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“Thea?” William’s voice ripped me out of my obsessive memorizing of all of Archer’s features.
Tearing my gaze away from Archer and focusing on my husband, I wiped my face clean. “Yes?”
“Archer asked if you have questions for him.”
William narrowed his eyes, suspicious. And William suspicious was never a good thing. He liked to meddle. Especially if he knew I wanted something.
And if he knew how much I wanted Archer, he’d play matchmaker. He’d encouraged me to date since we first got married. As long as I was discreet so none of his business partners found out, I was free to see whoever I wanted. But there was nobody I’d ever been interested in.
“Nope. No questions.”
My voice came out squeaky, and I hoped he wouldn’t subject me to his interrogation later.
William stood up, buttoning his suit jacket. “Very well, then I’ll show Mr. Bennet around the grounds.” He leaned down to kiss my cheek. “Call me if you need anything.”
Nodding, I watched as they walked out. As soon as they were gone, I sprinted out of the room and into one of the sitting rooms. A huge window at the back overlooked the garden, giving me an unobstructed view of the grounds.
It didn’t take long for William and Archer to come into my line of sight. William’s familiar gait was a dance, his movements light. He looked carefree compared to Archer’s rigid, almost military march.
They were as opposite as two people could get. William was lean and obsessively practiced yoga, getting up early every morning to complete a session with his private trainer. Even when Ciel was there, he never skipped a workout.
Archer, on the other hand, looked like he’d been lifting a lot of weights, filling out his clothes to perfection. Not that I’d noticed. Much.
I watched them like the stalker I’d turned into, glad that the specially glazed windows looked like mirrors from the outside.
The pool house Archer would stay in was at the back of the property on the edge of the cliff, overlooking the ocean. I loved spending time in there, the large windows giving the appearance as if the room was suspended over the water. I’d also made it into my art studio. Archer’s arrival would mean I had to move my supplies into my room.
Since I only had one friend and no interest in spending more time than necessary with William’s business contacts and their wives, I mostly spent my days alone, painting and reading. It sounded great in theory, but after six years, it had become monotonous and lonely.
But I’d never fitted into William’s social circle. From the outside looking in, I seemed the perfect wife. But in reality, I was awkward when I had to chat with anyone at his business dinners, and I didn’t know half the stuff they talked about.
I’d never gone to college, had no skills. Even the trophy wives looked down on me.
William had given me every opportunity to go to college, but I’d been too stupid to last longer than a semester with each course I’d attempted to take.
I’d felt like such a failure that eventually I gave up.
“Honey? Are you in there?” William’s voice drifted through my thoughts. I hadn’t noticed them leave the gardens and him coming back into the house.
“In the blue room.”
There were so many rooms, it was hard to distinguish them. I’d given them all names based on the decor. This one had a specially designed watercolor effect on the custom-made wallpaper.
It was quite spectacular, but as with everything else, if you saw it every day, it lost its shine.
William sauntered into the room, a smirk stealing onto his face when he caught me standing in front of the window. “Archer is talking to the guys.”
Turning around fully, hoping I didn’t move too fast to avoid looking like I’d been caught doing something forbidden, I nodded at him. “That’s good.”
“Were you watching your new bodyguard? I didn’t think you cared much for him by the way you frowned during the meeting.”
It had been either frown or stare at him with hearts in my eyes. And that was one embarrassment I’d never come back from.
“You should know that he’s Everleigh’s brother. But I haven’t seen him since he left for college.”
William pulled me into his warm embrace, and I inhaled his familiar cologne that cost enough to feed a family for a month. “Is that going to be a problem? Do you want me to request someone else?”
Snapping my head up, I tensed. “Not at all. I just wanted you to know.” Patting his chest, I stepped out of his embrace. “Let’s get lunch. Maybe we could grab something from the Taco Truck.”
