The Ruby Circle

ADRIAN

MARRIED LIFE WASN'T WHAT I'D EXPECTED.

Don't get me wrong: I had no regrets about the woman I'd married. In fact, I loved her more than I'd ever imagined it was possible to love a person. The reality we lived in, though? Well, let's just say I'd never really imagined anything like that either. In all our previous fantasies, we'd dreamed of exotic locations and, most importantly, freedom. Being cooped up in a small suite of rooms had never been part of any escape plan, let alone a romantic getaway.

But I was never one to back down from a challenge.

"What's this?" asked Sydney, startled.

"Happy anniversary," I said.

She'd just finished getting showered and dressed and now stood in the bathroom's doorway, staring around at the transformation I'd wrought in our living room. It hadn't been easy doing so much in so little time. Sydney was an efficient person, and that extended to showers as well. Me? You could have conducted full demolition and remodeling in the time it took me to shower. With Sydney, there'd been barely enough time to decorate the place in candles and flowers. But I'd managed.

A smile crept over her face. "It's only been one month."

"Hey, don't say 'only,'" I warned. "It's still monumental. And I'll have you know that I plan on celebrating every month for the rest of our lives."

Her smile turned into a full-on grin as she ran her fingers over the petals of a vase full of flowers. It made my heart ache. I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen such a genuine smile on her. "You even got peonies," she said. "How'd you manage that?"

"Hey, I have my ways," I stated loftily.

Though it's probably better she doesn't know what those ways are , a voice in my head warned.

Sydney strolled around and assessed the rest of my handiwork, which included a bottle of red wine and a box of chocolate truffles artfully set out on the kitchen table. "Isn't it a little early in the day?" she teased.

"Depends on whom you're