Stranger In His Bed

“Yes. I’d really like that.” He was reaching out to her for the first time. He was offering her a glimpse of his world. It was a small step toward rebuilding their relationship, maybe even a few steps in the direction of trust.

They ate in silence for a while. Victoria looked around the massive dining room, at the wainscoting, the three crystal chandeliers above the table and the forty-six empty chairs. It was so formal.

“Do you...we always eat in here?”

“In the past, you’ve preferred it.” His answer was dry, like he didn’t necessarily share her taste for it.

“Isn’t there a kitchen?”

He raised one eyebrow, indicating her question was absurd. “I believe we have one, yes. That would be where the dinner was prepared.”

“I mean, does it have a table?” she pressed. “Something smaller than this? Or a bar? You know, with stools? A place where just a couple of people can sit and eat. A place not so formal.”

Wade looked perplexed. It was as though the idea had never occurred to him or he’d never expected her to make such a request. And now that she’d said it, she wasn’t at all sure why she wanted somewhere unpretentious. After being married to Wade for eight months, she should be used to this type of formality.

“I believe we do.”

She refocused on her plate. “Have you ever had all these chairs filled? Like, at the same time?”

“On occasion.”

“That’s a lot of pizza.”

He stopped with his fork halfway to his mouth. His lips pursed at the unexpected humor. Clearly, he remembered their previous joking about his family business being a pizza joint.

“It is. And we serve only the best. But no jalapeños,” he said in a serious tone.

“Agreed. Or anchovies.”

“Or anchovies.” He finished taking his bite of food.

“How long have you lived here?”

He patted the linen napkin against his mouth. “It’s actually the family home. My grandfather started the business and did well enough that he had the core building erected before he died. My father later added the west and east wings. It works well for meetings that last several days and provides enough space for guests to stay without going to a hotel. The business associates visiting from other countries especially seem to prefer to stay here.”

“When they’re not here...it’s a big house for just two people. Do you ever get lonely? Do I?”

He shrugged. “You’ve always seemed to manage. I’ve been staying here off and on most of my adult life. I guess I’ve never really thought about it. I have other houses, an apartment in New York, a villa outside of Rome, a flat in London. I stay in whatever area my business requires.”

“So...you’re here now because of me?”

“Primarily.”

Why did that realization make her a bit sad? What important things had he had to cancel because of her?

She glanced at him as he returned his focus to his plate. He was so incredibly male. A tuft of hair hung over his forehead. Combined with the tanned face and dark features and the way he sometimes looked at her, he clearly gave off the impression there was a bad boy inside just waiting for a chance to come out. It was a total contrast to the proper, ever so polite Mr. Masters persona he strove to make people see. It was a look that said he could eat her up and still stick around for dessert. She’d had the same thoughts this morning when he’d kissed her in the garden. That kiss may have been soft and tentative, but it would have quickly grown to hunger he couldn’t hide or easily control. She had to wonder if he ever let go of the rigid restraints he maintained and let raw passion determine his actions. Let the beast inside free. She took another sip of her water, determined to keep her imagination at bay.

“What about your family? Any brothers or sisters? Parents?”

“Both parents deceased. I have three brothers. All younger. Cole is also involved with the business, just a different facet of the corporation. Chance is recently retired from the military and runs the ranch in Calico Springs. Seth lives in Los Angeles. We all try to get together a couple of times a year or whenever possible. Haven’t seen Seth in a couple of years. We stay in touch by phone or Skype.”

“You all grew up here? In this house?”

He shook his head. “No. Actually, we lived on the ranch.” He hesitated as if wondering whether or not to say any more.

“Please go on.”

“My...mother came from a ranching family. She learned early on to respect the land, and she was determined her sons would grow up in the same environment. Apparently Dad finally agreed, so, just before Chance was born, he built a house on some land his family owned. We attended the local schools and grew up checking out the wide-open spaces on the back of a horse. Seth is a half brother and was born and raised in LA.”

Wade rested his elbows on the table and linked his fingers. His gaze was directed at the far wall, but Victoria sensed in his mind he was a long way from here.

“Mom and Dad both believed a person should work for what they had and were determined for all of us kids to know the value of a dollar. Since we were living in Mom’s playground, those lessons were learned by mending fences, feeding the livestock, taking on the general responsibilities of ranch life. Later, after college, Dad introduced each of us one by one to the world of business. One day led to another and here we are.”

“You’ve never gone back? To the ranch?”

“I did for a while. But it’s been close to a year.”

“I think you should go,” Victoria encouraged. “I think you should take a week—or more—and revisit your memories. See if you can still saddle a horse.”

Wade laughed and the glitter of amusement shone in his eyes. “Maybe I will.”

“What...” She cleared her throat. “What did I do while you were away or working?”

Wade laid his fork down on the plate and seemed to give her question some thought. “I don’t think you did...anything.”

“That’s crazy.” She frowned, placing her fork across the gold-rimmed plate. “I had to do something. I mean, no one can just sit around and breathe day after day.”

Wade shrugged. “You went shopping. Went to the hairdresser. Visited your friends. I really don’t know.”

Now it was Victoria’s turn to look shocked. “I didn’t work? Didn’t help a charity? Arrange garage sales? Dig holes? Nothing?”

“Victoria, we didn’t really see a lot of each other. On average, I spend more than half the year traveling. When I’m not out of the country, I’m in meetings or working in my office in the city, where I also keep an apartment. Occasionally we do attend a social gathering together, but even then, you have your acquaintances, and I have mine.”

She was speechless. She couldn’t imagine living the life he described. It sounded horrible. For a married couple, it just didn’t make any sense. Somehow she knew within herself she was not the type to hide away day after day in this big house. And Wade had to take some downtime and enjoy life occasionally. No one could live as he’d described for years on end without paying for it physically, if not emotionally. Everybody needed time to relax. To laugh. To dream.

As she watched him eat his dinner, she realized she wasn’t seeing a man who was happy and content with the world in which he lived. She was seeing a man who marched to the drum his current life demanded. He was staying well away from any friends or relationships that would take his time away from his business, including his own wife. The question was why. He was polite to a fault, handsome, rich...and very much alone. Why had he married her? It was like the dog that finally caught the car it had chased for years. Now that he had it, he wasn’t quite sure what to do with it.

It was just sad. Period. All of it. How he rarely returned to his childhood home and had little to no personal contact with his brothers except, she assumed, in emergencies. Flying around from one country to another and never realizing a true home... Maybe she could plan something to get his family together.

She took one last bite of her dinner, laying the fork on her empty plate. “This was excellent. I didn’t realize I was so hungry.”

An older man came into the room and politely inquired if either one would care for dessert. Victoria placed her hand over her stomach and declined. “I’m stuffed.”

“None for me either, Jacob. Dinner was good, thank you.”

The man nodded, took the plates and left the room.

“Do you feel up to looking at those design renderings?”