“It’s in the marriage bible under part B subsection two point two: a bride should never, ever, ever do dishes on her wedding night. Rather, it reads, she should service her husband in any way he sees fit and show him how truly grateful she is to have had the good fortune to marry him.”

If they each lived to be a hundred years old—of course she’d get there way before he did—he’d probably never stop making her laugh. “You just made that up.”

“I had to do something. I thought you were in here making yourself ready for me, and I find you doing the dishes. This called for drastic measures and rulebooks.”

“How were you expecting me to ‘make myself ready’ for you?”

“By getting naked, for one thing.”

“So you expected me to be standing naked in the kitchen, waiting for you to tell me how best I can service you?”

“That would’ve been an excellent way to begin our marriage.”

“Let me know when you wake up from this dream you’re having and are ready for a dose of reality.”

“I never want to wake up from this dream I’ve been having, even when you don’t honor and obey me with your nakedness in the kitchen.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re incorrigible and delusional?”

He pushed off the door and started toward her, his green-eyed gaze fixed on her. “You have. Many times.”

Carolina felt like prey caught in the crosshairs. “And yet you still come back for more.”

He stopped when he was merely an inch away from her. “I’m a glutton for punishment.”

“Today you signed on for a lifetime’s worth of punishment.”

“Yes, and thank Christ for that.” Wrapping his arms around her neck, he kissed her as if he’d been dying to for days, weeks, months, a lifetime, completely losing himself in the kiss.

Surrounded by him, Carolina could only hold on and go along for the ride the way she had since the last of her defenses had fallen, allowing him into her heart and soul where he was now so firmly entrenched she couldn’t picture a day without him at the center of it.

Carolina had no idea how much time had passed when he finally withdrew from the kiss in small increments, keeping his lips touching hers as he gazed into her eyes. “God, I’ve needed that since Judge McCarthy said I could kiss my bride.”

“You behaved very admirably all afternoon.”

“Which means I should be rewarded for my good behavior.” He slid his hands from her shoulders to her hands and tugged her along behind him as he left the kitchen and headed for their bedroom. “We should’ve gone somewhere tonight. Somewhere special.”

“This is somewhere special. It’s our home, and it’s become much more special to me since you moved in.”