Wrapped In My Wife(4)

Though after spending the morning working side by side with Mark, I wish I could go back to the land of the dust bunnies. He’s a lot to get used to. He asks me a million questions, which is distracting when I’m trying to work. Not to mention I always feel like he’s hovering over me. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m new or he thinks I can’t do my job. Either way it’s annoying.

I’ve never given personal space much of a thought before. Normally it’s only my husband or the boys who are in it, and I don’t really care. Maybe I’m just not used to people being around me anymore. The only job I ever worked was in college at a bakery. I spent most of my time alone in a kitchen listening to audiobooks while decorating cookies, and I only did it part time over the summers.

“Go on.” Nancy turns her chair to look at me as if I’m about to give her juicy gossip.

“He’s been really cool about me having this job. A little too okay with it.”

“That’s not like him?”

“It’s hard to explain. My husband can be a caveman when it comes to me. He likes having all of my attention and I like giving it to him. When I first told him about looking for a job, he got all pissy. But then it was like a switch flipped and he was completely fine.” Now I’m wondering if I’m pissy because he isn’t doing his caveman thing.

“If I remember right, you haven't worked in years?” she asks. Nancy was the one who interviewed me for the job.

“Nope. I got pregnant right before college graduation with our twins. The two of them and my husband have been my life.”

I smile, missing them right now. I keep wondering what they’re doing at this very moment. I know Dylan is at work and the boys are at school, but I still feel like I’m missing out. I hate that I wasn’t there last night while they were making the posters. The boys hung on me like they hadn't seen me in years after I got home. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love every second of it. They are getting big and I worry about them not giving me affection like they do now as they grow up. I’ve been trying to soak it all up.

“So you wanted more than just to be a mom and wife? I get it.”

“No,” I say instantly, taken aback. I rush to defend myself. “I love being a wife and a mom. I just didn’t think they needed me like they used to. My husband has been working a lot more, and I needed something to fill my time.”

“Interesting,” Nancy says, more to herself than me.

“What?”

“What else has he been doing that’s odd?” she asks.

“Last night he seemed flustered, which isn’t like him. He was just acting different,” I admit.

“Emily.” I turn at the sound of my name to see Mark coming towards us. I force a smile, trying to be polite.

“Hey.”

“I’ll need you to stay late tonight. There’s an event over at the Carlton and I thought we should go over and say hello to a few people. A lot of the people there make donations to the library.” He adjusts his tie that’s already perfectly straight. It’s just something else he does that annoys me.

“Okay,” is all I can come up with. I don’t want to go somewhere with just him. I know Dylan wouldn't like it either. It almost seems like a date or something. “Nancy, you’re coming, right?” I throw out really quick.

She opens her mouth to respond, but Mark cuts her off. “I can only bring one person.”

“Didn't want to go,” Nancy mumbles. I second that.

“Take a long lunch to run home and change into something more suitable. We’ll leave here around five thirty.” He turns, dismissing us.

Crap.

I remind myself this is my job and I have to go.

“He’s been here a hot minute and I already can’t stand his ass,” Nancy says from behind me. I second that but keep it to myself. I pull my phone out, checking Dylan’s schedule to see if he can pick up the boys, but I see he’s booked up all day. I text our babysitter and see if she’s free.

She responds instantly, telling me she’ll pick up the boys and not to worry about paying her. She says we overpaid her yesterday and it’s not a problem.

What? I narrow my eyes at the phone. “What are you up to, Dylan?” I mutter.

“Who? The husband?” Nancy asks, clearly having heard me.

“Yes. He used our babysitter yesterday, but he told me he picked up the boys.”

“An affair!” Nancy gasps dramatically, and I burst out laughing. I laugh so hard tears start to leak down my face.

“Yeah, right. My husband would never cheat,” I say, one thousand percent certain that’s not it. “No, he’s up to something else.” I think I’m going to go on a little mission to throw him off his game.

“It’s cute how well you two know each other.” She says it like she really means it.

“I’m going to head to lunch. Will you drop those on my desk when you’re done going over them?”

“Sure.” She picks up the papers and goes back to reading them.

I head to my office and am thankful Mark isn't there. I grab my purse then head out. I make a quick stop at the house to change, still annoyed that Mark asked me to wear something nicer. I know I have pants on, but they’re dressy.

I find a black sleeveless dress that falls to my knees. It hugs me at the top but flares out at the bottom. I have a jacket that goes with it so it doesn’t show too much skin. I slip my flats off and put on a pair of heels. I reach under my dress, pulling my panties off and putting them into my purse, coming up with an idea.

When I get to Dylan’s office I see his assistant Jonathan is typing away on his computer. He does all of Dylan’s paperwork because Dylan can’t stand it. You’d be surprised how much there is when it comes to construction. Dylan’s company started out as just light remodeling. Now he custom builds million-dollar homes. My man has come so far. I remember many nights staying up late with him, planning projects and doing the paperwork myself. It got to be too much with having newborn twins. When we finally found Marie, who was his assistant for the last five years, she was a godsend. But she moved across the country to be near her grandchildren and I still miss her like crazy.

“Mrs. Wallace,” Jonathan greets me. He’s always way too dressed up, in my opinion. Today he even has on a bow tie. You’d think he worked in a law firm or something. Not a place where men come in covered in dust and dirt half the time.

“Hi.” I give him a little wave before heading towards Dylan’s office.

“He’s not here, ma’am,” Jonathan says with a little hesitation in his voice.

I stop, turning to look at him before pulling out my cell phone. Jonathan might annoy the crap out of me, but he always has Dylan’s schedule marked down with everything.

“I don’t know where he is, ma’am,” he adds. Then he mutters something about my husband randomly disappearing. “Would you like me to pencil you in?”

“Pencil me in?” I roll my eyes at him. Turning back, I head for Dylan's office. I pull my panties out of my purse and toss them onto his desk before grabbing a pen and paper and leaving him a note.





Chapter 6





Dylan





“Shit, shit, shit,” I mumble, parking around the corner from my office and watching Emily walk out of my office. I know that look on her face. She’s pissed.

I panicked and didn’t know what to do. I was waiting in the parking lot of the library watching the cameras, but then I lost track of her. It wasn’t her normal lunch break, and I knew she packed her lunch. I even slipped a little note in there telling her how much I loved her.

But instead of her going to eat in the break room like she did before, she disappeared. It wasn’t until I got a text from Jonathan telling me my wife just showed up at my office that I realized she gave me the slip. I never knew my wife had spy capabilities, but I was wrong.

When I watch her drive away, I run in the office and find Jonathan at his desk keying in invoices. He jumps up in shock when he sees me walk in.

“Mr. Wallace, your wife just left. I’ve had to push several meetings. Are you in your office today?” The words tumble out of his mouth as he follows close on my heels.

I ignore him and march back to my office. I’d watched her through the window as she strutted back there, then she walked out. I want to know what she did.

When I walk in, I look around and see crumpled fabric on the desk.

“Well, since you’re here now, I could go ahead and get the conference call started and it could replace the meeting you were supposed to have this morning.”

“I’m not here,” I say, as I walk over to my desk and find what looks like a rumpled handkerchief.

“Obviously you’re here. I just need to go over some things, and you’re not answering your emails. With all due respect, this really this isn’t the time to slack off. I’ve got people calling all hours of the day begging for appointments with you. This could be an amazing opportunity to double your profits from last year.”

When I pick up the scrap of fabric, I know instantly what they are. “Jonathan,” I say through clenched teeth.

“Yes, Mr. Wallace?”