Page 103 of Trade It All

No. I need walls. Land. A gate. Somewhere I can put my wife and breathe.

I pull up Coleman Raines because being friends with one of the best realtors in Chicago has its perks.

Me:

Need a house.

Secluded. Gated. Away from people.

Three dots appear almost immediately because apparently billionaires also don’t sleep.

A response comes through.

Coleman:

I have a couple. Sending today.

How fast do you want in?

I glance down at Maddie burrowed into my chest. As fast as humanly possible.

Me:

ASAP.

There’s a longer pause this time.

Coleman:

Yeah, we’re definitely meeting at the Reserve when you get home.

You don’t get to text like a serial killer and not explain.

A laugh rumbles out of me. Fair. Very fair. Before I can answer, Maddie shifts.

Her nose brushes my ribs. One hand slides sleepily across my stomach. Then those blue eyes blink open slowly and land onme. Still sleepy. Still soft. Still the prettiest damn thing I have ever seen in my life.

“Good morning, Baby.”

A smile spreads across her face. Not just any smile. That warm, secret smile that says she remembers exactly what happened last night too.

“Good morning, Husband.”

My heart nearly stops. Actually stops. That one word slams into me harder than every vow, every signature, every chapel light. Husband. I am her husband. I make some embarrassingly caveman sound in the back of my throat and haul her farther on top of me so I can kiss her before I combust.

She laughs against my mouth.

I kiss her anyway.

Slow. Deep. Possessive enough that she sighs into me.

When I finally pull back, I rest my forehead against hers and just breathe for a second.

“Say it again.”

Her smile turns sleepy and wicked. “Husband?”

I groan. “Christ.”