I didn't remember there being anything special about the day.
"Yeah, it's been like two weeks since your last period. I figured we could take advantage of the situation and see about making that baby this time."
"I'll never understand how you know my body, and its cycles, better than me. I thought husbands were supposed to be oblivious to that stuff?” I teased but shrugged as if I were indifferent to the fact that he was literally the best husband ever. “If you came home early to try to make a baby with me, far be it from me to complain about it."
I grinned as my husband removed his tie and began to unbutton his dress shirt. While it was only midday, his usually perfectly styled hair was a bit of a mess, as if he'd had a stressful one already. My otherwise put-together husband had a bad habit of running his fingers through his hair when he was frustrated. His beard was immaculately trimmed as usual, highlighting those thick lips of his that I loved to feel all over my body. It was crazy to think we were coming up on a decade together, nine years of that were spent married, and I was still just as crazy passionate about having his hands and mouth on me as I was the very first time we connected that way.
"You're so fucking beautiful, Vi. What kind of husband would I be if I didn't pay attention?"
I smiled as he leaned in and kissed me stupid. My husband was the sexiest man alive, inside and out. "We're going to take this to the bedroom, but only because I need room to move. I'm about to worship your entire body. Head-to-fucking-toe, my sweet flower."
