Page 64 of Aldo

I stepped forward, reaching out my hand, and she smiled as she extended hers to clasp mine, letting me pull her closer.

The justice of the peace smiled and performed the brief ceremony. I slid my mother’s ring back into place on her finger, knowing Vi would add the diamond that I had bought her back with it. The large, four-carat cushion cut ring was on her right hand at the moment. The fact that she loved the small pearl ring more than the big diamond made me adore this woman more than I thought possible.

She slipped a thick gold band onto my finger, and I made a fist, liking how the weight felt on my hand. We were pronounced husband and wife, and I smiled. “Finally.”

I took great joy in kissing my wife.

My wife.

Such a small word for a person who changed my life and made me a better man. Who filled my world with joy and laughter and could brighten my day with a simple smile.

She was my world.

My everything.

And I would spend the rest of my life showing her.

VI

The sun was high in the sky, a ball of fire in the bright blue. I stretched out on my blanket, sitting up and shading my eyes, looking for Aldo. Sun glinted off the ridiculously huge diamond on my hand, casting rays on the sand. It was crazy and unnecessary, and I loved it.

Aldo came into view, and I tried not to laugh. This was his third time out jogging today. He’d gone four times yesterday. Plus, fucked me in the ocean, the hammock, on the bed, and once on the deck.

My husband was going stir-crazy.

The first few days were blissful. We stayed up late, making love, talking, walking the private beach. We went sailing, snorkeling, and napped in the sun. He tried parasailing and made love to me on every surface of the small beach house. We ate meals cooked by a private chef. There was a butler who brought fresh drinks and snacks to the beach house any time we called. Otherwise, we were alone. It was glorious. I read on the beach and by the pool, never knowing such decadence. There was nowhere to go. Nothing else to do. For the first time in my adult life, I had no job, no responsibilities.

By day six, I noticed Aldo was getting a bit restless. His jogs were longer. I caught him checking his emails while lying in the hammock, quickly putting his phone away if he saw me looking. He found an excuse to head to the main resort area and was gone for a while, making up the excuse of watching something on the screen in the lounge. I had no doubt he was answering emails and making calls.

Yesterday, he prowled the beach, jogged, swam. Made love to me until I was exhausted. But he didn’t say a word about being bored. The fact was that the man had no idea how to relax, but he didn’t want to ruin our honeymoon.

I watched as he headed directly into the ocean, diving under and swimming in the clear blue waves. I got up and joined him, floating around in the beautiful water. He swam close, pulling me to him and kissing me. I could taste the salt of the water on his lips and feel the heat of the sun on his skin.

“Good run?” I asked innocently.

“Yeah, it was great.”

“They have movie night at the main beach tonight if you want to go,” I offered. “Something different.”

He shrugged. “I’m happy here with you.”

“Anything special you’d like to do tomorrow? More parasailing? Go out on the boat?”

“Maybe the boat.”

“One last trip would be nice,” I said.

He frowned. “We can go as much as you want.”

I hooked my arms around his neck. “If there was something I wanted, could I have it?”

“Anything.”

“I changed our flights. We’re leaving tomorrow night.”

He gaped at me. “What?”

I laughed. “Aldo, you’re going stir-crazy here. If you keep jogging and fucking me to pass the time, one of us is going to end up dead from exhaustion.”