“I booked you a pamper day.” She should get a pamper year for how much I paid.
Rose leans back as far as she can, which isn’t far with the wall behind her. “Pardon me?”
I smile. This is the wedding all over again. A tactic on my part. “I’ve booked out a salon spa thing for the day. For you. And the other girls.” I’m relying on Rose to make this happen too. I need everyone gone from the house.
“Why?”
“To pamper. Get your hair done. Have a manicure.”
“Right...” Her suspicion is warranted, of course, so manipulation has to come in here, and I will be shameless. “What’s going on?”
I make sure I appear offended. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, all of a sudden, Daniel can go to school, I can take him for pizza, and now I’m going off on a pamper day at a spa. So I’ll ask you again, my lovely, gorgeous angel-faced assassin, what’s going on?”
I scowl. Why the reminder of who I am? Stupid question. Fine. Here comes the manipulation. I pull away, solemn, and leave the shower. “I was only trying to do something nice for you.” I grab a towel and yank it down. “I know it’s not easy being married to me, Rose.” I throw it over my shoulders and tug it from side to side. “I’m trying here.” I finish drying and go to my closet, avoiding my suits, because they’re a dead giveaway if I’m dealing with business, and instead pull on some gray joggers and grab a sweater, grumbling away to myself. I still, my arms in the sleeves, ready to pull it over my head when I hear her behind me. I wait, looking out the corner of my eye, ready to accept her apology and her gratitude.
“Fuck off, Black, what are you up to?”
My head drops back. Why? Why, God, did you give me such an arduous fucking woman?
Because you need that.
On to Plan B. I pull my sweater on and down as I turn. She’s still naked. Wet. Pregnant. Her arms crossed over her chest, nestled between her boobs and her rounding tummy. I look at her tiredly, waving a hand at her magnificent figure, like,come on!
She just tilts her head and raises her brows. I roll my eyes and go to her. Plan B better work, because Plan C is the truth, andthatmeans our shower just now will have been the last time I fucked my wife. I take her arm and tug her to the bed, sitting her on the end and kneeling before her. And because I’m a cunt, I pull her legs apart and drop my mouth into her pussy, sucking on her clit on a salacious smile when she drops to the bed.
I work efficiently, slipping my fingers inside of her, hooking them up, making sure I get her sweet spot as I massage, bite, kiss, lick her nub of nerves, flicking my tongue quickly when her back arches and she gathers the sheets in her fists.
Okay. So this wasn’t part of Plan B but I’m not the kind of man to pass up these kinds of opportunities.
She comes all over my face on a high-pitched, broken moan, and goes lax beneath me. I crawl up her body and trap her beneath me, kissing her, sharing her release. “You need a wax,” I say, smiling when she snorts over a laugh. “It’s a bit prickly down there.”
Her head shoots back, her laughter addictive. I take the opportunity and pay some attention to her throat, her jaw, until I’m plunging my tongue into her mouth again. “Why would I want to go to a spa when I get all the pampering I need right here at home?” she asks.
“Can you trust me?”
She groans, and I know I have her. “Danny, please.” She holds my head and looks at me, and I hate the fear I see in her eyes. “Every time you ask me to trust you, epic shit goes down.”
“Yes, but we always come out the other side, baby,” I remind her, praying she hears me. I can’t tell her anything about Amber. She will lose all reason. “Today’s just meetings, I promise. James and Beau aren’t great. If she pulls one of her disappearing stunts again, it could fuck everything up, Rose. We’re getting somewhere here. Not only is she in danger every time she galivants off around town, but James is also distracted. I need his head on straight today.”
She loses all fight before my eyes and deflates. “You actually think Beau will accept my offer to be pampered all day? Have you ever met such an ungirly woman in your life?”
“True. But I have every faith in you.” I slam a kiss on her lips. “Make it work,” I say, nipping her lips.
“Yeah, yeah. What about Daniel?”
“He’s out for the day with Tank and Barney.”
She laughs. “Fucking hell, you really are desperate.”
“Rose,” I warn.
“Wait. Lennox agreed to let Barney hang out with Daniel? Even after the newspaper article?” Her eyes narrow. “What did you do to convince him, Danny?”
I smile on the inside. “I was as nice as pie.”
She snorts. “A British flavored pie?”