“Show them where to go,” Rule instructed me.
Because it looked like they had the difficult part taken care of, I led the way.
* * *
Rule
After Laikyn’s things were delivered and aftereveryone left for the evening, I found myself alone in the house.
Laikyn had disappeared into her bedroom a couple of hours ago, and Jinx had remained out by the pool, where he spent a good amount of time on any given day. Although tempted, I resisted the urge to talk to him about what I’d witnessed earlier. My eyes hadn’t been playing tricks on me when I saw him watching Laikyn. First in the kitchen over breakfast, then after the brief ceremony this afternoon. I rarely saw Jinx interested in anyone, so I immediately picked up on it.
I couldn’t really blame him, though, could I? There was something uniquely enchanting about Laikyn Quinn. It was more than skin deep. Her zest for life, despite the obstacles in her path, was impossible to ignore. There hadn’t been a moment of awkwardness all day, as though she’d been here for a year, not a few hours. She fit right in, giving as good as she got, and I wouldn’t pretend I wasn’t even more fascinated by her. In fact, I’d felt like a piece was missing ever since she’d excused herself to her bedroom. I wasn’t sure what she was doing, nor did I want to interrupt. I was trying to be respectful of her privacy, but I had things to do. The only reason I wasn’t out taking care of business was because she told me last night that she wanted the details of her kidnapping. I figured it was a conversation that needed to occur sooner rather than later, so I was waiting around.
Unfortunately, I didn’t do well with idle time, so at a quarter to eight, I decided to go to her.
I knocked on her bedroom door, prepared to wait.
“Come in.”
Not one to hesitate, I opened the door, and as soon as I saw her, it was as though I was doing it for the first time. The same thing had happened that morning. Looking at Laikyn was like seeing the sunrise for the very first time or feeling the static electricity from lightning. It was a magnificent jolt to the senses because it felt ethereal and brief.
From the first photo I saw of her, I’d been fascinated by her. She reminded me of a butterfly, the way she had morphed into this sassy, sexy young woman. Marrying her was likely the dumbest thing I’d ever done, but I couldn’t bring myself to regret it. I was doing this for her, even if she would never understand my reasons.
Laikyn was standing at an easel with a pencil in her hand. Her long dark hair, sprinkled with a multi-hue of colors, hung between her shoulder blades, forming a sharply cut V that seemed to point directly at her delectable ass encased in a pair of black cotton shorts. Her black tank top had risen on the right side, giving a glimpse of the curve of her waist. When she turned to face me, my eyes shifted to her breasts before I forced them to her face.
This was the stupidest thing I’d ever done in my life. No sane man would bring a temptation as sweet as this one into his life. Not willingly. Yet here she was.
“What do you think?” she prompted as she stepped aside.
I realized she was referring to the drawing she’d been working on.
She smiled as I moved closer. “I figured we needed to capture the moment somehow.”
I kept moving until I was beside her, although I didn’t recall giving my legs direction to do so. She’d drawn a picture of the two of us on a large white canvas. Shoulders and above, looking at one another. Her attention to detail was extraordinary, from the curve of her jaw to the deep set of my eyes. I wasn’t sure how she managed to do it. Somehow, she’d captured every emotion I’d pretended I hadn’t felt during that brief civil ceremony when our lives had become irrevocably intertwined.
“It’s…”
Laikyn chuckled. “You don’t have to be nice. My mother tells me all the time—”
“It’s incredible,” I interrupted, unable to look away. I couldn’t explain what the draw was about it, but I was lost for a moment, recalling the words we’d exchanged. There had been nothing heartfelt about that brief moment in time, yet there was a foreign connection in there somewhere, and she’d somehow captured it in the drawing.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her attention shifting to the canvas. “I call it two souls brought together by chance.”
“Chance had nothing to do with it,” I muttered, then cleared my throat because I damn sure hadn’t meant for the words to come out.
When I looked at Laikyn, she was staring at me, her pretty pink lips parted, her green eyes round with wonder. I didn’t like looking at her because she was so beautiful, I felt an ache in my chest when I did. It made no sense at all and had no bearing on what we were doing here, but it couldn’t be helped.
“Did you need something?” she finally said, laying the pencil on an open black case on the nightstand.
“You can use the rec room,” I told her, nodding toward the canvas. “If you want more room to spread out. It’s air-conditioned.”
She smiled. “Thanks.”
I slid my hand through my hair and stepped back toward the door. “You said you wanted to know the details about the kidnapping.”
“Yeah. I … uh…” She glanced down, wringing her hands. “I don’t know if I can handle that right now. I mean, it is my wedding day. Why ruin it?”
I waited for her to look at me. When she did, I felt the full effect of her beauty somewhere in my chest.
