Page 30 of My Husband Problem

I feel a hard tug in my chest. She’s right. I don’t think I’m cut out to be a husband in general. ButAstrid’spartner, protector, and the man who will move heaven and earth for her? Yeah. I’m that guy.

“But she doesn’t like me,” I still say.

Iris laughs. “I know youthinkshe doesn’t like you.”

“She has been sleeping in the opposite wing of my penthouse! She moved thousands of miles away from me. We have never spent a single night in the same bed!”

“She’s had a lot going on, Declan!” Iris exclaims. “Sorry to break it to you, but you haven’t been on her radar. Now you are. Big time. She can’t avoid you in Rebel. In herhouse. Sobeon her radar. Take up space. Make her pay attention. Don’t let her run away from you. And donotdivorce her.”

My heart is pounding. I want that. But… “I don’t want her to be unhappy.”

“So, make her happy.”

That sounds so simple. I thought I’d been doing that by letting her do what she wants and have anything she asked for.

She’s living in Louisiana, running a hockey team that seems to be makingeveryonehappier. She’s got a cat who clearly thinks she hung the moon. She’s got a backyard full of ducks that are, stupidly, fun to watch and calming at the same time. She’s got the ugliest house I’ve ever been inside, and yet I find myself smiling as I walk through it.

Maybe she is happy here.

But maybe that just means this is where I’m supposed to be too.

Fuck. I’m a thirty-six-year-old man who’s been making my own way for nearly two decades. I’ve known exactly what I’m doing and why for eighteen years. Now suddenly I’m re-thinking it all. How can one tiny, blond woman who doesn’t even like me that much make me re-examine everything?

Iris can’t actually read my mind, but my eyes widen when she says, “These are called feelings, Declan. Feelings for other people. And yeah, sometimes they suck. They can make us feel a little needy. But it’s normal.”

“I don’t like them,” I say lightly. She and I both know that I’ve actually been driven by my feelings for my family for years. It’s kept me across an ocean from them, building an empire that will keep them secure and safe.

She just laughs.

Before I can respond, the door behind me opens, and I turn quickly.

“So, you’ve met the ducks,” Astrid says. Then she notices that I’m on the phone. “Oh, sorry.”

I shake my head quickly. “No. It’s fine. I’m finished.”

Iris chuckles in my ear. “Oh, we arenotfinished with this.”

“Goodbye, Iris,” I say.

“Hey, Declan?”

“Yeah?”

“Go seduce your wife.”

I hang up with a single grunt. But when I focus on Astrid, I can’t stop hearing the wordsseduce your wifein my head.

CHAPTER 8

ASTRID

“Good morning.”

My stupid body responds to his voice as always. My skin prickles, my nipples tighten, and my pussy flutters.

God, this is so bad.

I thought I was prepared to see him. I’d gotten up early, showered, and dressed, and I’m wearing my cat.