“You’re staring again.”
I shake my head and clap Rafe’s shoulder. “I’m going to get another drink. Go find your date.”
By the time I make my way back to the dance floor, my wife has escaped the crowd. Not surprising. For a woman who likes to control everyone around her, I don’t think she loves crowds. Looking back on college, I’m not sure she ever has.
And I’m not at all surprised when I find her alone, halfway down a cobblestone path. The music is softer out here. The lights too. The moon hangs low above the rows of grapes, stars dotting the night’s sky. Though not a single one is as bright as the woman in front of me.
I step on a twig, and her head snaps my way. “Following me now, Adler?”
“Making sure you don’t get lost is more like it.” I move behind her and drag a knuckle down the bare ridges of her spine,stopping just along the twin dimples peeking out just above the dip of her dress.
“I love it here,” she muses. “Look over there.” She points off to the right. “There’s my house. Serena and I fell in love with it the minute we saw it.”
“Oh yeah?” I ask, pulling her against me.
She leans her head back against my chest and relaxes. “Yeah, I think I could navigate these paths blindfolded, we’ve walked them so many times.”
“Sounds like a challenge, wife.” I think I could get down with her and a blindfold.
She looks back at me, those catlike green eyes narrowing.
There she is... My favorite version of this woman. Quick wit. Sharp tongue. Ready for battle. This version makes me want to push every button she has just to fire her up before I fuck her senseless.
And there’s the problem.
We’re not supposed to do this.
Whatever the hellthisis turning into definitely goes against our deal.
Guess it’s a good thing I’ve never given a shit about playing by the rules.
Olivia pushes away and grabs my hand, tugging me behind her, forcing me to fall into step. The silence stretches between us as she guides me through the vineyard, navigating it in her ridiculous heels until we stop behind a small shed, shielding us from prying eyes. “Isn’t it beautiful out here?”
“It reminds me of the ranch. It’s peaceful.”
“That’s why we bought it,” she murmurs, and I stop, unsure I heard her right.
“You what?”
Olivia turns to face me, that soft smile back. “Serena and I bought it a few months ago. Before Vegas. The two of us andone of my other cousins. We pooled our money and bought it. The family that owned it were going under, and they were out of options. I’ve known the owner’s oldest daughter for a long time and made them an offer.”
“Seriously? You own this place?”
She nods as the breeze catches her hair, and for a moment, she doesn’t look like the little badass she wants the world to see. She just looks... happy. Relaxed. “Nobody knows. Just the three of us . . . and now you.”
“Another secret,” I murmur, fighting back the urge to touch her. “We seem to be keeping a lot of those.”
Her gaze catches mine as she nods again. Neither of us able to look away. “I’m getting tired of lies, Logan. I feel like I don’t even know what I’m lying for anymore. What’s worth it and what’s not.”
Still, neither of us moves.
Frozen in time.
In the moment.
In the truth bathed in a lie.
Maybe it’s the night. The wedding. The wine. Or maybe it’s the weeks or years of tension finally reaching a breaking point. Who the fuck knows? Maybe it doesn’t matter what it is. “What about us, Liv? Are we worth it?”
