Page 39 of One & Only You

13

WYATT

My morning back to work consisted of attending two meetings. I was standing in for my father since he and Mom had decided to take a second honeymoon when I got back from mine. Instead of listening during the meeting, I spent most of the time thinking about Allison, looking at my Rolex, and counting down the minutes until I would be with her again.

To say I was caught in her spell was an understatement. The woman had me all discombobulated, and I loved every second of it. I had never felt this strongly for anyone other than family, and I trusted Allison to hold my heart and not break it.

By the time lunch came around, I was pulling out my cell and calling her. She didn’t answer, which I thought was strange, but instead of worrying myself, I finished my lunch and left for the day.

When I pulled into the attached garage, the lights came on, illuminating my small car collection. I hadn’t brought Allison into the garage yet, but once I did, I would let her choose any car in my collection she wanted.

“Honey, I’m home!” I called out through my house, loving the feel of not going home to an empty house.

There was no response, so I moved through the house in search of my angel and found her relaxing in the bathtub surrounded by bubbles. When I entered the bathroom, she turned my way and grinned. Something about her grin was off. Her happiness didn’t reach her eyes, and it made her expression look forced.

I paused on my way across the bathroom to her.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

She nodded, again her smile seeming too bright for her eyes. “Peachy. How was your day?”

As soon as she asked the question, she turned away and started turning the pages of the magazine she had resting on the tray attached to the tub. She had asked me a question, but she obviously didn’t care about the answer.

“It was good. Yours?”

“It was a bit boring actually. You have no internet in this house. We have to remedy that immediately since the cell signal out here sucks ass too.”

Again, she didn’t even look my way when she spoke.

“Baby, are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m sorry. I’m just feeling a bit off. I think maybe I’ll feel much better after my bath. Could you shut the door behind you, love? I just need a few minutes alone.”

I nodded, pretending my feelings hadn’t been hurt.

Once I left the room, I shut the door behind me and leaned against it.

She was different.

No.

She was the same as before we went to Bora Bora.

Maybe now that we were home and back to work, it was business as usual. Perhaps the small glimpse of Allison I had seen during our honeymoon was just a version of her on vacation, but that couldn’t be right. She hadn’t changed once we were home. Even this morning, things were still great. It was like she was two different people.

What had happened while I was at work to bring back her cool demeanor?

Was the magic of Bora Bora finally gone?

And if so, could I get that version of Allison back again?

If we had to, we would go to Bora Bora every weekend. Whatever it took. I loved her, and I wanted things to stay the same between us — no going back to the stiff dating and good night pecks. I wanted her passion.

I left her alone in the bathroom, standing outside the door for a few seconds before I went into the kitchen and started dinner. I usually had a cook, but I gave her a few weeks off to be alone with my wife.

I was just finishing up dinner when she appeared in the kitchen. She was wearing a black lace tank top and a matching pair of underwear. Long gone were the sweet cotton panties. Seeing her in the black lace, I instantly wanted the white cotton back, but instead of saying anything and dictating what she wore, I busied myself by filling our plates with chicken alfredo.

“He cooks, too. I hit the jackpot, huh?” she said, her voice sounding condescending and snide.