“I hope you two are happy,” she says. “As happy as you and Savannah were, at the very least.”
“Now, Mrs. Adams, you know that’s not a nice thing to say,” he admonishes.
She holds up her hands, the picture of innocence. I know she’s basically harmless, but that doesn’t mean I have to like the way she hits on my husband.
“Mrs. Adams?” I say. She turns her attention to me, and she looks at me like I’m a naughty toddler. “My brother across the street is real good with pickle jars, too.” I smile sweetly, and then I turn into my husband and plant a big kiss on his mouth.
Here’s to hoping that shuts her up.
Luke lugs the heavier bags upstairs and I take up our carry-ons once he opens the door. I immediately set to unpacking.
“What are you doing?” he asks.
“Unpacking,” I say. “Why? What does it look like?”
“Don’t you want to relax a little?” he asks. “Debbie’s bringing food plus Pepper by in an hour. We can do this later.”
I purse my lips and shake my head. “There are two types of people in this world, Luke. We have those who unpack immediately when they get home, and we have those who leave their bags untouched for days. Which are you?”
“The first one?” he guesses, and I nod.
“Good boy. Now get unpacked. There’s no relaxing until this is done.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he says.
“See? Prince Charming.”
He laughs as he starts separating his clean clothes from the dirties.
“Doing my best,” he says.
I stand and walk over to him. I loop my arms around his neck. “You’re doing great. Thank you for a wonderful honeymoon. It was the best one I’ve ever had.”
He laughs. “I know you’re just saying that because it’s your only one, but it was the best one I ever had, too.”
I smile. “That line is almost good enough to get you laid, but only after you finish unpacking.”
CHAPTER 8
When Debbie lets Pepper off her leash in the foyer, she bounds through the house and heads right for her daddy.
“Pepper girl!” Luke exclaims as she crashes into him. He laughs as she licks his face.
“Hey Pepper!” I say with tons of enthusiasm, ready for some puppy kisses of my own...but she’s too busy with her dad.
I roll my eyes, and Debbie laughs. “Just wait until you two have children. Same thing. Dads get all the glory.”
“You have kids?” I ask.
She nods. “My daughter is twenty-six and my son is twenty-three. They’re both still here in Vegas, so I see them often.”
“How nice.” I scratch Pepper behind the ears. She only comes to me for a courtesy pet, and I don’t get the same kisses Luke got. I’ll take it.
“Thanks for taking care of her,” Luke says.
“Happy to do it.” She smiles. “My house is awfully quiet these days.”
“You need a dog,” Luke teases.
Debbie laughs. “I’ll just borrow Pepper every now and again.”
We all watch as Pepper jumps on the couch, walks in a circle, and settles in for her afternoon nap.
“I’ve got food and groceries in the car for you two. Let me just go grab everything,” Debbie says.
“I’ll get it.” Luke moves toward the door before she gets a chance to protest.
“Congratulations on the wedding.” Debbie winks at me as soon as Luke is out of earshot. “I know you’ll take good care of my Luke.”
“I promise.” I hold a hand over my heart.
“You’re good for him. I haven’t seen him smile like he does around you in a very long time. Maybe ever.”
“How long have you been cooking for him?” I ask.
She moves into the kitchen, and I follow her. “Oh, six or seven years now I think. He and Savannah were married when I started.”
“How’d you two meet?”
“My husband was an assistant coach for years and years,” she says. “He’d have meetings with the wide receivers at our house once a week and I’d cook them dinner when they were over. Luke was always such a special boy. So grateful, so kind.” He comes back in at that moment with the food from Debbie’s car.
“You must be talking about someone else,” he jokes, and Debbie laughs as he sets the bags on the counter.
“When my husband passed, I quit cooking for the team. And then Luke offered me a job cooking for him,” she says.
“She’s like a mother to me.” He squeezes her shoulders like he’s giving her a massage. “Always telling me what to do.”
She bats his hands away affectionately, and I see more mother and son love between these two in this cute little moment than I did between Carol and him the entire time we were in Hawaii.
So Debbie is a mother figure. His teammates are like brothers to him. His coaches are probably father figures at least to some degree. Maybe he was born into the Dalton family, something he couldn’t choose...but it seems like he’s created his own little family when he was more or less exiled from his own blood relatives.
And now he has me. The princess with her trusty animal sidekick here to save the day—or something along those lines. I guess Pepper is more of a sidekick to him than me, but since I know the rules of fairy tales so well, it’s probably okay if I break a few.
“Are you hungry?” he asks me once Debbie leaves.
I glance at the clock. I’m still on Hawaii time, which means that even though the clock here says it’s seven o’clock, it feels like four. “Sure. What did Debbie make us?”
He opens the fridge, which Debbie stocked while we finished unpacking and started the laundry. “We’ve got chicken, burgers, spaghetti, chili, fish...”
“Spaghetti,” I say, and he takes out the container and sets to work on plating it. I grab some garlic bread from the freezer and get the oven preheating.
“What was your favorite part of the trip?” he asks.
“Definitely the wedding,” I say, and I pull apart the bread and set it on a cookie sheet.
“The first or the second?”
I glance up and meet his eyes. “The real one. The one that was just for us, and then the words you said at the second one, and then, obviously, the wedding night. What was yours?”
“All the sex,” he murmurs. “I want more.”
I laugh. “Way to beat around the bush.”
“The only bush I’ll be beating on is yours.”
“Whoa, Tiger,” I say. “At least let me eat first.”
He laughs, but when his eyes meet mine, the twinkle turns heated. “Refuel. And then you’re mine.”
He’s not lying about that. We eat, and I brush my teeth because who wants to fuck garlic breath, and then we meet in bed.
Our bed.
The bed we’ve shared so many nights already while pretending like there wasn’t this huge, beautiful thing between us—but we don’t have to pretend anymore. It’s still there between us, but we’ve both acknowledged it now.
And there’s nothing more beautiful than when my husband strips me out of my clothes, licks his way through my pussy as he sends me to heights I’ve never visited before, then fucks me into oblivion.