Our Rules

by Jennifer Kacey

  “Hey now,” Robin chastised. “Don’t damage the merchandise. I’m trying to steal her away from you. I could keep her as my slave for fettucine and cheesecake.”

  They all laughed.

  “I’m gonna get out of your hair,” Robin announced. “The wine is catching up with me, anyways.”

  Michael yawned and shook his head. “Don’t let me run you off. I need to shower.”

  “You hungry?” Tabitha asked. “We just finished putting stuff away. I could heat something up for you?”

  He yawned again and shook his head. Bet he thought that would get rid of the exhaustion climbing all over him. It was how he came home most nights after leaving the house at five. “Naw. I grabbed a sandwich after I texted you. Not super hungry.”

  “I’ll walk Robin home so I can see what she has to offer on the slave opportunity and then I’ll be right back.”

  “The perks are going to be legion,” Robin added.

  “We’ll see about that,” Tabitha challenged.

  “Sounds great to me,” Michael mumbled as he trudged up the stairs.

  Tabitha wondered if he really had any idea what he’d just encouraged.

  When he was out of earshot Robin turned to her. “I see what you mean with the exhaustion. Poor guy looked dead on his feet.”

  “Exactly.” They headed out of the front door and continued to the sidewalk. Darkness had fully descended but thankfully it was still warm so Tabitha wasn’t chilly in her dress. And slippers. “Which makes it harder to find a moment I want to waste talking about this when the time we have together is such a precious commodity.”

  At Robin’s front door, they paused and Tabitha gave her a big hug. “Thanks for tonight. I needed it.”

  “Anytime,” Robin told her. “And I still think you need to talk to him. Have to start somewhere, you know? Make it simple. If you don’t freak out, then he won’t freak out. Easy-peasy.”

  It was the truth. The wine she’d downed spoke up and told her to be brave. “Maybe I will when I go back. It doesn’t have to be some huge meeting or anything like that.”

  “Exactly. Just bring it up and go from there. You want more time with him, and if you’re not going to be my slave then I think he’s a great catch.”

  Tabitha laughed as she headed back down Robin’s steps. Halfway down she stopped and turned around.

  “What? Are you gonna be my slave?” Robin clapped her hands and did a little dance.

  “No.”

  “Dammit.”

  “I’ll do you one better. You free on Saturday?”

  “In the morning, I am. Roland is supposed to be home sometime in the afternoon.”

  “Perfect. I’ll get you the details.” Tabitha turned to go.

  “The details on what?” Robin called after her.

  “It’s a surprise, but you’ll love it.”

  “Why do I have the distinct impression I should ask a lot more questions about this?”

  “Bye.” Tabitha waved and drew a halo around her head.

  “Oh…Lord,” were the only two words Tabitha could make out before she started laughing again.

  Tabitha hurried back down the sidewalk past a few houses to get back to hers. She went inside, locked the door, turned everything off downstairs then went up, determined to talk to her husband. Being a chickenshit about talking to him wasn’t going to get her anywhere.

  “Micha—” His name died on her lips as she walked into the bedroom.

  He was completely naked…and out cold on the bed. It looked as if he’d made it into the shower and that was it.

  Tabitha shook her head and stripped off her dress.

  She got ready for bed and climbed in next to him.

  Automatically, he pulled her close and hummed against her shoulder before falling back asleep.

  Closing her eyes, she relaxed into him.

  Everything would be fine and she’d talk to him in the morning before he took off for work.

  Maybe.

  Chapter Six

  Tabitha

  Friday night.

  Six o’clock on a Friday night and she was home alone reading a book.

  Meh.

  Rereading the same page for the third or fourth time signaled that she needed a change of scenery.

  Maybe she could find a new crochet project. Meh, again. Restlessness made her shift her legs beneath her.

  After snapping the book closed, she tossed it on the end table next to her and stared through the living room into the open kitchen.

  She’d been home for over an hour.

  Michael had already texted and said he was going to be late. He’d sent a selfie of his head back, mouth hanging open and a snoring emoji. She’d smiled despite her restlessness.

  Having stopped on the way home at the grocery store, she knew what was in the fridge. Stuff to make ribs and potato salad.

  Glancing outside, she caught sight of the thermometer. Seventy-three degrees. Perfect to grill on the porch.

  For one.

  Meh squared.

  Hauling herself out of the oversized comfy chair in the corner, she trudged toward the kitchen in her caterpillar slippers.

  Cut-offs and a tank after work felt more than a little bit awesome. She wrapped her hair up, grabbed a clip off the counter and secured it in place.

  She just needed to do something to get her mind off…things.

  Yes.

  That was exactly what she needed.

  In the corner sat a CD player and she popped something in and turned it on. Loud.

  Music filled the kitchen and she took a deep breath, and another one.

  Everything was going to be great. All of the issues would get worked out as soon as she found the spine to tell Michael there was a problem.

  They could fix anything together. Anything.

  Maybe even tonight.

  Passing by the stove, Tabitha noticed the clock read five after six. If he was home in the next couple hours, they might even have a chance to talk tonight. It could all be over in the morning.

  She took another deep breath.

  That would be so great. Worrying— one thing she didn’t excel at. It tore her up and she was more than ready to be done with it.

  Other than the actual emotional conversation, she was totally on board with the plan.

  Sorta.

  Grabbing everything she needed to boil potatoes, she carried them to the counter, then picked up one of the largest russets and a peeler. She’d tried just baking them and cutting them up but they came out too dry. Asking her chef instructor had given her a different method to try, so she figured she’d give it a go. Singing along to the music as she peeled, the worries and disappointments of the week melted away a bit. Not completely. But it was better than it had been in a while.

  A squeak from the laundry room made her pause.

  She jumped when the door to the garage opened.

  “Honey, I’m home.” Michael stepped into the kitchen, holding his tie in one hand and a bottle of their favorite wine in the other.

  For two seconds, maybe three, Tabitha stood there with a half-peeled potato in her hand as she stared at her husband. The music blared through the little player and Michael turned down the volume a bit.

  “You’re home early.” Excitement filled her. “I thought you said you were going to be late.”

  “Surprise,” he added with the decadent grin that always made her heart flutter in her chest. “Happy Meetversary, take two!”

  No idea who moved first.

  Michael put the wine on the counter and threw his tie next to it.

  Tabitha chucked the potato and peeler on the counter.

  They met in the middle.

  Their lips collided and Michael picked her up. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and held on tight.

  Tears welled, so she squeezed her lids and laughed against his mouth.

  He turned his head and stared at her. “Are those happy tears, my wife?”

&nb
sp; “The happiest,” she mumbled and pulled him near again for another kiss.

  Drawing away, he looked into her eyes again. “I love you emotional for me. For us. Love that it overwhelms you. Best feeling ever.”

  Tugging him closer, she mumbled, “More kissing from you. Less blubbering from me.”

  His chest shook as he chuckled and claimed her mouth again.

  His mouth. Stuff fantasies were made of.

  His hands? Wet dreams in the making.

  He palmed her ass and held her tight. Tight enough she would wear his marks for several hours if she was lucky. A shiver ran up her back at the mere notion of his marks on her. More of that would be highly delectable.

  Tabitha tasted his mouth as if it were for the first time. “You taste delicious.”

  “Ditto.” He peeked over her shoulder. “Whatcha makin’?”

  “Potato salad.”

  “With boiled eggs? And pickles? And mayo? And it’s still warm? And mmm…bacon?” His eyes lit up and she laughed.

  “Of course. I know what you like.”

  “Mmm. Yes, I do believe you do.” He eyed her cleavage and her nipples peaked as he stared at them. “Point proven. Let me go upstairs and change and I’ll come back down and help. Then we can eat together and maybe watch a movie or something. Sound like a plan? It’ll be like our date last night, but I have my head out of my ass now.”

  “Sounds incredible.”

  He pressed his lips to hers one more time as he slowly released her body.

  Sliding down his hard length reminded her of how thankful she was to have him. To be as attracted to him after five years of marriage made her so happy.

  “Be right back.” One more peck on the mouth and he snatched his tie off the counter and bolted up the stairs.

  Tabitha wondered if he was really there or if he was a figment of her imagination and nothing more. Glancing at the counter, she stared at the Pinot Noir they loved from a small winery in Vienna.

  Reaching for it, electricity zapped up her arm as her fingertips collided with the chilled glass.

  Real. He was actually real. And he was home on time to have a do-over on their date.

  A smile stretched her lips and she hoped her face froze like that. She shouldn’t have been worried at all.

  And she was so glad she hadn’t said anything because he’d done tonight on his own and out of the blue.

  It didn’t take her half a minute to uncork the wine and pour half glasses for both of them.

  Yes, she did use their fluted wedding glasses.

  And do a little dance when she heard Michael moving around upstairs.

  Ecstatic joy bubbled inside her when Michael came down the stairs and his eyes lit up when he saw the glasses. “I remember those. One of the happiest days of my life. Truly.”

  Tabitha handed him his glass and eyed him up and down. Tank top, cargo shorts, bare feet. Damn. Comfortable at home. Nothing better. It took her a minute to focus. Cause…damn. “One of the happiest?”

  Holding up his glass, he waited for her to ting the glasses together. “Mm-hmm.” His gaze held hers as he tasted the wine.

  Raising the glass to her lips, Tabitha swirled the delicious flavors on her tongue. Perfection. Sweet, smooth, dry. Exactly why it was their favorite. “And what days have you been happier, my husband?”

  “Every day since.” His eyes deepened in color as he stared at her, and there wasn’t laughter swimming in their depths. No. Just love. Unending love. Sincerity shone forth as he leaned forward for another kiss.

  “You completely wreck me when you say things like that.”

  He set his wine glass on the counter. “Good. Love wrecking you. So much. Okay, El Capitan, put me to work. What do you need me to do?”

  That was another thing she adored about her husband. Even though they truly had a 24/7 dynamic, he didn’t use that as an excuse to shirk his duties to her as a husband or a partner. They did everything together. Cleaning, cooking, gardening.

  They were a team.

  An amazing one.

  Tabitha took another sip of the wine that had already begun to relax her muscles and lessen the tension headache lurking behind her eyes. “I’m all over the potato salad, if you’ll get the ribs ready for the grill. No need to turn the grill on yet, though, since I still have to cook the potatoes.”

  “Want me to boil the ribs first or just grill them?”

  “You’re the official meat man now. Up to you.”

  “You got it.” He turned toward the fridge with a grin.

  Setting her glass down, she tried to process her good fortune as she picked up her discarded potato and got back to peeling. “I have no idea how you got enough stuff done to leave early tonight, but whatever you did, I’m soooooo happy.”

  “Me, too. I hated disappointing you last night. Hated it. A lot. So, I worked through lunch and told another client his project would be delayed a day or two.” He moved things around in the fridge to get to the packages of ribs. He went about his task as if what he’d said was no big thing.

  “You did?” Talk about melt her insides.

  “I most certainly did. Mmm. Meat.”

  “Hold on. Wait. Does that mean you think you’re going to get more than your share of the ribs because you didn’t eat lunch? Cause if you do, then you’ve got another think coming, mister.” Tabitha washed off her potato and grabbed another.

  “But I’m hungry. Wasting away, even. Don’t you feel bad for me and want to give up your ribs?” His stomach growled as if to back him up. “See. Wasting away.”

  “You can have half an extra rib.”

  “What?” he groused in mock outrage as he picked spices. “I should get several extra from our sheer size difference alone.”

  Tabitha stared at the ceiling in concentration. “All right. One extra rib. Final offer.”

  “Final offer. You drive a hard bargain, ma’am. Sold.”

  “But I get more of the potato salad.” She grinned as he acted offended.

  “Brutal,” he told her with a shake of his head. After grabbing the rest of the things he needed, he moved next to her on the counter.

  Shoulder to shoulder making dinner together.

  Fuck.

  She’d had no clue how much she’d really missed him being home to do the domestic stuff together until he was back beside her. A huge amount didn’t even scratch the surface. Leaning against his shoulder, she took a deep breath. “You smell good,” she hummed as she breathed out.

  He kissed her head and inhaled. “Damn. You, too. Love how you put perfume in your hair.”

  “Don’t give away my trade secrets.”

  “Your secrets are safe with me.”

  And they were. Anything and everything she’d told him was safe with him. Even the hard stuff.

  She chewed on the inside of her cheek and tried to think of how she could bring up what had been going on in her head lately.

  “So, how was your day?” he asked as he flipped the top open on the barbeque spice.

  Later.

  She’d figure out how to talk to him about the bad stuff later.

  Tonight was for them.

  “Good. Busy as always. The franchise tax deadline is fast approaching and of course everyone waited until the last minute.”

  “Naturally. Which is why I keep my CPA on speed dial. She helps me with all of my financial planning.”

  “She does, does she? I’m pretty sure she had all of your taxes filed the first day it was open to file. Pretty sure she did that for you. At no extra charge.”

  He faced her with a wicked glint in his eye. “Hmm. I think you’re right. Maybe some kind of bonus should come her way.”

  “I’m sure whatever you think suits her level of customer service would be greatly appreciated by all parties.”

  “Duly noted. After dinner, we should watch a movie and I’ll offer my thanks as I see fit.”

  “How…intriguing.” She laughed and tossed her potato skins in
the trash. “And what about your day, my husband? Anything new show up on your horizon?”

  “Actually, two projects. Another military base project that I had an inkling about the other day from an email I received. But the second project kind of sprang up out of nowhere, and is going to be incredible.”

  The way he lit up talking about what he did every day delighted her. Seeing him happy was incredible. It fed her soul. Especially after he’d lost his love for creating at his former firm.

  “What is it?” Tabitha bounced across the kitchen to grab a cutting board and one of her knives with the rainbow handle out of the block.

  “Grab me a knife, too. Meat just has to rest till we’re ready to cook now. I’ll help you chop.”

  Grabbing a second knife, she got them all set to start cubing the potatoes. “So, what’s the project? The one you were telling me about in Jacksonville?”

  “No, actually. It’s another high-profile job for a museum in Beaufort.”

  “Oh, I love that place.” Beaufort was a beautiful town an hour to the east on the coast. “Which museum? Didn’t think they had much by way of art there.”

  “It’s the military museum. They need a new building put up and one of the higher-ups at Camp Lejeune is a benefactor over there and recommended me. They’re actually the ones I talked to yesterday, and I got completely wrapped up in what they needed. It’s gonna be an amazing property. I put a lot together today for what they wanted and sent them the preliminary contract. It was already signed and back in my hands before I left at six.”

  “Talk about being ready to roll.”

  “I know. No one’s ever that on the ball, but it’s privately owned by two brothers and they pretty much knew what they wanted. I’ll have to meet with them next week, which will be tough, but we’ll figure it out.”

  “Why tough?” They finished chopping and Tabitha got the potatoes cooking set another pot with eggs in to boil. She set a timer and faced Michael, who was leaning against the counter with his arms crossed at his chest.

  So hot.

  “They are unbelievably busy during the week with all the other projects they have going on. We already compared schedules and it didn’t go well. I’m only free in the afternoons between other projects and the construction finalizing on the new high school next week. They’re only free in the mornings because they have some kind of fundraiser planning committee meeting every night next week. We’ll work it out. It’s worth it. Super awesome project.”