She spotted him the moment she entered the kitchen. Pressed suit, facial hair trimmed, tie in place. His profile was to her as he filled his mug with coffee.
"Well. Look who's up," she said coolly.
He turned and her heart dipped just a little. There was so much fatigue in his eyes, she almost felt bad for him. Had he slept at all? Then she remembered the shit he'd pulled last night and allowed her anger to take the driver's seat. No matter what they should or shouldn't be doing, his rejection and the way he'd shut her out stung.
"Good morning," he replied, frowning.
What.
Ever.
"My bed was lonely. Care to share where you spent last night? Here at the table? On your yacht? Or did you…" She trailed off when he tipped his head subtly to the side. She heard the crinkle of a plastic bag and slowly turned to find Magda on the other side of the room, fresh trash bag in hand, cabinet door open. Merina hadn't seen her there. And now someone else knew Reese hadn't slept in the same bed as his wife last night.
"I'm sorry, darling," he replied, coming to her. "I ended up working until almost four in the morning and slept in the office." He pressed a kiss to her forehead and tipped her chin. "You were so exhausted last night, I didn't want to wake you."
Her anger morphed into disappointment, which was less sharp but cut deeper. She'd washed in here on a wave of anger, ready to hash things out. Share what was really bothering her. He owed her his honesty behind closed doors. If she was expected to live here with him and pretend to be his blushing bride, the least he could do is treat her with respect.
He offered his coffee mug. "Cream?"
Apparently, her husband was content to carry on business as usual.
"Not today," she answered, covering for the fact that Reese didn't know how she took her coffee.
"Keeping me on my toes, I see," he said, his voice annoyingly light.
How long had he stayed awake turning over whatever upset him? Or had he compartmentalized it completely and not think about it at all?
"Can I drop you at work?" he asked.
You can drop dead, she thought, then bit her sharp tongue.
"I'd prefer to drive," she said, not bothering to pretend for Magda's sake.
"All right, then. See you tonight." With a nod, he walked out to the garage, perfectly unaffected as he told her to "have a nice day."
Mug in hand, Merina watched a sporty silver car she'd never seen speed out of the drive and out the open gate. Then she exchanged a glance with Magda and without bothering to speak to the older woman, turned on her heel and left the kitchen.
* * *
The next couple of weeks reminded Merina of the way she and Reese were when they'd first met. Cool and disconnected. The biggest difference was that now she shared a house with him. And a bedroom. Reese and Merina agreed that sleeping in the same room was paramount so as not to have a repeat of that morning in the kitchen and make Magda more suspicious. "I trust her," he'd said, "but I do want to give her the benefit of plausible deniability."
Reese ordered a couch for the bedroom to be delivered that very day, and since then had spent his nights on it getting the few hours he did sleep after he came in from the office.
Merina took the bed, though she didn't sleep much more than he did now that she'd set up a work-from-home office in the room across from their bedroom. She still went to the Van Heusen to care for the day-to-day, but after hours were no longer spent in the bar with a cup of tea. Now she was expected to be here, where anyone who cared to wonder what she and Reese were up to would assume they were up to their eyes in each other.
Which couldn't be further from the truth.
Rather than keep late hours in his office at the hotel, Reese worked from home at night so as not to raise suspicions with the board. The press hadn't written anything new about their marriage, but Reese expected that to change after Alex Crane's upcoming retirement party.
Over dinner Magda prepared—lemon risotto, salmon scaloppini with truffles, and a crisp white wine—he sat at the head of the table, Merina at his left elbow. Magda had already gone home, leaving them to their meal.
"Dad's party will require a bit of acting," he murmured, picking at his rice.
"On your part, you mean?" It was him who'd walked away from her and hadn't pursued or so much as kissed her on the mouth since that night in the moonlight. The night she'd allowed him to strip her almost bare and bend her over the desk. Part of her felt embarrassed and angry that she'd let him that close, but another more dominant part still pulsed with rejection that he hadn't sent her a sideways glance since.
"Both our parts," he corrected. "Lately we've been distant. Understandable, seeing as how busy we've been."
"Busy?" She let out a sharp laugh. "You tore me out of my clothes and left me by the stairs." She pressed her lips together before she said too much. The last thing she needed was for him to know how she felt. In the race for control, she needed to hold on to as much as possible. Reese was a predator, and she refused to be the wounded, weaker prey.
"We agreed getting physical would be confusing," he said, seeing right through her.
"Who agreed?" she asked, dropping her fork.
Reese sent her a blank look that pissed her right off. How inconvenient he had to live with a woman who demanded they have "real" feelings and "real" conversations. How silly of her, expecting to be treated like a human being.
"It's not ideal, I admit," he said while she silently fumed. "I can have the house staff reduce their hours so they're here when we're not. That way, we can— Where are you going?" he asked when she pushed away from the table.
"I'm tired," she clipped, feeling a swell of emotion hit her like an anvil. She had to get out of here before he saw her cry. She darted from the dining room and ran up the stairs, trying to quell the tears that burned the backs of her eyes.
She was so damn lonely she couldn't stand it. No more morning coffees with her mother, no more late-night chats when she returned home and found her father waiting by the television. She even missed talking to Arnold at the desk when she worked late at the Van Heusen. When she was at work, she was busy, and when she was out to dinner with Reese, she couldn't completely be herself, and when she was here in the house, she was alone. Even with him in the same room, she felt utterly alone.