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“Let me get this straight.” A playful light glinted in her eyes. “You’re going to let me help and you’re going to trust me alone in our house?”
“Are you planning on digging through my underwear drawer?”
She leaned close and whispered, “Is that where you keep your secrets?”
No, those were all locked up in his head. “Please feel free to investigate and see.”
“It doesn’t bother you to have me snooping?”
To his surprise, it didn’t. “What do you think you’ll find?”
“I don’t know.” She plucked the opener from his grasp. “But everything about you is such a closed book I’m sure I’ll find the most mundane of things utterly fascinating.”
With a sassy wink she slipped from the car and collected her bag. JT watched until she’d sashayed through the lobby door before shifting into drive. He’d been married to her for less than twenty-four hours and already he was noticing cracks in his defenses. Sunshine was seeping in, illuminating emotions that hadn’t seen the light of day in over eighteen years. He felt lighter, more optimistic as if her positive outlook was contagious.
It took all his determination to put aside thoughts of his new wife and her unsettling effect on him, but by the time JT reached long-term parking, he’d managed to focus his attention on the trip ahead. Earlier that morning he’d had his assistant book a flight from Vegas to Charlotte. He’d decided to fly commercial instead of borrowing the company jet. He didn’t want his father to start questioning why he was traveling all over the East Coast.
After parking his car, he headed to the terminal. An email message arrived on his phone as he exited security. His secretary had forwarded his itinerary for the coming week. He was booked from Charlotte to Atlanta to Louisville and finally up to New York City. Four cities in six days. He hoped like hell it would be a profitable trip.
Five
As soon as Violet entered Fontaine Chic, she headed straight for her office. Since no one had called her in a panic, she assumed nothing earthshaking had happened in the last twelve hours, but she wanted to touch base with her assistant. Patty brought Violet a cup of tea and the previous day’s report. Violet crossed to the seating area near the window and sat down on the couch. A quick scan assured Violet that her hotel continued to run smoothly in her absence. Now to address the problem of convincing her sisters that marrying JT didn’t mean she’d lost her marbles.
I’m back.
She sent the text to both Scarlett and Harper and wasn’t surprised how fast the responses came.
I’m on my way. From Scarlett.
Give me twenty minutes and don’t tell Scarlett a thing until I get there. From Harper.
With a fatalistic sigh, Violet set the phone down on the coffee table. Exhaustion washed over her as her night of little sleep caught up to her. She let her muscles relax. Her head fell back against the comfortable leather couch. Almost immediately she was besieged by hysterical amusement. Had she seriously just married JT? Demanded that he give her a proper kiss? Not that there was anything proper in the way his tongue had coasted against hers. She shivered as the memory swept over her.
“I demand to hear every last detail immediately,” Scarlett proclaimed from the doorway.
Violet’s eyes flew open. She hadn’t even realized she’d closed them. “Harper said to wait.”
“You don’t seriously think I’m going to sit here in suspense for twenty minutes, do you?” Scarlett flopped onto the couch beside Violet and pinned her with a steely glare. “Spill.”
Now that the moment had arrived, Violet decided it was harder to justify her actions than she’d imagined. “I really think we should wait. I don’t want to explain myself twice.”
She wasn’t sure she wanted to explain herself once.
Scarlett waved Violet’s objection away. “What’s there to explain? You finally gave in to the chemistry between you and JT. Was it fabulous? Is he an intense lover? He has such great hands and those lips...”
Violet choked back a laugh. “Scarlett!”
“What? Harper will want to lecture you on moving too fast. I won’t get to hear any of the hot stuff once she shows up.”
“There is no hot stuff.”
“Really?” Scarlett’s face reflected disappointment. “I would have thought there’d be major fireworks between you.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“Then why are you blushing?”
Violet put her hands to her cheeks and found them on fire. “He caught me skinny-dipping in his pool.”
