Chapter 42
CHAPTER 42
S HANNON
“All I’m asking is that you think about it.” I grin while I pour myself—and my husband—a cup of coffee and listen to Lincoln try to convince the group of men to get on board with his latest crazy idea. “There’s seven of us. We divide the rent by all of us and it’s very manageable. We could have a poker table in one room, clear all the furniture out of the living room, and get one of those yard-sized Yahtzee games to play in there...”
I walk over and silently slide the cup of coffee in front of Troy. He looks up, gives me a quick kiss, then returns to the conversation, and I go back to my perch at the island to watch the rest of the show. Shyley and Tillie have joined me now.
Our whole family and some friends—Tillie, Lizzy, Emily, and Fitz—are here for a surprise party that Troy and Tillie planned to celebrate my passing all four of my CPA tests on the first try and the official start of Tillie and my small business. My parents graciously lent their home since ours would have been too small to fit everyone.
“What’s going on there?” Shyley asks, gesturing with her head toward the men. Gathered around my parents’ large kitchen table are Troy, my dad, Lincoln, Ben, Jack, Finn, and our friend and Emily’s partner, Fitz. To their credit, the men listen intently to Lincoln’s impassioned plea as if they would even entertain his crazy idea. They wouldn’t... well, I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t.
“Your husband’s a lunatic,” I tell her. “That’s what’s going on. Just listen.”
I watch my hot husband. God, I love the man. I’m sobered whenever it strikes me how close we came to losing this—us, our dream. Troy grins at Lincoln’s energy.
“Lincoln, I love you, brother, but we are not keeping the house I lived in when I was apart from my family to use as a giant man cave.”
“Not even for the last two months of the lease?” Lincoln tries to negotiate.
Troy turns back to me and gives me a wickedly handsome smile and a wink before turning back to the guys. “No can do. It’s currently in use for something else.”
“Oh my God,” Tillie says, her voice hushed. The conversation of the men fades into the background as Tillie grabs Shyley and my attention. “You’re using it as a sex den!”
I glance over to make sure my dad didn’t overhear, but now Lincoln has swayed Ben to his side, so the two of them are animatedly explaining why they think the guys need a communal mancave. My dad is sitting back grinning at them, taking it all in. No sign of shock on his face. Phew.
I turn my attention back to the women. “No. It’s a good place to escape to on our dates so we can have uninterrupted quality time. Naked. Without the risk of one of our kids or our dog cockblocking us.”
Shyley laughs. “So, it’s like maybe a toned-down sex den? Where it’s just you two, no crazy shit going on. It’s still sort of a sex den, Shan.”
I didn’t see Shayna’s approach, so she totally takes me by surprise.
“Who has a sex den?” Shayna asks loudly. Too loudly. Loudly enough that she’s got the attention of the entire table of men. Most of them wear an expression of utter confusion. Not Troy. Troy wears a satisfied, knowing smile.
More of our family trickle into the kitchen, and a gaggle of kids run through. Panic sets in, and I can see Troy holding back a laugh.
“Six pens. She said six pens, you creeps. Tillie asked how many pens I needed at my new desk, and I... um, I said ‘six pens,’ not ‘sex den.’ Get your minds out of the gutter, you perverts.”
My face is hot, and I’m sure I’m bright red. Troy stands and comes over to me, wrapping an arm around my waist.
“Thanks for the coffee, babe.”
His leaving the table distracts everyone else from the conversation, thank God, and small side conversations start as the women and men intermingle.
“Thanks for the rescue.”
“Anytime.” He leans in close to my ear so only I can hear. “No one else needs to know that we absolutely have our own version of a sex den.” His voice has a teasing yet sultry lilt to it, and it turns me on a little.
“Maybe we should think about keeping it,” I tease back. I turn so we’re facing each other and wrap my arms around him.
“Hey, if we can dream it, it can happen...” Damn, my husband is sexy.
“Hmmm. Meet me for drinks tonight? Dream with me?”
“I’ll be there.” He winks, then pulls me into a hug and when he pulls back, he cups my face in his hands and looks into my eyes. Everything around us falls away, and the teasing, sultry tone from a few seconds ago is gone, replaced by tenderness. It’s just us in this moment. “I’ll be there tonight and every night for the rest of our lives. Always.”
I smile at him, hoping he can see the love in my eyes. “Always.”