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He’s everything I’ve fought against for years, yet here he is, the only man who’s ever checked in with me after sex and made sure I’m fed even though he can’t be here.

How did you get this all here? – Eden

I look at the pastries and breakfast buns, the coffee and the freshly squeezed juice, all in Grand Liberty Hotel branded packaging. Sometime between leaving and me getting up, he arranged for all of this to be waiting for me.

I called the hotel and sent Bennett to drop it off. Told him it was our one month anniversary. – West x

Is it? – Eden

I frown. Has it been that long? I should have been keeping track of this.

You don’t remember the date? Remind me to get it tattooed on your ass. – West xx

That sounds painful. And I don’t do pain. – Eden

Pain can be very pleasurable. You just have to do it right. – West

Is that a threat? Because it feels kind of… threatening. – Eden

Baby if I really let myself go, you’d be begging me to hurt you. – West xx

I stare at his message. I’m not going to lie, those words send a shiver down my spine. A delicious one, full of desire and anticipation.

I knew it! I knew you had a dungeon in this place. Is that where you keep all the bodies of your other wives? – Eden

You caught me. The door is behind the wine rack. The secret code is WESTABBOTTISASEXGOD37. Be waiting there for me tonight on your hands and knees. – West xx

I’m sure Bennett will love that. – Eden

Let’s get him a babysitter. Mommy and Daddy need some alone time. - West xx

If I ever hear you call us that again, I’ll be the one inflicting pain. – Eden

Promises promises. Gotta go. Meetings. You have the day off, enjoy it. I promise not to ruin the ecology of the island in the next twenty-four hours. – West xx

Have a good day. See you later. – Eden

No kiss? – West xx

What? – Eden

I’m over here giving you anniversary breakfast, sexting you during meetings, planning to rail you into next week... and you can’t even put one little x at the end of your message? – West xx

I laugh out loud.

Are you sulking? – Eden

No. I’m making a mental list of ways to punish you tonight. So far it includes my hands, my mouth, and a belt I haven’t used in a while. See you later. – West xxx

Okay. So now I’m blushing. And feeling more than a little overheated. I take a mouthful of the still-hot coffee from the insulated mug, then pick up a pastry, carrying them both upstairs. If I’m taking the day off, then it’s starting with breakfast in bed.

The bedroom is a mess, the sheets twisted into a ball at the end of the bed from our late night activities. I put my coffee and pastry down on the dresser and pull open West’s drawer.

And that’s when I see it. A glint of silver that catches the sunlight flooding in from the window. I lift up the pile of his perfectly folded t-shirts, to see the frame there. The photograph within. And my stomach tightens as the pretty woman smiles up at me like she’s delighted I’ve discovered her secret.

I’d forgotten all about this picture. He must have put it away the night I moved into his bedroom. Hidden it, really. Under all his clothes, like he didn’t want her discovered but couldn’t bear to get rid of her image.

She doesn’t look like West’s normal type. She’s not in a designer gown. She’s not tall, blonde, and taking Hollywood by storm.