Page 167 of Bad Run

Shaking my head, I step back.

“Don’t.”

“Then I guess you’re going to have to catch me to stop me.” I’m already running before I finish my sentence.

“When I catch you, I’m going to punish you,” he growls from behind me.

Fear and lust spike my adrenaline as I reach the pool house, twisting the knob and wrenching open the door. The room is dark, but it doesn’t hide the clutter.

Lance wraps his arms around my waist, tugging me back against his naked chest.

“Why is this place filled with furniture?”

“Shit,” he grunts.

“Just be honest,” I beg. Nothing is making sense.

He spins me around. “I lied.”

“I don’t like that.” I push him back and cross my arms over my chest, waiting for him to explain.

“It’s not that big a deal, okay? I just lied about all the guest rooms not being furnished.”

“Wait, what? If the bedrooms had furniture, then why is it all out here?”

Lance sighs. “Because I didn’t want you sleeping in a separate bedroom. I wanted you to sleep in my bed. With me.”

Schooling my features as all the details fall into place, I glance up at my husband. “Let me get this straight. You emptied all the bedrooms so I would be forced to share your room?”

“Yes.” His admission makes my heart flutter behind my ribcage.

“Why?” I ask. I have an idea, but I want to hear him confirm it.

“To make you fall in love with me,” he states with a straight face.

My mind goes back to the day we met at the donut shop, and I wrote the list of rules for our marriage. “Did you plan this before or after we met up to talk about the proposal?”

“Does it matter?”

“It matters to me.”

He eyes me warily but eventually gives in. “Before. The moment I proposed, everything changed. Our marriage has been real to me from the start.”

His confession fills my heart with love, making it grow three sizes in my chest. If he can give me his truth, then I can give him mine.

“I wanted it to be real too.” I admit.

“You did?”

How did he not know?

Closing my eyes, I pinch the bridge of my nose and breathe through my nerves. My heart races, and my palms get clammy. “Lance, before we met, I had the hugest crush on you. Then we shared that one night, and I was a goner. I have wanted you for so long. I only put distance between us because I was afraid of getting hurt and losing you.”

“You could never lose me, little witch. I told you, you cast a spell on me and now I’m yours forever.”

“And I’m yours.”

“Yeah, you are, Mrs. Taylor.” His eyes sparkle in the moonlight as he grabs my butt and lifts me in the air, my arms and legs circling his large frame. Our centers align, and I can feel his semi-hard cock caught between us. “I have one more confession to make.”