The last time I was in Newton Hills I was punched in the gut. It felt like a simultaneous blow to the jaw and nose the way my father delivered my inheritance news through his attorney.
It didn’t matter that a heart attack had killed him, my father tried to find a way to make me miserable even after his death. But the bastard wasn’t going to win this time.
I left Newton Hills with a plan that spit in the face of his insults, but I was returning with something far more valuable—I had Evie now.
My wife unlocked the door to her townhouse. It had been vacant for weeks. It was dark, but as soon as we walked through the door I was hit with how it still felt warm, like Evie. I laughed when I spotted the pillows everywhere.
“Do you want to pack these up and take them back to New York?” I jumped on the couch and half the pillows bounced on the floor.
Evie walked around turning on lamps. There was a glow in the cramped living room that we didn’t have in my warehouse apartment.
“I will pack up every single pillow and blanket if I can.” She grinned, dropping into the space next to me.
There was a stark contrast between how she lived her life and I lived mine. She wanted to curl up like a cat every chance she had. It was hard to ignore how adorable she was.
“I guess we should pack some of your other things too. I can hire a moving company.” I looked around. She didn’t have much furniture. It wouldn’t match a damn thing in the New York apartment, but it was convincingly Evie’s style.
“Really?” She smiled. “I would love to take some of my things back. I miss my clothes. And my pictures.”
“Of course. There’s plenty of room.” I had to fight the impulse to stake claim on every inch of the apartment. Evie was my wife. She lived there too. I had to stop being a dick about everything that was mine before she was in my life.
She sighed. “We should enjoy this for a minute.”
“Why?”
“Because my family is going to descend on us any second and this quiet isn’t going to last long.”
I laughed. “They can’t be that bad.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re cute when you play dumb.”
“Hey.” I attacked her sides, tickling her until she cried with laughter. I pulled her under me, covering her mouth with mine.
She moaned. It was enough to trigger my cock into action. I tangled my hands in her hair.
“Have you ever been fucked on this couch?” I taunted.
She nipped at my bottom lip. “No,” she answered. “I never have.”
I grinned, feeling the need to take my wife right here. “You know how our last night in Newton Hills was spent.” I raised my eyebrows.
The doorbell rang and we both sat upright, scattering pillows in every direction. The door burst open and Evie practically pushed me to the floor, scrambling to get to her mother and sister. Shit. I had to calm the throbbing pulse she had started before I could stand.
I watched as her mother and sister pulled her into hugs.
“Mama. Frannie.”
“Let me look at you. You’re so tan and golden.” Her mother stepped back and observed her daughter. “What have you been eating? You’re thin as a rail.”
Evie swatted her mother’s hands away. “I’ve been eating plenty. It was a tropical diet in Tahiti. I had lots of fruit.”
Frannie arched her eyebrows. “Are you already becoming a New Yorker? You look like one.”
“No,” Evie fired back. “You haven’t even said hi to Jeremy yet.” The three women rotated toward the couch.
I stood and walked around to the makeshift foyer Evie had created with a coat rack and bench.
“Mrs. Rossi.” I extended my hand. “It’s good to see you again.” I didn’t know it was so easy to feel eighteen again. Normal people’s parents could do that to me.