Kristo“You’re sure this is the dress you want me to wear?” she asked, plucking at the dark green fabric clinging to her hips. I nodded.“Trust me. You look perfect,” I assured her. She had before, as well. That wrap dress had been stunning, and I loved the way it had caressed her curves as though it didn’t want me to forget about them. But she looked like a teacher. Hell, for all I knew, she actually had been a teacher at some point—she had talked about studying at the university, and she could have covered classes as part of that. My family, though, would want something a little more impressive. And it was easier to sculpt her into the vision of what my family would want from my wife than to argue with Amaya, so I picked out the dress from the boutique, and she gamely changed into it in the back room. I tried not to linger on the thought of her stripping down in there, forcing the image out of my brain, but as soon as she reemerged it was replaced.She looked good. She had looked am

AmayaI tugged at my dress, pulling my hair up and letting it down again. I wasn’t sure if I looked right yet. I was just going to the library, a place I’d been a dozen times before, but I still wanted to look right for work.I finally let my hair down, allowing it to flow over my shoulders. Sexy librarians were a thing, right? Yeah, a porn category, I replied to myself snarkily. I quickly pulled my hair up and tied it into a ponytail and checked for the thousandth time that everything was in place for me to head to work. I finished up the last of the coffee I had been sipping on. Kristo had made me a pot, the same as he had on my first morning here, and I was surprised at how quickly I was growing to love the bittersweet darkness of it.It was odd, getting ready in an apartment that wasn’t my own, but I supposed I was going to have to get used to it now that I had officially moved in with him. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to see his family again soon. That dinner had been way more th

KristoI sensed something was up as soon as I stepped into the office. And I had a feeling I knew what it was before I arrived at my desk. When I opened my door and saw her sitting there, I rolled my eyes to the heavens and let out a pointed sigh.“Cleo, what the hell are you doing here?” I demanded. My sister was sitting in the chair behind my desk with a big grin on her face, spinning around like she owned the place. Well, she could have if she’d wanted to, but she’d been the one who’d insisted she was more interested in pursuing her art than anything else. She spent most of her time hanging out at balls and galas and getting photographed for the social pages, but she had a studio and occasionally produced some awesome paintings when she put in the time. I had one of them sitting next to the bed in the spare room, waiting to be hung up.“I thought I’d come in and visit you,” she replied, playing at innocent even though I knew she was anything but. “They told me the news, you know.”

AmayaWhen I came through the door, I was greeted by the smell of pizza.“Mmm.” I closed my eyes and followed my nose, right to a pair of pizza boxes sitting on the counter in the kitchen. I couldn’t see Kristo anywhere, but I didn’t care. I was just home from a long day of work, and I needed something to eat and preferably something with alcohol in it to wash it down as well. I grabbed a slice and went for the fridge, pulling it open and examining everything inside. I couldn’t see anything I recognized, but I grabbed a bottle of beer with a label I didn’t know the origin of and popped it open. I didn’t really care. As long as I had something to take the edge off this day, I would be happy.I shut the fridge and practically jumped out of my skin when I saw Kristo standing there. He was in nothing but a pair of boxers and a threadbare old shirt, fresh from the shower, hair a mess and somehow looking younger than he normally did.“Hey.” He nodded to me, grinning at the beer in my hand.

Kristo“You really want to drive this thing?” I grimaced as I looked the car up and down. She nodded, and I could tell from the look on her face that there was going to be no arguing with her.“We could get my car out of the garage and take that for the drive instead,” I suggested again, hoping she would take me up on it. We were already walking into a minefield, and the last thing I wanted was for my dad to be able to jump down my throat about arriving in such a shaky old thing.“I haven’t had a chance to drive myself anywhere in days,” she replied. “We’re taking my car.”“Should have left this thing in parking,” I muttered as I climbed in.“What?”“Nothing,” I replied. I didn’t want to rile her up, not today of all days, when I needed her firmly on my side. “Come on, let’s get going. I don’t want to be late.”She pulled out of the garage, and I leaned back in the seat and tried to relax. It was nice of her to offer to drive, but I wanted to be the one in control today. I wanted to b