Page 78 of Pretend Wife
Moving Hayden’s arms from around my waist, I slipped out of his hold.
He made a sound of protest and reached for me again with his eyes still closed. “No, come back,” he said in the most adorable sleepy voice.
“It’s getting late.” I picked up the white button-down he’d abandoned last night off the floor and pulled it on. It fell to my mid-thighs, and the sleeves were long enough to completely cover my hands. It probably looked ridiculous, but it was preferable to putting yesterday’s dress back on… or walking through the penthouse naked.
“What are you doing?” Hayden asked, sounding much more awake than he had a second ago.
I turned around to find him staring at me with so much intensity it made my entire body warm. I raised my brows, waiting for him to elaborate.
“Fuck, you look sexy in my clothes.” The look on his face could only be described as hunger, and I estimated I had about three seconds before he lunged at me.
“No.” I took a step back and shook my head to emphasize my point.
He went still. “Why not?”
“Because it’s getting late, and I have plans today.”
“Naked plans?” he asked, cocking his head to the side.
My eyes dropped to his chest, to where the sheet covered his lower half. “Regretfully, no.”
“We could always change the plans.”
I shook my head. “Your brother is going to be here in approximately three hours, and I need to be showered and not look like I just had sex when that happens.”
“You’re choosing my brother over me?” He pouted, and I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled from me.
“Don’t you have work?”
“You’re really trying to get rid of me, aren’t you?”
I rolled my eyes as I finished buttoning his shirt. “Don’t be a baby.”
“My wife is choosing to spend the day with another man over staying in bed with me, and I’m being a baby for not liking that idea?”
Before I could respond, he was out of bed and scooping me up in his arms, not seeming to care in the slightest about his own state of nudity.
“What are you doing?” I said with a laugh.
“You said you needed a shower.” He carried me into his bathroom, which was significantly larger than mine downstairs. A wall of windows let in the bright sunlight, illuminating the double sinks, the mirror that stretched above them, and the large rain shower surrounded by glass walls.
Hayden didn’t put me down until we were both inside the shower. His fingers moved down the row of buttons on the shirt I’d stolen from him.
I swallowed hard as my eyes landed on his very hard, very ready cock.
“Hayden—”
“Shh. Let me take care of you.”
When the shirt was gone, he turned on the shower and warm water cascaded down over us. Hayden took my face between his palms and pressed a soft kiss to my lips.
“Mine to love and cherish until death do us part,” he murmured.
I melted against him, wishing more than anything that we could make it until death. And that death wasn’t right around the corner.
Hayden reached for a bottle of body wash and slowly lathered it over every inch of my skin, his hands gentle and caring in a way that felt new. I’d always known Hayden was protective, but he also had a tendency to be hard and demanding. Seeing this side of him was a privilege I wasn’t going to take lightly.
He dropped to his knees in front of me, running his soapy hands over my calves and feet, giving his full attention to the task and making me feel like a princess. Andfor the first time, it made me feel cherished instead of weak the way it always had when my family doted on me.
