Page 88 of Betrothed To Love

“Sweet dreams, baby,” I utter breathlessly.

“I don’t need to dream; my life is as sweet as I ever imagined. I love you, kyau,” he says, then kisses the top of my head.

“I love you too,” I say, meaning every syllable before falling into the most satisfying sleep.

When I wake up hours later, he’s already out of bed and divine smells coming from the kitchen fill my bedroom. After doing a full body stretch, I ease out of bed and amble into the bathroom, directly into my shower. I handle my dental hygiene, wash and moisturize my face, then hydrate my skin after my shower. I slip on my underwear, a tee, and a pair of shorts then follow my nose. My fine husband is shirtless and standing in front of the kitchen island cracking eggs into a small bowl.

“You’re up?” he says.

“You’re fine,” I respond and he grins.

“Is that how you greet me?”

“Yes.” I nod then walk over to him and hug him from behind. After planting a kiss on his back, I squeeze into the space between him and the island. He nods toward me, asking for a kiss, and I oblige. “Good morning, handsome,” I say.

“That’s better. Good morning.”

“You look too comfortable for someone who has to be at work all the way in Diamond Falls,” I admit.

“I’m not going in and neither are you,” he says. “Before you say anything, you only had two pretrial conferences. I talked to Kenya; she got two judges to take both. Your calendar is clear, Your Honor.” He kisses me again. “Duke is coming at eleven, so I wanted to feed you before he gets here.”

“You took care of everything.” I beam, so appreciative. I don’t bother to object either. I’m not really feeling going in today anyway.

“I’m just taking care of you,” he counters.

“Well, how can I help with all of this?”

“You can’t. Just sit your fine ass down and let your husband cook.”

“Well can I at least make us some coffee?”

“You can do that, kyau.”

I tap his chiseled chest and he lifts his arm for me to move. I step toward my coffee bar and add toffee infused beans into the grinder and press start. I prepare my cup with creamer, honey, and a splash of sugar-free caramel syrup then add just a splash of creamer in his cup.

“What smells so good?” I ask.

“My world-famous French toast casserole with sausage,” he says.

“World famous? That’s a high ass standard.”

“I can live up to it. It’s almost done. I just need to scramble these eggs.”

The coffee and eggs finish around the same time and the casserole is ready a few minutes later. World famous barely describes how savory, sweet, and delicious the casserole is. It practically melts in my mouth. He takes syrup from the pantry but I don’t use a drop. The casserole is perfection and doesn’t need anything.

When we’re done eating, we clean up the kitchen together. I insisted but he wouldn’t let me do it alone. Then I refill our coffees and we drink them snuggled up on the sectional in the living room. We enjoy the morning doing absolutely nothing. The television is on but neither one of us is watching.

“What am I going to tell Duke when he gets here?” I ask.

“The same thing you said at the debate. Nothing. That shit will blow over because Richardson doesn’t have any proof.”

“He has to have something,” I say. “I just don’t know what. Giselle’s system is top tier. Her niece is a cybersecurity genius and she runs all technology for Giselle. And Giselle doesn’t reveal anything. She doesn’t play about her clients’ privacy. So I don’t know where he got his info.”

“He doesn’t have any. Think about it; if he did, he would have revealed it when he had an audience. The debate was broadcast live locally. He had all of Crescent Falls tuned in and he only made an allegation. He’s bluffing. An attorney with a weak case bluffs. If the case is strong and you have the smoking gun, you yell that shit. He’s bluffing, kyau, but because I know how important this is, I have Max looking into it to confirm my suspicion.”

“Baby, you are?” I ask.

“Of course.”