She hesitated. “I was thinking about going back to the shop full-time.”
“No, the baby is only four months old.”
“We talked about this, Easton.” She drew away from him and walked out of the baby’s room, back into theirs. Her husband followed. “I told you I’m not giving up my business.”
He reached for her arm and turned her to face him. “And I told you, you have to make some concessions.”
“Not my business!”
“Kenzie—”
“No, I’m not giving it up! Period.”
He grunted and ran his hands through his hair. “You are the most stubborn woman I have ever met.”
“You knew that before you married me.” She folded her arms over her chest and glared at him.
“Don’t you understand there are those who would use you to get to me? Have you forgotten the pictures of my proposal, of our wedding, of you leaving the hospital, all of it published in the newspaper?”
She sighed and sat down on the bed. “No, I haven’t forgotten. You were used to that. I wasn’t. Rather, I’m not used to it, but I love my restaurant, Easton. Don’t you understand?”
“I do, baby.” He sat beside her and pulled her onto his lap. When he stroked her face and rested his against hers, she melted into his arms. “It would kill me if anything happened to you, Kenzie. There’s no way I could bear that.”
Tears filled her eyes at the raw pain in his voice. She got what he was saying. Even after hiring a manager at the restaurant and stopping in very infrequently, she’d seen extra activity—more customers, and paparazzi pretending to be customers. Easton had spelled it out shortly after the baby’s birth that the media and overeager customers were not all she needed to worry about. A billionaire’s wife whose face was now known couldn’t just walk down the street handing out a few dollars to the homeless. The reason for established charities’ existence became clear real fast.
“I don’t want to sit on my butt all day, every day. It’ll grow wide, and then you won’t want me.”
He flipped her forward enough to expose her ass and smacked it to her delight. “More to ride.”
She glared at him. “Don’t you mean more to love?”
Light twinkled in his eyes, and she laughed.
“I’m serious, Easton.”
He let her sit up straight. “How about a chain?”
“What?”
“I will finance making These Words into a chain of restaurants, and you can oversee them all. You will spend a few hours a week in an office, where I can ensure your safety, and visit the stores on a rotating schedule with a bodyguard at your side at all times.”
Her eyes widened. “A chain…my restaurant in several states. Wow, that would be incredible. You would really do that for me?”
“Of course.”
“I don’t know about the stuffy office and bodyguard business.”
“Bodyguard or no deal.”
“Okay, deal.” She started to rise off his lap, but he held her down.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
She widened her eyes in innocence. “I thought I would sneak into the kitchen and do a little cooking…”
“Uh-uh.” He slipped a hand between her thighs and squeezed, sending a pulse of pleasure coursing through her heat. “You will stay here and show me how much you appreciate me letting you work.”
“You’ve bumped your head.” She stood up, bristling, and started off, but he had her facedown on the bed with him straddling her hips in seconds. When he shoved her nightie up and smacked her ass, she whimpered and shut her eyes. “You pissed me off on purpose!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He scooted down and kissed her ass cheek, and she bit her bottom lip. Easton knew how to manipulate her body and her mood, the bastard.
He moved up behind her and let her feel his hard-on through his pajama pants. Desire made her arch her back and push her ass against him.
“All I need is a quickie before I go into the office.”
She blew out a breath. “You’re crazy if you think you’re getting out of here and leaving me with a quickie. That’s for you.” He leaned up to allow her to turn over to her back. She ran a hand along his chest. Her body had changed a lot giving birth, the least of which was heavy, milk-filled breasts, but Easton was just as hard as the first day she’d met him. Getting enough of this man wasn’t possible. “I want all this.”
He raised an eyebrow. “This?”
She pushed a hand into the waistband of his pants and took hold of his cock. The thick shaft twitched in her palm “This.”