The last time I was in Newton Hills I was punched in the gut. It felt like a simultaneous blow to the jaw and nose the way my father delivered my inheritance news through his attorney.

It didn’t matter that a heart attack had killed him, my father tried to find a way to make me miserable even after his death. But the bastard wasn’t going to win this time.

I left Newton Hills with a plan that spit in the face of his insults, but I was returning with something far more valuable—I had Evie now.

My wife unlocked the door to her townhouse. It had been vacant for weeks. It was dark, but as soon as we walked through the door I was hit with how it still felt warm, like Evie. I laughed when I spotted the pillows everywhere.

“Do you want to pack these up and take them back to New York?” I jumped on the couch and half the pillows bounced on the floor.

Evie walked around turning on lamps. There was a glow in the cramped living room that we didn’t have in my warehouse apartment.

“I will pack up every single pillow and blanket if I can.” She grinned, dropping into the space next to me.

There was a stark contrast between how she lived her life and I lived mine. She wanted to curl up like a cat every chance she had. It was hard to ignore how adorable she was.

“I guess we should pack some of your other things too. I can hire a moving company.” I looked around. She didn’t have much furniture. It wouldn’t match a damn thing in the New York apartment, but it was convincingly Evie’s style.

“Really?” She smiled. “I would love to take some of my things back. I miss my clothes. And my pictures.”

“Of course. There’s plenty of room.” I had to fight the impulse to stake claim on every inch of the apartment. Evie was my wife. She lived there too. I had to stop being a dick about everything that was mine before she was in my life.

She sighed. “We should enjoy this for a minute.”

“Why?”

“Because my family is going to descend on us any second and this quiet isn’t going to last long.”

I laughed. “They can’t be that bad.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re cute when you play dumb.”

“Hey.” I attacked her sides, tickling her until she cried with laughter. I pulled her under me, covering her mouth with mine.

She moaned. It was enough to trigger my cock into action. I tangled my hands in her hair.

“Have you ever been fucked on this couch?” I taunted.

She nipped at my bottom lip. “No,” she answered. “I never have.”

I grinned, feeling the need to take my wife right here. “You know how our last night in Newton Hills was spent.” I raised my eyebrows.

The doorbell rang and we both sat upright, scattering pillows in every direction. The door burst open and Evie practically pushed me to the floor, scrambling to get to her mother and sister. Shit. I had to calm the throbbing pulse she had started before I could stand.

I watched as her mother and sister pulled her into hugs.

“Mama. Frannie.”

“Let me look at you. You’re so tan and golden.” Her mother stepped back and observed her daughter. “What have you been eating? You’re thin as a rail.”

Evie swatted her mother’s hands away. “I’ve been eating plenty. It was a tropical diet in Tahiti. I had lots of fruit.”

Frannie arched her eyebrows. “Are you already becoming a New Yorker? You look like one.”

“No,” Evie fired back. “You haven’t even said hi to Jeremy yet.” The three women rotated toward the couch.

I stood and walked around to the makeshift foyer Evie had created with a coat rack and bench.

“Mrs. Rossi.” I extended my hand. “It’s good to see you again.” I didn’t know it was so easy to feel eighteen again. Normal people’s parents could do that to me.

She pressed her lips together. “I never thought you’d be my son-in-law, Jeremy Hartwell.”

“Neither did I.” I grinned.

“Well, come here. We hug in this family.” She motioned me toward her. I stepped closer as she wrapped her small frame into a hug.

I tried to think of the last time my own mother had hugged me. It wasn’t at the will reading. It wasn’t at my father’s funeral. It had been so long, I couldn’t place the memory. I was sure as a child she must have held me, or brought me onto her lap, but even that was hard to picture. We weren’t an affectionate family. I had grown used to it.

As soon as Mrs. Rossi let go, Frannie pounced.

“I can’t believe you, Jeremy,” she squealed. Frannie’s perfume was strong and citrus-laden. She was louder than her younger sister, but just as beautiful. It was another reminder I hadn’t paid enough attention to the Rossi girls in high school.

“Good to see you Frannie.”

I felt Evie’s hand slide into mine. There was an adoring look in her eyes.

“Evelyn, we need to get going,” her mother spoke quickly.

“Going?” I looked at them.

Frannie plucked Evie’s coat from the hook. “Yes, we’re throwing Evie’s bridal luncheon this afternoon. The bride cannot be late.”

“Bridal luncheon?”

Evie laughed. “Don’t worry. You are exempt from this one. Stay here and work.” She fastened her coat and grabbed her new designer handbag.

Frannie’s jaw dropped. “Where did you get that?”

“Jeremy bought it for me,” she answered. I didn’t know if she was proud or embarrassed of our wealth, but she had eased into high-end shopping and hadn’t argued with me about it since our first day in New York.

“You bought her a Vella bag?” Her eyes bulged.

I stuck my hands in my pockets. “Looks good on her, don’t you think?”

“I need to give Marcus a new Christmas list,” she added, walking toward the door. “That bag is going at the top of it.”

Mrs. Rossi and Frannie walked outside and Evie paused in the doorway. “I don’t think I’ll be gone long. Girl stuff, you know.”

“I have plenty to do. Don’t worry,” I assured her. “Have a good time.”

All I wanted to do was pull her back to the couch and finish what we started. We were only in town for the weekend. The party was tomorrow night and we had to fly home Sunday. She didn’t have much time to spend with her family. I didn’t know what happened at bridal luncheons, but I had a feeling it was something Evie wanted. It was one more chance for her to get back the bridal traditions we had annihilated when we eloped.

A gust of cold air blew through the open door.

“Go,” I urged. “They’re waiting for you.”

“We won’t have much time when I get home before the family dinner.”

It was the one thing I wasn’t looking forward to doing, but it came with the package. I was going to have to face her father eventually. Maybe around the Rossi family dinner table was a better option than at our reception.

“Got it. Have fun.” I winked.

She pulled the latch and was gone. I turned around and faced the empty townhouse where my wife used to live. I could have poured over spreadsheets. I could have gotten on the phone with Sasha and prepped her for the ball tomorrow night. I could have read the investor profiles.

I never touched my laptop. Instead, I walked to the laundry closet and found a folded stack of cardboard. I searched drawers until I found packing tape. One by one I assembled the boxes. I started with the pictures of her nieces and nephew on the console table. Then I tackled the books by the fireplace. I kept moving through the room until it was packed.

I hit the kitchen next.

I’d leave enough plates and silverware to use over the weekend, but everything else was going to New York. I didn’t care what it was. If it was Evie’s and had been a part of her life, it was moving with her.