Sugar Pie by Victoria Pinder

15

The former housewife of a doctor and a trillionaire heir should be easier to find, but don’t worry, readers, I promise I’ll home in on them soon. Stealing a respectable doctor’s wife away from him should be the work of some pool boy, not a man who has more than kings at their disposal but no honor.

Gossip and burn the rich.

Yours truly,

Regina, your gossip goddess you can’t escape from.

Warren

The next day, we walked along the property Kerry had selected, a more expensive one than we’d discussed, and she pitched me her idea of a lakefront division, which would upsell all the homes. The real estate agent walked toward us, and Kerry quickly mapped out how she envisioned the plan. I could imagine the streets she described and four small lakefront beaches with pits for barbeques and gatherings.

At the end, I half wanted to kiss her, but instead, I hugged her and said, “Your idea about a lake here is smart.”

Our agent joined us in the middle of the empty field and asked, “So you and your wife are taking the property?”

With Kerry as my wife, we would never have to split anything. I blinked and ignored the comment, though my heart beat faster. “Yes.”

Kerry stared at me but said nothing.

The agent smiled and picked up his cell phone as he walked away. “I’ll make the offer.”

We walked out of the field and back to the old truck I had no intention of fixing or changing. But a thought nagged at me: I hadn’t told Kerry about my serious cash, and lies weren’t my thing. I needed to be honest with her.

I missed parts of my old life. From working with my hands and time, I was a new man already, and I didn’t need to see anything else through. Being a Norouzi was an honor.

I had to explain it all to Kerry and bring her into my life.

I opened her door, and she slid in, but when I joined her, she laughed and said, “Neither one of us are wearing a ring. We probably should have corrected him.”

“You’d be a great wife.” I started the engine, and my heart thumped as if I’d said the wrong thing, so I quickly asked, “What did you do with your ring?”

She rolled her manual window down and breathed in fresh air. “I left it in the car.”

I blinked. No woman in my life had ever been that brutal with me. The worst for me had been being ghosted. As I put the car into Drive, I said, “Good for you. At least you were clear.”

She let out a snort. “I needed to be. I was usually ignored.”

It was the second time she’d mentioned that, which clearly meant she’d been bothered. I smiled. “Not by me. You’ve had all my attention since we met.”

She blushed. “I’ve noticed.”

Maybe she didn’t remember her beer talk from the night before. “Good,” I said.

We headed home, as I’d finished my cabinet installs earlier in the day and had hoped to meet her that afternoon. As we headed upstairs to our place, I rubbed her back.

Being with Kerry was more than anything else. She made my life better, so I wanted to convey my feelings, not thoughts, and I wasn’t sure how. I swallowed and said, “I—“ when my phone rang. The sound caught me off guard, and I grabbed it to turn it off but saw my father’s face on the screen.

He hadn’t contacted me since I left. I decided I needed to call him back, so I drove fast.

We made it to the apartment door. Once we were inside, I said, “I need to call my dad back.”

“No worries. Use the bedroom for privacy.” She headed to the computer in the living room and said, “I’ll get started on the paperwork.”

“Thank you.” I headed into the bedroom and closed the door.

The room smelled fresh and clean, like her. I answered the phone for Parvis Norouzi, my Pedar, who was always so kind with me and guided me. Unlike Pedar, who loved finances and Wall Street, I preferred working with my hands. I headed to the window and stared out. “Dad, I didn’t think you’d call.”

“You’re missed at the firm, and I wanted to check on my son.”

“Tell Maman I miss her too.” I narrowed my gaze and asked, “Do you need me?”

“No. I want you to feel like you belong with us, and I won’t push you to be like me.”

I glanced up at the last light of day before the sun set and said, “You never have, Pedar. On my birthday, I was overwhelmed.”

“You sound more positive now.”

“I’m feeling grounded and have a new plan.”

“What is it you’re doing there? You’re not using your financial license.”

Finance was why I’d taken all those business classes, but it didn’t matter anymore. “I’m working as a general contractor.”

“You were always learning how to fix things.”

“I was.”

“Running a business on your own and booking without help is work. I hope you get everything done and come home.”

There was no rule about working with someone else, but my skin prickled as if he’d called to ask about Kerry. My hair stood on end. “Talk to you later, Dad.” I hung up then put my phone back into my pocket and glanced at the bed she’d slept in. My mouth watered to join her, but I walked out.

Near her, I could breathe. I joined her at the computer, and she pointed me to places I needed to type. I quickly read and followed the directions to add my e-signature on the mortgage stuff. “That was the first time he’s called.”

She opened the second file for the next forms. “Consider yourself lucky. I wish my mom didn’t call.”

My pulse zipped, and the urge to kiss her senseless hit me hard. I ignored it and signed on the screen. “She’s still giving you a hard time?”

“It never stops.” She laughed then waved to indicate that we were done.

I stood as she said, “She never worked a day in her life, so she thinks that’s supposed to be my life.”

I took her hand for a moment. “And why you married a man you had nothing in common with.”

She met my gaze with the doe-eyed look that made my body hard and ready but quickly let me go and headed into the kitchen. I followed as she said, “I wanted to move to New York and get a job like my college friends did.”

We might have met sooner. I grabbed the onions and the carrots and began chopping. “In what?”

She shook the bag of chicken she’d seasoned the day before then emptied it into the frying pan. “I didn’t care. I wanted time to figure it out.”

My eyes watered from the onions. “I understand. I thought that once I proved I was capable with the stock market, I wouldn’t have to do anything else.”

She tossed her hair behind her shoulder. “Did you lose everything, then?”

I finished with the onion and wiped my eyes, though that didn’t help with the burning. “No. But I didn’t use my hands for anything useful.”

She turned the water on for me to wash my hands then motioned for me to cup some water for my eyes. I followed her directions, as she’d been the one to teach me about vegetable preparation a few days before, and my eyes itched less. Then she said, “So you have money in the bank as collateral.”

If she knew, I had to forfeit. It was why I chose to start my account at a different bank. My skin zipped as I asked, “What made you think that?”

She shrugged. “The bank doesn’t just approve people, from what I understand, unless you have something. And the banks are really rolling the red carpet out for you to have whatever you want.”

“You’re very observant sometimes. And if you keep making smart business decisions that help me, like finding this property or insisting on a lake, I’ll want to marry you.”

She laughed and held her belly. “That’s all it takes for you, then?”

I’d never broached the subject with anyone, but my tension grew as I suspected she was denying me. I lowered my head. “I guess so.”

She put the vegetables in a different pan then added water. Once she finished, she said, “Well, if I ever do get married again, I want romance like I’ve seen my friends have. The kind of romance from movies and TV.”

To me, romance was two people realizing how much they had in common, like Kerry and I had, and then experiencing physical intimacy, which I wanted.

But she meant roses and being swept off her feet, I supposed, so I wrinkled my nose. “You sound like a woman.” I chuckled.

She cupped my face. “What’s wrong with wanting romance?”

She was so close. My lips tingled for a kiss. “It sets up unrealistic expectations when the truth is marriage is a good tax write-off.”

She didn’t step away and kept her eyes wide open. “Maybe, but it’s what I want.”

I brushed the soft skin on her face, and my heart sped up. I lowered my eyes. “Let’s start like this then.”

She pushed against my chest. “Wait.”

“You can tell me no.” I pulled back.

She curled her fingers in my shirt and tugged me forward. “Just don’t ever ignore me, Warren. I hate that.”

Finally.I closed my eyes. “I promise.”

Then our lips met. She tasted better than ice cream sundaes, which had been my favorite. Her floral perfume wafted in my nose and made my mouth water for more.

She broke the kiss and sighed. “Damn.”

I held her tightly, as I wasn’t ready to let this moment go. “It’s only the beginning, Kerry.”

She clung to my neck. “We’ll see.”

“We will.” I took a second taste.

No woman ever had set me off like Kerry, and I needed to make sure she was real. Having her forever was possible if she would let me into her heart.