Page 41 of All Tied Down

And I guess it can.

She’d been plenty of work last night, stress from the day making it harder for her to unwind, but I’m nothing if not dedicated to making sure my wife is satisfied.

And by the end of the night she definitely was.

“He’s planning all the public appearances we need to make,” I tell her, watching as she visibly deflates and makes a face. “Uh-huh,” I gloat. “Not so fun anymore, is it?”

“That sounds terrible.” This time the comment is directed at Theo who slams one hand on his hip and points an accusatory finger at us.

“You got real married and decided to stay and fake it for your reputations. So yeah, you don’t just get to stay home and have sex on every surface of the house.”

“Is he always this grouchy?” Emerson asks me and I shrug.

“Feels normal.”

“You don’t pay me enough.” He groans, looking up at the ceiling. I open my mouth to protest because I absolutely pay him enough, and he just bought himself something with my credit card and also I’m not that bad.

But Emerson just crosses her arms as she leans against the counter.

“What if we trade the second gala for a fancy dinner and you can tip off the media, or maybe there’s a ribbon cutting you can get us into with a sizable donation?”

She bats her lashes as Theo mimics her stance and narrows his eyes.

“And I should do that because…”

“Because I found out something interesting today.”

The words hang casually between them as I watch Theo’s mouth pull into a frown, his expression contemplative. It’s funny watching him try to fight this because more than anything, he’s nosey and there’s no way he’ll be able to make it without knowing.

“Like what?” He tries for vague interest but misses the mark as he leans forward expectantly.

“I need a deal first.”

“You don’t want to see Garrett in a tux at some stuffy fundraiser?”

“If I wanted to get off on him being in a tux, I would just ask him to go put one on right now,” she counters. Theo blushes, and hell, I’m pretty sure I do too.

But also, she’s not wrong.

The only logical question when Emerson Andrews says jump is how high?

“I’m starting to think you don’t have a filter,” Theo manages while she gives him a sexy smirk.

“I do have one, but I use it all day so you get the unfiltered version.”

“Lucky me.”

“Lucky you, indeed. And I think you’ll definitely want to know what I learned before leaving the office.”

“Ugh,” Theo huffs, uncrossing his arms and slamming his hands onto his hips. “This better be good.”

I can already imagine him mentally rearranging our schedule and filing through a million different events and local organizations to accommodate Emerson’s requests.

“Des is single and he finds your voice, and I quote, ‘quite pleasant.’”

This time Theo blushes furiously, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth as he dips his head. The information seems pretty mundane and I feel like I’m missing something.

“I’ll get with Des about the details for your appearances,” Theo says before adding, “and thank you.”