Page 79 of Power Play

“You do? I had no idea,” she teases.

Growling, I dip my head to kiss her again. Her hands fist in my shirt, tugging me closer.

But then the doorbell rings, and I groan as I pull away.

“If it’s a salesman, I’m going to be pissed.”

She shoots me a grin over her shoulder as she flounces to the door, opening it to reveal⁠—

“Brigitte?” I stare at the blond woman I haven’t talked to in at least a year. Maybe longer. “What are you doing here?”

She waves awkwardly. “Congrats on the kid.”

“We’re going out,” Riley announces. “Brigitte is staying with Emmy while we have a date night.”

My chest warms with affection for her. She’s been so resistant to using a babysitter, even my sister. And she went out of her way to arrange this—a night out just for us.

“Come in, come in,” I say, beckoning Brigitte inside. “You can meet our daughter.”

“I’m going to run upstairs and get ready,” my wife says, patting me on the chest as she passes by.

Since I have no idea what Riley has in mind for the night, I run through the same spiel I gave Cari. Brigitte takes care of Larsson’s kid, who’s about the same age, plus she’s in medical school, so I have every confidence she knows what she’s doing. Still…

“We’ve never left her with anyone before. Anyone who isn’t family,” I add quickly.

“It’s good for you two to get out, for her to see you prioritizing yourselves,” she says. “Go. Have fun. Enjoy your night out. I’ve got this, and if anything should happen, I have your phone numbers.”

Relief flows through me with my slow exhale. “Thank you for this. I know you and I…”

She shakes her head. “It was a blind date, and it wasn’t a good match,” she says simply.

“It’s a long story, but we weren’t together back then. I don’t want you to think I was running around on her. That’s not who I am.”

Our coffee date was only a few weeks after Carter and I were together, ages before Riley and Emmy came onto the scene.

“I didn’t think that at all,” Brigitte assures me. “What matters is that you are happy. Are you?”

“Happy? Yes.”

“That’s all that’s important,” she says, and that’s that. “Now, the little angel and I will have a good time this evening, and she’ll be tucked into her crib before we know it.”

Footsteps sound on the stairs, and I turn around to see the most incredible vision.

Riley is wearing a short black lacy dress with a floral print, sheer black stockings, and tall black boots with what can only be described as “fuck me” heels. Her hair and makeup are done, amping her pretty features up to a ten. She’s wearing the necklace I got her, the amethyst shining in the hollow of her throat.

My mouth goes dry, and my cock pulses behind my suit pants. My wife is fucking hot.

She stares up at me, her bright blue eyes lined with dark makeup. The longer I go without speaking, the more her face falls, and her confident mask slips.

“You don’t like it?” Her voice is quiet. Small.

That kicks my brain back online. I reach for her waist, pulling her into me. She comes easily, her hand settling on my chest, directly over my heart. Can she hear it beating overdrive, just for her? Can she feel my hard cock pressed into her belly?

“You look beautiful,” I tell her, before I press my lips to hers. Her breath hitches.

Mindful of our audience, I pull back, squeezing her waist. “Come on. What do we have planned for tonight?”

“It’s a surprise.” She grins at me, and then as she turns to Emmy, happily playing with her food, her face falls again. “This won’t traumatize her, right? We aren’t abandoning her?”