His answering chuckle held no hint of humor at my turn of phrase. “You’re know the area, you’re available, and have the right skill set for the job.”
“But—“
“My decision is final.” His tone hardened, and I knew there was no leeway this time around. Not unless I wanted him to think I doubted his judgment, which wouldn’t be wise on my part.
“Understood, sir.” I’d just have to find a way to make it work, but I’d worry about it tomorrow. Tonight I was going to focus on my husband.
Tossing my stuff into my bag, I followed my boss out the door and locked up my office behind me. It was still early afternoon, but nobody questioned me as I marched through the building and out to my brilliant red Audi R8. I’d purchased her a few months before meeting Alex, and she was my baby. I’d had to pull some strings to get her since the model was an extremely limited series. She was worth it, though. She went from zero to sixty in 3.1 seconds, handled fast corners with precision, and was as suitable for the race track as it was for the streets. Alex had given me a bit of a hard time over it, citing safety issues, but I hadn’t been willing to budge, pointing out it had been outfitted with a race-package option that included a full roll cage, a fire extinguisher, and four-point seat belts.
Starting the engine, I took a moment to enjoy the power of my little beauty for a moment before peeling out of the parking lot. After a quick stop at the store, I was home making dinner for my man, in a house complete with a white picket fence and gourmet kitchen. Four years ago, I had been certain this was the last thing I wanted for myself. Meeting Alex changed everything for me. I knew with my first glance at him that I’d end up in his bed. He was ruggedly handsome, six feet and two inches of lean muscles wrapped in a suit which had to have been designed to fit his body. His dark hair had been cropped close to his head back then, and the dark stubble on his face accented his chiseled features. It also made my inner thighs tingle at the thought of that stubble rubbing against the sensitive skin there. His charm was lethal, and it didn’t take long for my heart to fall right along with my body as I tumbled into bed with him.
I’d been wrapping up an assignment and hadn’t been looking for anything serious, but he had swept me off my feet. A week-long vacation to Fiji with an itinerary full of hot and sweaty sex, with all the orgasms a woman could hope for, left me wanting more of Alex. My employer had been pushing me for months to accept a transfer to D.C. so when I learned Alex lived there, I got the ball rolling to make the change. Alex’s offer to move in with him told me he wanted this as badly as I did. Three months later, we were married. Ours was the epitome of a whirlwind courtship, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I was well aware things could change in the blink of an eye, and I refused to waste any time when it came to starting my life with Alex.
Glancing down at my hand, my engagement ring sparkled in the sunlight streaming through the windows. The huge diamond in the middle was flawless, but it was the rubies on either side of it which drew my eye, as they always did. Alex couldn’t have known how appropriate the ring was for me when he’d picked it out, but I’d taken the scarlet red gems as a sign that our marriage was meant to be and threw caution to the wind for the first time in my life. It was a decision which brought me more happiness than I ever thought I’d have. I had an amazing husband who adored me and made my heart race, the same way it had done from the very beginning. The only thing that was missing from the perfect image of the cliché housewife was my flat stomach. I wasn’t barefoot and pregnant. Not yet anyway.
My hand slid down the apron I was wearing, over my belly, and an idea jumped into my head. Time was short if I was going to pull it off since Alex would be home any minute. Racing into our bedroom, I stripped out of the dress slacks and blouse I’d worn into the office. Striding into the walk-in closet, I tossed the dirty clothes into the basket for dry cleaning—a habit Alex had helped me develop with inventive rewards involving orgasms—and pulled a white teddy, thong, garter, and hose from one of my dresser drawers.
Changing into the lingerie, I caught my image in the floor-length mirror Alex had installed and grinned at the wicked gleam in my eyes and the flush on my cheeks. Wrapping the apron back around my body and tying it into place, my grin turned into a satisfied smirk. Alex was sure to take the phrase on the front of the apron seriously. Kiss the cook indeed.
At the sound of the garage door going up, I stepped into a pair of four-inch sling back heels and headed for the kitchen. It was a good thing I could run in heels because I had just reached the counter and started chopping vegetables for the salad when Alex walked through the door connecting the garage and kitchen.
“Evie, baby, I’m—“
Thunk.
I looked over my shoulder and found Alex stripping out of his suit, with his briefcase on the floor beside him. His suit coat was next to it, and his shoes were kicked to the side. I blatantly stared as he unbuttoned his shirt, letting it drop to the floor as he stalked towards me. He unbuckled his belt, flicked open the button on his pants, and lowered his zipper in the time it took him to reach me. He stopped about a foot away from me, his gaze raking me from head to toe.
“Welcome home, stud.”
He closed the gap between us, his body flush against mine as he untied the apron and let it drop to the floor. “Did I miss a special occasion? Anniversary? Birthday?”
Like he’d ever miss anything so important. My hubby had a mind like a steel trap and never failed to spoil me rotten when the occasion called for it—or when it didn’t. “Nope,” I answered. “I just thought it was worth a little extra effort to welcome you home since we haven’t seen each other in two weeks.”
“A little extra effort?” He tilted his body away from mine and trailed a finger down a bra strap, along the top of the cup hugging my breast, and underneath the front clasp. His thumb slid over it and with a flick of his fingers, it opened. “Cooking me dinner might qualify as little, but doing so in nothing but lingerie, heels, and an apron is going above and beyond the call of duty. And that’s before factoring in your choice of color. You know how much I love to see you in white.”
I made a big show of glancing down at his hands which were kneading my tits while my bra hung open. “Almost as much as you like to see me out of it.”
“Can you blame me? How is it that you look even more gorgeous now than the day I met you?” His breath was hot against my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. “It shouldn’t be possible when you were already the most beautiful woman on the planet.”
I slid my palms up his chest, enjoying the feel of his taut skin and firm muscles, before wrapping my arms around his neck. “I guess I’m one of the world’s great mysteries.”
“You know I like to solve mysteries,” he quipped. It was true, he was quick to find solutions—faster even than most of the analysts I worked with. “I better do some in depth research to figure this one out.”
I held on tightly as he lifted me up onto the counter. “You’re going to need to dig deep, stud.”
“The deeper, the better, right?”
“Always,” I breathed against his lips.
“What about dinner?”
“I made something that would keep for later.”
“My smart woman,” he murmured against my skin, right before his lips wrapped around my nipple. His tongue and teeth worked together to torture me as he toyed with my breasts. Biting, licking, and sucking until I was writhing in need and spread out on our kitchen counter. When he trailed his fingers down my stomach, I shivered in anticipation. They slid over my panties, moving lower to grip my thighs and push them farther apart. Positioning himself between my legs, he bent low and licked from one knee, along the sensitive skin of my inner thigh, and up to the seam of my panties. When he moved his head away to repeat the process with the other leg, I moaned in protest.
“Don’t tease me, Alex. It’s been too long.”
“Are you on edge, baby?”
“Yes,” I hi
ssed as his fingers teased along the edge of my panties.
“You want to come on my fingers or my mouth first?”
“Fingers,” I bit out. “Then your mouth. And your cock after that, as long as you’re asking.”
“Greedy girl,” he chuckled, one long finger sliding under my panties to dip inside me.
“Only for you, stud.” There wasn’t anything in the world I craved more than Alex.