“This is the part where you return the sentiment, Jay.”
“I’m in love with my beautiful wife,” she echoed, and he spanked her, making her jolt forward.
“Bad girl.”
Jay ducked her head but not before he saw the brief smile breaking through her serious appearance like a crack. And he thought:Got you.
They held hands on the way to the car. When he adjusted the rearview mirror before backing down the drive, he noticed her looking out the window and followed her eyes past the garden, to the bare, denuded earth. His father hadn’t seen much point in gussying the yard up for the deliverymen, and now the path was choked by weeds and native scrub. It had been like that for so long that he’d forgotten how it might look to an outsider.
“It’s not much to look at, is it?”
“No . . .” She looked from him to the window and back. “It’s pretty barren. It was like that even back then, wasn’t it? I remember it flooding whenever it rained.”
“You can do the yard however you want,” he told her. “The interiors, as well. I can give you the names of the people who did the furniture and the décor when I last remodeled, and we can sell any of the art you don’t like.”
“What? Oh no,” she said. “Nick, I was just teasing you about the jellyfish in the museum.”
“No,” he said firmly. “This is your house now. It should look the way you want it to.”
“I really don’t mind it the way it is.” She fidgeted with her broken purse. “I’d be happy to see to the landscaping, but you don’t need to gut your house for me to want to live in it.”
He wondered if he ought to reiterate that taking his money wouldn’t come at the cost of her independence. But then he remembered her words—you don’t have to give me things to make me like you—and hesitated.
At various office parties, he’d heard the society wives talk as he circulated the room. They turned their homes into passion projects, invested in their appearance the way their husbands did in mutual funds, and spent their husbands’ money just because they were bored. He was not entirely sure how to deal with a woman who didn’t want to spend any of his.
“You’re going to need a car,” he said eventually.
Jay glanced at him. “Yeah. I suppose I will.”
“Another Honda?”
She looked surprised. “I’d love that. Thank you.”
“You mentioned your license expired. We can get it renewed this weekend. Depending on how long it’s been, they might make you take the test again.”
“I guess that’s a good thing. I’ll need one with my new name, anyway.” She leaned back against her seat. “I should email HR today. Meghana is going tolovethat.”
“You’re a Beaucroft, Jay.”
“Your name can’t protect me from everything.”
“Then I will. You don’t need to worry, seriously.” Nicholas threw the car in park. “I’m going to take care of you. Say it.”
“You’ll take care of me,” she breathed.
He leaned over the console to kiss her and felt her lips part beneath his.Yes, kiss me, kiss me like you can’t get enough of me, undo me thread by thread until I just come fucking loose.
“You like that?” he whispered, and she nodded, looking a little drunk.
He ran his knuckles up her shirtfront before stroking her throat. He’d gotten so used to the necklace, it was strange to see her with her throat bare.I should get her a necklace.She gripped the back of his neck as she leaned away, her eyes unfocused.Collar her. Make her mine.
No one is ever going to fucking hurt her again.
“How’s my lipstick?”
Nicholas tweaked her lower lip. “All gone.”
“Shit.” She took a tube of lipstick out of her purse and begin filling in her full mouth with a dark plum. “You don’t have to wait in the car for me anymore,” she added. “People seem to suspect we’re together, anyway. I heard some people from Acquisitions gossiping about how you’re probably sleeping with me a few weeks ago.”
