“I bet you this place is haunted.”

Dane Prescott glanced at his beautiful wife and laughed. “No way. Don’t tell me you believe in ghosts.”

“I mean, look at it.” Allyson motioned to the stately townhouse before them. “It looks like it was built in the eighteenth century.”

She shivered, and he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close. No doubt the chilly autumn air was getting through her cashmere coat, but maybe she was shivering because the old house really had spooked her. “Do you still want to go inside?” he asked.

Biting her lower lip she nodded, resolve on her lovely face. “Totally. I want to see why this house is worth six million dollars.”

With his arm still around her he guided her up the walkway, then up the step to the front porch. Allyson reached up to ring the doorbell and they waited. “We ring, right? You don’t just walk in to view a place like this?” She shifted her weight, rocking slightly.

The house was a little old-fashioned for his taste with its colonial style, front porch columns, and brick façade. Still, finding a gated community like this in New York City had been one of Allyson’s lucky finds. In the months they’d spent house-hunting, this place seemed to be the only one that met all of his wife’s requirements. At least on paper anyway.

Suddenly, the front door swung open and their real estate agent, Nancy Sanchez, stepped out to greet them. As always, she was perfectly dressed—Dane would say probably overdressed—from the top of her swept- up hair to the genuine pearl bracelet she always wore. Dane had been wealthy long enough to know that the bracelet was the real thing, not costume jewelry.

Nancy grinned at them, her smile so wide that it made her eyes crinkle. The same smile that was reserved for her most exclusive clients. The sort of smile that would be frozen on her face all day. A smile that was only reserved for people like the Prescotts. “It’s so wonderful to see you two,” Nancy said excitedly. “You’re going to love this place—I just know it!” 

She ushered them inside.

As they stepped into the house Allyson gasped, her green eyes sparkling. “Oh, Dane, look. It’s just perfect.”

He furrowed his eyebrows. The interior was more modern than the exterior would have suggested, but he didn’t share his wife’s excitement. “Let’s see the whole house first,” he cautioned.

From their vantage point he could already see that a large part of the ground floor was open concept, which allowed the natural light from outside to fill up the space.

But something gnawed at him. The same unease he had felt for the last few months while they had been house-hunting. He and Allyson had been married for six months. They had been the happiest six months of his life. She filled his life with more happiness than he could have ever imagined. Honestly, some days he thought it must be a crime to be as happy as he was.

And yet, the uneasy feeling remained. Like wearing shoes that were just a little bit too small. It wasn’t the marriage. It was the fact that they had been searching for houses that were relatively close to Prescott Global. So many of their decisions revolved around what Prescott Global needed.  

After they had wrenched control back from the double-crossing Handel siblings nearly six months ago, Dane had agreed to stay on as CEO. He’d signed a six-month contract, because he wasn’t sure if he wanted to stay on. Yes, it was his family’s company. Yes, he wanted it to succeed. Yes, before Allison, it had been the most important thing in the world to him. And it still was important. Of course it was. However, it was just…

He expected he’d renew the contract soon now that the six months was almost up, and that had been the cause of his unease. He would sign the contract renewal, but he had no idea why he was doing it. The fire in the belly he’d once had running the company simply wasn’t there. Not that he’d told Allyson that. Her happiness was far too important for him to reveal that he was grappling with something he really shouldn’t have been grappling with. Especially after she had gone to such lengths to save the company from ruin in the first place.

“I love the hardwood floors.” Allyson laced her arm around his, her face lighting up. The autumn chill had stained her cheeks a beautiful shade of pink. She had grown her black hair out, and there had been many nights when Dane had run his hands through the silky waves after their lovemaking.

He couldn’t help smiling to himself. That part of their marriage hadn’t changed in six months. They still had a hard time keeping their hands to themselves. But that didn’t surprise him. His wife was so tempting and sexy, he really couldn’t imagine keeping his hands off her.

Leaning towards her, he planted a kiss on the corner of her sensuous mouth. The blush in her cheeks deepened and she smiled at him. Every smile he managed to coax from her felt like a reward. A reward he could never get tired of. Never get enough of.

The real estate agent started to give them a tour, leading them around the ground floor. Dane was surprised to discover how ultramodern the kitchen was. It was complete with state-of-the-art technology.

“You can program the stove, oven, and refrigerator from just about anywhere in the house,” Nancy explained as she gestured around the kitchen. “Even the grill outside is programmable. As is the fireplace in the living room and the fire pit outside. The security system is also part of the smart tech that comes with the house. You can even hook up the security system to be programmed from your car if you want.”

Allyson’s eyes widened. “I guess we’ve figured out why this house is worth what it is.”

“Are you still afraid of the ghosts?” he asked, lowering his voice to whisper in her ear.

“Not if you’re with me.” Her sultry voice was already driving him crazy with desire for her. She wrapped her arms around his torso and arched her back, her lips finding his.

Before he could return the kiss, the sound of Nancy softly clearing her throat made him pause. He broke the kiss and exchanged a sheepish grin with his wife.

“Sorry,” Allyson said, pulling away from him.

Nancy waved her hand. “That’s quite all right. I know how you newlyweds can be.” The agent motioned for them to follow her out of the kitchen.

When they finally finished the tour of the house interior, Nancy led them outside.

“I’m going to make a call to the owner to let them know you two have seen the property,” Nancy said, taking her cell phone out of her pocket. “You guys can talk and view the property if you’d like while I’m on the phone.” Nancy stepped back into the house, leaving Dane and Allyson outside on the back porch.

They sat down side by side on the patio swing that overlooked the backyard.

Allyson let out a contented sigh, and snuggled up to him. Wrapping his arm around her shoulder he held her close, enjoying the sensation of her warm, soft body against his. There really was nothing better than spending a Sunday afternoon with the woman he loved.

“I can just imagine us having dinner parties here,” she said. “We could invite all our new friends.”

He frowned at that. It should have made him happy that his wife was excited about the prospect of entertaining guests, but Dane wasn’t exactly a fan of Allyson’s new friends. They were from the upper class. Mostly business types they had met through his mother.

Like the rest of New York’s high society, they had taken to Allyson after she saved Prescott Global from ruin. But Allyson wasn’t used to the fickle nature of high society. One day you were up, the next you were down. Loyalty and genuine friendship weren’t common among people like that. The relationships that New York’s wealthy cultivated were almost always based on what they could get out of it. Friendships and marriages were a mercenary venture as people clawed their way to the top. Dane had long suspected that Allyson was their new target. She was beautiful, and had saved the Prescott fortune from the Handels. Not to mention, for weeks after Prescott Global had been saved he and his wife had been the talk of all the local gossip rags. To her surprise and delight high society had flocked to her, but he sensed that Allyson would only end up disappointed. 

She sat up to face him. “I know you’re skeptical of them, but if you gave them a chance—”

“I have given them a chance,” he pointed out. “I invited some of your friends to the awards ceremony next week.” He wasn’t one for awards and accolades, but the local business community was giving him an award for all of his work at Prescott over the past year. Truth be told, Allyson was probably more excited about it than he was. 

“That’s for work,” she murmured. “I really want you to get to know them outside of work.”

“I’ve been surrounded by people like that my whole life,” he said. “There’s a reason I only have a handful of friends, Allyson.” The truth was, he didn’t trust Allyson’s new friends. He was suspicious of their motives, and he wouldn’t be surprised if they took advantage of his wife’s trusting nature and knifed her in the back.

“Yes, but isn’t it a good thing that I’m making friends?” she asked. “It’s better than having high society shut me out like we thought they would.”

“Some members of high society are so bad, being shut out is a blessing compared to being friends with them.” The atmosphere around them had suddenly grown tense in the wake of their disagreement.

She turned to face the yard, the expression on her face souring. Trying to convince her to see things his way seemed to be backfiring already. The more he tried to warn her, the more she would dig in her heels. Which meant she’d head right towards the very people most likely to do her harm. “You don’t like the house either, do you?”

“It’s not that I don’t like it,” he said. “The outside is old-fashioned.”

She tilted her head, her suspicious gaze falling on him. “That’s it? That’s the only reason?”

How to tell her about his apprehension? The apprehension he felt about making such huge decisions based on what was good for Prescott Global, rather than what was right for them.

Her huge green eyes were curious. As if she were asking him a tender question with her eyes alone. As if she could sense the unease that had roiled through him these past few months.

He weighed whether to unburden himself and tell her. Shook that thought from his mind. No. Allyson loved working at Prescott Global. She was now part of the team that was building the women’s division from the ground up. Over the past six months she had not only worked at a top position at Prescott, she had also enrolled in a university business program. Most of her classes took place at night or were online, and she was so dedicated. She had put in so much work. How could he tell her that the company that was making her so happy and fulfilled now felt like a noose tightening around his neck?

“I’ll miss the view at our apartment,” he finally said. “Looking out over the balcony at the city…especially at night. It’s like having New York City in the palm of your hand.”

“Our apartment does have a nice view.” She smiled. “But I love the feeling this place gives me. It’s like having a little bit of the country in the city.” She looked back at the yard, her entire body seeming to relax.

The leaves on the trees surrounding the yard had all changed. The autumn foliage really was spectacular, having turned into remarkable shades of red and gold.

And yet, the view from their luxury apartment was unparalleled. There might be good technology in this house, but the inside didn’t strike him as being like the ultramodern interior of their luxury apartment.

“I don’t want to rush you into anything,” she continued.

He glanced at her, wondering what on earth he had done to deserve a woman like her. It was obvious that this was the house of her dreams. The house she had been longing for. But here she was, still ready to risk losing it for his sake.

Finally he said, “Let’s talk about it some more. Weigh our options.”

She nodded, then chewed her lip. “You won’t object to me inviting my friends when we do settle on a house, will you?”

“Of course not. Why would I object?”

“Well…you don’t like them,” she reminded him.

Dane wrapped his arm around her again. “That doesn’t mean you can’t invite them.”

“I know,” she said. “I just feel like my friends are pulling away a bit. It would be nice for everyone to get together and bond over a housewarming party.”

He didn’t say anything. Just leaned forward to plant a kiss on the top of her head. It wouldn’t help her to reveal what he was really thinking deep down. Deep down, he suspected her high society friends were pulling away not because Allyson had middle-class beginnings, but because she now had more wealth than she knew what to do with. Getting a house like this meant that Allyson was moving ahead in the world. And if there was one thing the upper class hated more than no money, it was someone like Allyson having a lot of it.

As he held on to her tightly he couldn’t bear to tell the woman he loved that maybe the worst thing Allyson could do wasn’t to fail, but to succeed.