Page 29 of Four Money (Ever and Always 1)

“You know how?” She grinned. “Let’s do that. I can help if you show me what to do.”

That sounded…domestic, almost fucking ordinary. Like something a boyfriend and girlfriend would do on a date. Sure, she was his wife, but he wasn’t kidding himself. It was in name only, so he should take the chance to play house with her while he could.

“You seemed to like the scallops at Kari’s party.” How the fuck had that only been a week ago? “Want me to order seafood? I make a mean rainbow trout meunière.”

“I have no idea what that is, but I trust you.” She nodded, then turned back to the part she’d been fine-tuning.

Could she really have that much faith in him after so short a time? They had spent every minute of it together and hadn’t argued once. It seemed almost too easy. If life had taught him anything, it was that they hadn’t run into the hard stuff yet.

That didn’t keep him from wishing things could stay like they were forever.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, he opened his shopping app and added the ingredients he’d need to his cart. On a whim, he tossed in a few candles and a nice bottle of wine to go with it. Spouse or not, Holly was his lover and his business partner. He wanted to make the night special for them both.

The next hour raced by as they tweaked another component he had already thought was as good as it could get, until she showed him differently.

Only Moose going nuts like he always did when someone rang the doorbell broke Trent from his focus.

“Ah shit, the groceries.” He jogged into the house and collected a bunch of bags from the delivery guy before kicking the door closed. When he turned, Holly was there, offering to take some and help him unpack. He let her, impressed again by how seamlessly they worked together.

It wasn’t long before she’d set the low table in the living room, lit the candles, and poured them each a glass of wine while he breaded the thin fillets and began poaching the green beans he’d gotten to go along with them. For a while she watched him as he lost himself in the motions, sort of like he did when they were building things in the workshop.

“Where’d you learn how to do this?” Holly wondered from where she leaned against the island watching him squeeze a lemon over the sizzling fillets when they were just about finished, golden brown.

“My parents had a staff including several chefs. I used to hang out in the kitchen with them when I could escape my nannies to see how they made stuff.” He shrugged. “Except once I saw how they lived and worked for what we took for granted, or a lot less to be honest, it started to feel wrong to enjoy their meals without pitching in.”

Holly brought two plates over and held them out for him to load up. “I think that’s really sweet.”

“It used to piss my dad off so bad. Especially because he caught me helping them out after it became apparent to us both that I didn’t give two shits about learning how to run his empire or shout at employees in business meetings.” Trent shook his head. “We really couldn’t have been more different. I used to wish I could have been the person he wanted me to be. But then I realized I’d hate myself too.”

“You didn’t hate him. And that’s why it hurts so much.” Holly carried their dinners into the other room and set them on the low table.

He was prepared to shoo Moose away before he stole her meal, but instead the dog behaved himself, curling up right beside her without even begging Trent for a morsel. Either he was sick, or he was as devoted to Holly as Trent was starting to think he could become.

They were as comfortable sharing quiet moments as they were during the exciting discoveries they made at work or while having sex. For a while, they ate, simply enjoying his handiwork.

After forking the last bite into her mouth, Holly moaned. “That was incredible. Thank you.”

“Any time.” Trent studied her profile in the warm, flickering glow of the candle, then followed her arm downward to where she was petting Moose. He’d never been so jealous of the mutt before.

And suddenly he knew that their evening wasn’t going to end with dessert.

Because he was still hungry. For her.

Trent reached out and took her chin in his hand, angling her face toward him so he could look into her eyes. Relaxed and satisfied, she was even more alluring than she’d been shaking her fine ass in that flashy dress the night he’d sworn he had to finally have her.

Holly was peaceful, steady, and someone he could get used to relying on. To partnering with. In all aspects of his life. Especially in bed.

Or on the couch, for that matter.

He leaned in and so did she. They met in the middle, lips on lips. He wasn’t sure how long they made out, but at some point he realized she’d straddled him and was sitting in his lap, his hands cupping her ass and using his grip to pull her tight to him.

His cock rubbed against her softness through his sweats. It wasn’t close enough to her.

Without thinking, he took the oversized T-shirt she’d borrowed from him and drew it over her head, watching her auburn hair tumble down around her shoulders and her perky breasts. And that’s when it hit him that they were getting naked, right there in the living room.

“We should take this to my bedroom.” He glanced over at the clock. “It’s getting late. Lorenzo and Owen could be home soon.”

It shocked the hell out of him when she didn’t immediately agree. Instead, she murmured, “Would you hate it if they saw us fucking? Like the first time, except…more.”

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