Chapter 1

ChapterOne

CHLOE

“I hate when you leave me,” I tell my husband right before I jump on him. He’s coming out of the closet with his suitcase, but he drops it in time to grab me. It’s not often he has to travel for work, and most of the time, I go with him. On this occasion I’m staying home, and I hate when he’s not in our bed at night.

His hands go to my ass to secure his hold, and before I know it, he has me pinned to our bed. I know I’m wrinkling his suit, but I don’t care, and neither does he. I could be covered in tomato sauce and he’d still catch me without complaint. I know because I’ve done it before.

It’s a hazard of being a chef, especially when I’m not good at keeping the kitchen clean. For some reason, I cook my best in chaos. I suppose there are a lot of facets in my life that can be that way. Thankfully, when I lose everything, Sawyer can always find it. He has a way with me that no one else ever has.

Sawyer gets me. From the moment he opened the door at the old brownstone, he’s made sure nothing gets in my way. He can fix problems I didn’t know I had, and I often think he’s too good to be true.

Our lives over the past three years have been a fairy tale, but there’s one thing missing. Neither of us ever bring it up, and I’m not sure if it’s because he doesn’t want to upset me or that I don’t want to pop the perfect bubble surrounding our lives.

It will happen in time, I remind myself.

“Fine, I’ll stay,” he says before claiming my mouth in a deep kiss. This could easily get out of control, and he knows it. I also know he’ll use any excuse to stay.

“You’ll do no such thing,” I protest. “It’s only one night.”

“A night away from my kitten is torture.” His mouth travels down my neck, and I let out a small moan. It’s getting harder to be reasonable. We both have responsibilities to handle today, and mine is to my family.

“I made a promise,” I huff because I know I have to finish preparing lunch.

When you come from a world where people have so much money, it’s the small things that show you care. It’s been three years since I moved to New York, and I’m still trying to get my stepbrother to like me.

Thankfully, there’s been some progress. I think one reason is because I married Sawyer and the other is Paul’s getting married now. I’ve been trying to befriend his fiancée Kelly, so I offered to throw her a bridal shower. My mom is co-hosting with me and is doing most of the planning, but I’m in charge of the food.

“I know.” Sawyer buries his face in my neck and takes a deep breath. He’s constantly telling me he loves the way I smell.

I’m not sure what I did to get him, but he’s everything to me. Before Sawyer, I always felt like a silly girl that was out of place, but he never made me feel that way.

“I’ll be busy with the bridal shower, so you go do whatever it is you do with numbers and Paul.”

Sawyer lets out an annoyed grunt. I’ve always had an odd feeling that my husband doesn’t like my stepbrother. Sawyer was closer to Brian from their little poker group and not Paul, but he knew Paul’s dad Bruce through work. Thankfully, Sawyer has always seemed to get along with my stepfather.

Whatever business deal is happening right now, Bruce and Sawyer are firmly behind it, but Paul is only along for the ride. Paul is going on the overnight trip, which works out since we ladies will be busy for the time being. They might as well go and handle the deal now while I’ve got stuff to keep me occupied.

“I’m going to miss your food.” The way Sawyer pouts is adorable. Everyone always laughs when he does it to me because they say I never get to see his ruthless side. The only ruthless Sawyer I’ve ever seen was when he made me sex-crazed until I agreed to marry him.

I wonder if he had any idea how hard it was for me to hold out. I was so scared because I fell so hard and fast. It’s silly now, but he swept me off my feet the very first day we met. He abandoned the poker game and was possessive of any of the other guys talking to me. We ended up spending that whole first night together.

When I told my mom about him, she was worried things were going too fast. He was older, and I was barely finding my footing in the world. Turns out, Sawyer helped me plant my feet.

“I made the whole menu for you to taste last week.” He’s the sexiest taste taster ever.

“I have to eat shitty plane food today.”

“Private plane food followed by some fancy dinner tonight,” I laugh while running my fingers through his hair.

“Still, I won’t go to bed with the taste of your pussy on my lips.”

“You had it for breakfast,” I remind him, still knowing that it doesn’t matter.

“I should have it for every meal.”

I wrap my legs around him as the feeling of need builds. “I love you.” I grab his face with both of my hands, and his eyes soften. Maybe we have time for a quickie.

“And I love you,” he says, and I close my eyes.

When we kiss I let myself get lost until I hear my mom calling my name. If there is one thing that can kill my sex drive, it’s her.

Sawyer frowns before getting off the bed and pulling me up with him. “Why did we give your mother a key?”

“Because we have a habit of ditching events.” My mom claims Sawyer stole me away and she has to at least be able to find me if she needs to.

“Or not having events at all,” my mom says before she appears in our open bedroom door. She’s never going to forgive us for not having a wedding. “Better hurry, Sawyer, or you’ll miss your flight.”

Sawyer doesn’t care that my mom is right there. He lays a kiss on me that makes my lips tingle for the rest of the day.