“I knew you liked me being bossy.”
I saw her delicious deviant spirit dance behind her eyes, before she smiled and gave a little shrug. “I think I like knowing you can handle me . . . and still be in control.”
“Say it again,” I said, pulling her close.
“No.”
At that, I tickled her sides as she squealed, rubbing her perfect ass on my lap. I pulled her in for another kiss before I started getting us dressed.
“Let’s go to bed, and I can show you who’s in charge there, too.”
Tonight I intended to make her come all night long before we fell asleep, tangled in each other.
But tomorrow, I would begin dismantling Whitaker.
29
BELLE
It felt strange to have a good day. Not a dramatic day. Not an emotionally fraught day. Not a day balanced on the edge of bills or grief or secrets.
Just . . . good.
I finished my physical therapy exercises in the morning, took my time in the kitchen experimenting with a lemon tart that may or may not have required more sugar, and then wandered the house with nowhere pressing to be.
For so long, my life had been measured in survival increments. Coffee until shift. Shift until shift. Visit Dad. Count dollars. Repeat.
Now there were pockets of stillness, and I didn’t quite know what to do with them. So I decided to do something indulgent.
I put on a swimsuit. I looked at myself in the mirror in my room. I loved this structured cherry-covered swimsuit. And while I am not a woman who gets hung up on the curves and stretch marks on my body, actually liking how you look in a swimsuit is another step entirely.
The pool sat at the edge of the bluff overlooking the river, sunlight flashing against the water like scattered diamonds. Theair was warm but not oppressive, a soft breeze moving through the trees.
I slid into the water slowly. It wrapped around me, cool and forgiving. I floated onto my back and let the sky fill my vision.
This is absurd, I thought. Just a few months ago, I was brushing my teeth in a gym bathroom. Now I was floating in a pool at a mansion. Life is ridiculous.
I swam lazy laps for a while, feeling my knee stretch without strain. It wasn’t perfect yet, but it was strong. Mine again.
The back door opened. I didn’t have to look to know it was him. Raph had a way of carrying his presence like gravity.
“You are supposed to be resting,” he called out mildly.
“I am resting.”
“That is swimming.”
“Look at me,” I said, still floating on my back. “It doesn’t get much more relaxing than this.”
He stood at the edge of the pool, sleeves rolled, tie already loosened. His hair was slightly wind-tossed from the river breeze.
“You could slip,” he said.
“I am in water.”
“You could slip exiting the water.”
I grinned, turning myself upright and resting my arms on the edge near him. “Are you always this dramatic?”
