One Hot Fake

“We’re never going to get there at this rate,” Marian says.

“We have all night,” I tell her.

She sighs deeply. Happily. Like a woman who is exactly where she wants to be. That makes me happy. We finally reach the landing, and I carry her into her bedroom and kick the door behind us.

I lay her gently on the bed and strip off my clothes before joining her.

“This is hot,” Marian says, wrapping her arms around my neck.

“What is?” I murmur as I trail kisses on her neck.

“Being fully clothed while my man is completely naked,” she says with a laugh.

My man. The words keep replaying in my mind as I make sweet love to my wife.

Chapter 38

Declan

One moment I’m dead asleep, and in the next, a light is burning my eyelids. I struggle to open my eyes.

“Wake up, handsome,” Marian says from somewhere at my side. “Today is the big day.”

The grand opening. I open my eyes and grin. I begin to move, and every muscle in my body aches.

“What did you do to me in the night?” I ask as I reach for and pull her warm naked body close.

She giggles. “Other than the usual, you mean?”

“How can you look so fresh when we went to bed at the same time?” I groan.

We had stayed at the pizza shop until midnight, ensuring that everything would be ready for the grand opening today. We’ll throw the doors open at eleven in the morning. All the hard work has culminated at this moment.

“I’ve never been to a grand opening,” Marian says. “I’m so excited.”

“You have work in the morning,” I remind her. She has a few appointments that she was unable to reschedule.

“I wish I were coming straight to the shop,” she says.

“We did everything last night,” I tell her. “You’re awesome,”

“Thanks,” she says and sits up. “And now, we do need to get up. This day is going to be great.”

I love Marian’s outlook on life. She’s completely back to herself now. A couple of weeks ago, she was stressed, but that’s all gone now, and she seems happy with our lives.

We shower together and afterward, go to our respective bedrooms to dress. I put on a company-branded button-down shirt and black trousers. Marian whistles when she comes into the kitchen where I’m making coffee.

“I love that look,” she says. “I want a branded top as well.”

“I’ll have one custom made for you,” I tell her. “Two. One to wear only at home.”

She giggles as she takes her coffee. “And what will be the design for the home one?”

“Mmm, for starters, it will be tight,” I say. “I’d like it to come up to here.” I draw an imaginary line across her chest, just below her nipples.”

She laughs and cocks her head. “I love how cool and calm you are about such an important day. Does nothing faze you, Mr. Carter?”

“We’ve done the very best we can, and everything’s in place. That’s not to say that nothing will go wrong, but we’ll deal with whatever comes up.”

We chat a bit more about work, and then it’s time to go. We stand outside the front door to hug, and then Marian goes to her car, and I go to mine. Ace calls while I am on the way. He wants to know if I need him and Lexi to come in early.

“Everything’s under control,” I tell him. “Thanks for the offer, guys.”

Adrenaline flows through me as I near the pizza shop. I catch sight of the decorations already put up at the entrance. I park in my usual spot and hurry to the front, where I pause for a few seconds to revel in the moment.

I remember the grand opening of the pizza shop in Santa Monica. Ace had been in Afghanistan, and my father had not had the stroke then. My parents had attended the opening as well as Park and Rachael.

Lexi had been heavily pregnant, and Ace had not even known that he had a baby on the way. How things changed in just a few years, I muse.

I don’t expect my parents to attend the opening. My mother and I haven’t spoken since I threatened to cut her off from my life. Park and Rachael will be here, of course, and so will Ace, Lexi, and Vanessa. As well as the guys from the fire station.

I’m greeted by the usual chaos of an operational pizza joint when I step through the doors. I grin at the colorful red, yellow, and white balloons and decorations hanging from the roof.

“It’s finally here, boss,” my manager says.

I grin and playfully punch his shoulder. “We did it.”

It had been a journey. Finding the perfect location, getting permits, hiring, and training staff …

For the next three hours, I’m all about overseeing the prep work of the pizzas. It’s going to be a madhouse later if our estimates of the people who’ll come are correct.