CHAPTER ONE

"Oh no you don't," Eric Dyson shook his head with a mischievous grin, thrusting his arm across the doorway of the new apartment to prevent Lindsey's entry. "My lady, I believe it is tradition for the groom to carry the bride through the thresh hold of their new place of residence."

Lindsey giggled childishly as she allowed herself to be swooped up by Eric's muscular arms as if she were a feather. Eric kicked open the door with his right foot and carried her into the apartment, kicking the door shut behind them once they were inside. Then he gazed into Lindsey's sparkling sapphire eyes as their faces met for a sensual, passionate kiss.

"I love you Mrs. Lindsey Dyson," Eric whispered softly as their lips parted.

"And I love the sound of that," Lindsey purred, laying her head on her new husband's broad shoulder.

"I've been waiting to hear that since the day I met you."

"Well, now you will hear it everyday for the rest of your life." Eric brushed his lips across her delicate forehead before standing her lightly on the floor in front of him. He reached over and flicked on the light switch in the small foyer, then gazed around at his surroundings. Straight ahead from where they stood was the rectangular shaped living room but it wasn't as empty as the last time he had seen it. As a matter of fact nothing looked as he remembered it had when they had last been in the apartment the day before the wedding.

Eric and Lindsey had so hoped to be completely moved into their new apartment before they got married on Saturday. But thanks to the old tenants who refused to move out until the previous Friday, it was the day of their wedding before they were able to begin moving in. Although they had decided to post pone their honeymoon until they could better afford to go someplace they truly wanted to go, they still had possessed no desire to spend the most important day of their lives moving tons of furniture and boxes.
That's when their parents had stepped in. They put their funds together and for their wedding present they reserved a spacious glorious honeymoon suit for the newly wed couple to spend their first night of marriage, meanwhile devoting their time after the wedding to transferring Eric and Lindsey's possessions to the new apartment they would share. Only a few straggling boxes that the couple retrieved themselves on their way home that morning had remained to be moved.

Lindsey let out a long exasperated sigh as her sapphire eyes danced around the living and dining room area before her. "We have a lot of work to do," she breathed, promenading through the obstacle of boxes and furniture to the center of the room. "I can't believe how much stuff two single people can accumulate," she declared, spinning in circles. "We're not going to have any room for anything we get together now that we're married."

"Don't despair my darling princess. With a little careful arranging we will have plenty of room in our new lavish apartment," Eric averred, swaying over to push a strand of Lindsey's silky brunette hair from her cheek. "I'm going down stairs to get the rest of the boxes. I shall return shortly."

"Do you need any help?"

"No, you stay here and begin figuring out what we're going to do with all this stuff." Eric spun on his heel and headed for the door. "You always said you love to decorate. Now you have a two bedroom apartment waiting for you to make into a glamour piece."

"Thanks for your vote of confidence," Lindsey chuckled slightly, gazing at her new husband with a longing indication of her love for him. "And what are you going to do, sit around and watch?"

"Quit to the contrary my dear," Eric declared raising one finger for emphasis. "I'm going to become your servant. You tell me what to do and I shall do it. Husband Eric Dyson is now at your beck and call my dear," he cracked, saluting her before he bolted out the door.

Again Lindsey gazed around at her surroundings. Lavish wasn't exactly how she would describe their new apartment. Comfortable and cozy would be more like it. Although it was larger than the studio apartment she had lived in up until the wedding it was still far from being a castle.

Two bedrooms, one bath, a joining living room/dining room area, and a very small kitchen were all the apartment consisted of. On their salaries they could've afforded a nicer apartment but being newly weds they had decided they would rather not stretch their budget to far until they got used to their new lives together. After all, it was a proven fact that financial problems were the number one destroyer of recently married couples. Of course when they had first seen the apartment and paid the deposit and first month's rent it had looked much larger than it did at that moment but then again it had been empty at that time too.
Lindsey stood in her spot, mesmerized momentarily not knowing where to begin. A loud grumble from the pit of her stomach sent her in a mad dash for the kitchen. She hadn't eaten since the reception the afternoon before. Nothing more than fresh strawberries and other fruits that had occupied a beautiful fruit basket left in their honeymoon suit. She knew there was probably nothing to eat in the house yet. After all, grocery shopping was something that she or Eric ever did so their had been very little food to move from their other apartments. But still it sounded like a good place to start.

The second she stumbled into the small cubical of a kitchen her eyes landed on another basket with an enormous white lace bow twined with baby's breath tied to the handle filled with an assortment of chocolates and individually wrapped cream filled pies. A smile crept across Lindsey's radiant face. Even as she retrieved the card that accompanied the basket there was no doubt who it was from-her mother. The one person who knew better than anyone Lindsey's love for junk food. If it were up to Lindsey she would eat nothing but junk food every meal of her life. Amazingly she remained a slim size eight but she was sure that was only because of her height of nearly five foot seven.

Snatching a chocolate cream filled pie from the basket, she shoved it in her mouth as she opened the closest box marked dishes that sat on the pale green Formica counter. With the cream filled pie in one hand, she reached up with her empty hand and opened the cabinet directly in front of her surprised to find that the cabinet was already full. Cans of different vegetables, a variety of boxes of Hamburger Helper, and various other bags and boxes of potato chips and other snack food consumed the cabinet. In the refrigerator, a gallon of milk, orange juice, sodas, and condiments lined the shelves. Nearly every cabinet Lindsey opened was full of something except the one over the sink that simply concealed a piece of paper taped to the inside of the door that read 'plates, glasses, etc.'.

"Oh mother," Lindsey chuckled, shaking her head. "Even after four years of being out of your house I still can't escape your motherly ways."

"Honey, where do you want this last box?" Lindsey heard Eric call from the front door.

"What does it say on the top?" Lindsey raised her voice, returning her attention to the boxes on the counter top.

"Um-study," Eric answered with a trace of confusion in his deep masculine voice. "Baby, we don't have a study."

Lindsey sniggered as she sauntered to meet her new husband in the living room. "I know darling. It just made me feel so professional and rich to write that."

"Well, could you tell me where you want it before I drop it?" Eric grunted, staggering to keep his balance.

"What do you have in this thing anyway, bricks?"

"Close, it's a b word-try books," Lindsey corrected. "Um-can you make it to the spare bedroom with it? That's where all my books and computer stuff will be set up. I'll deal with unpacking it later."

"I'll give it my best shot," Eric breathed, carefully making his way down an open trail through the living room and down the hall to the extra bedroom. Just inside the room he sighed with relief and allowed the box to slam to the floor with a loud thud in between the gazillion other boxes that lined the walls of the small bedroom.

"Come here," Lindsey ordered, grabbing Eric by the hand and pulling him to the kitchen. "You won't believe what our mother's did."

"Oh boy," Eric groaned, resisting Lindsey's tug on his arm. "With our parents there's no telling. Are they still treating us like we're a couple of teens instead of adults?"

"Pretty much. They arranged our kitchen for us," Lindsey informed snickering. She thrust her arm out to display the cleanest room in the house. "And filled our cabinets and refrigerator with more food than you can imagine."

"Is any of the food eatable?" Eric questioned, wrinkling his nose. "Or is it all gourmet food that takes hours to cook?"

"Actually they seem to have done very good," Lindsey admitted, swinging a cabinet open for display. "Boxes of Hamburger Helper in the cabinets and quick microwave family meals in the freezer. Is it possible they are finally coming to realize that neither of us are chef's in the kitchen or care to be for that matter?"

"Stranger things have happened," Eric shrugged. Wrapping his arms around Lindsey's trim waist as he drew her close for another long passionate kiss.

"Sweetheart," Lindsey said when their lips parted in between the pecks that followed. "We are never going to get anything accomplished if we stand here and kiss all day."

"But kissing you is so much more fun." Eric stomped his foot in protest. "We're newly weds. We're supposed to spend all of our time kissing."

"Yes but we do both have to return to work tomorrow and I would like to come home tomorrow night and know that there are a few less boxes left to unpack."

"Oh all right," Eric poked out his bottom lip like a disappointed two year old. "Where do you want me to start your majesty."

Lindsey laughed and threw her hands in the air. "Pick a box-any box."
"I met our next door neighbor a few minutes ago," Eric informed as he began transferring a few pots and pans from a box to a bottom cabinet that Lindsey's mother had designated for them by the stove. "His name is Grant. Grant Cole I think he said. He seems like a cool dude."

"Is he married?" Lindsey asked, shoving plates and glasses in the cabinet her mother had set aside for them. As much as it aggravated her that her mother took it upon herself to arrange her kitchen for her she still found herself being an obedient child.

"Yeah, and he looks like he's my age too. Probably in his mid to late twenties," Eric responded. He stopped unpacking and propped himself up against the pale green stove with his hands behind him. "Maybe we should think about getting to know them," he suggested. "You're always saying we need to find another couple to hang out with."

"And you know how our search for that has gone," Lindsey reminded, flashing him a sideways glance over her shoulder. It wasn't like they had not attempted to find another couple they were compatible with to hang around. They had been on several double dates over the past few months and all of them had ended with the same outcome-a total disaster! The other couples had been either to stuck-up, interested in totally different things than she and Eric were, or they had been just down right boring!

"Being our luck they will turn out to be like all the other couples we have met. We already have another disastrous night ahead of us with your boss tomorrow night. Should we ask for more?"

"You need to stop being so pessimistic my dear," Eric teased, slapping Lindsey's shoulder length brunette hair playfully. Her hair went flying from side to side. "You never know. Paul's new girlfriend may surprise you. By the time dinner is over with you may have a new best friend."

Lindsey whirled around from the cabinet and narrowed her sapphire eyes at her husband. "Have you lost your mind?" she shrilled, her face wrinkling from shock. "I have met a few of Paul's ex-girlfriends. The girls he dates are complete numbskulls! Besides, you and Paul may get along great on the job but you know as well as I do that you have nothing in common except architecture."

"I can't argue with you there," Eric gave in, allowing his hands to fall to his sides. "But either way we still have to go to dinner with them tomorrow night. Paul is so upset that he couldn't make it to the wedding and he's insisting he has to make it up to us. I'm not looking forward to it anymore than you are but I do have to work for the man."

"And we will make the best of it like we always do," Lindsey gurgled, cuddling with Eric's capacious muscular chest. "Now get back to unpacking," she ordered playfully, reaching a hand behind him to swat him on his tight butt cheek.

Hours later, nearly exhausted from a day of unpacking and decorating, Lindsey emerged from the single bathroom in the hall wearing a slinky lace negligee. She swayed through the door of the master bedroom to find her new husband sprawled across the queen size bed awaiting her arrival. Just seeing him lying across the bed stark naked brought a flood of memories to Lindsey's mind. Memories of the first night they had made love over two years before. Even though it had been so long ago, each time after that felt as wonderful as the first.

As Lindsey lovingly stared at her new husband she couldn't believe it had taken her so long to agree to marry the gorgeous creature. She had wanted so much to be his wife for so long and yet Eric had proposed to her three times before she had accepted his hand in marriage. Their difference in careers had been her worry. Eric was an architect, Lindsey an investigative reporter for the Midland Press. Although Eric held an eight to five job Lindsey's job had been known to take up much more of her time. Being an investigative reporter meant everything to her. She had devoted all her time since she could remember training herself, taking classes, and doing everything she could think of to become the best investigative reporter in the state. Even as much as she loved Eric she knew she would never be able to put her career aside and be happy doing so.

But, over time, Eric had proved his everlasting support for Lindsey and her career. There had been many times over the two and a half years they had been together that she had been forced to leave in the middle of one of their dates to rush off to cover a big story that had arisen. More times than she could count she had even been forced to cancel dates with Eric altogether because of her work. But every time Eric was always there when she was through with her latest crisis. Waiting patiently for her to make time for him.

It was because Eric loved her. He loved her in every way a man could love a woman. He knew her hopes and her dreams, knew the goals she had set in her life for herself to reach, and supported her to the fullest extent in everything she wanted, needed, or believed. And if he had been willing to put up with her sudden exits and dedication to her career when they were merely dating surely now that they were married he would be no different. After all, he knew what he was getting into all three times that he had asked her to marry him.

Lindsey laughed quietly as she crawled into bed beside Eric's naked body. She would never forget the look on his baby face when she had finally said "yes". Full of surprise and shock at the same time that she was at last agreeing to marry him, it had definitely been a Kodak moment.

Six months later they were married. It had been a small wedding-family and close friends only. But it had been more beautiful and perfect than Lindsey had ever dreamed it would be. And the memory of the feel of the satin wedding dress against her soft skin and the way Eric looked in his tuxedo standing at the alter was something she would never in her life forget.

Now they had their honeymoon to look forward to. They couldn't afford it yet and didn't know when they would but they were going on a honeymoon someday-one way or another. Sure, they could've afforded to take the weekend and go to a hotel room in another town. But what they wanted was something special. They wanted to go some place neither had ever been-somewhere elegant, ritzy, and so close to paradise that they would never want to return home. Not just for the weekend, when they did finally get to go they would be gone for at least a week. Seven days of being pampered in the life of luxury. What heaven!
"Are you trying to seduce me Mrs. Dyson?" Eric whispered, gazing yearningly up and down Lindsey's perfectly shaped body that was barely covered by the see-through rose colored lacy lingerie.

Lindsey gracefully positioned herself on top of Eric, straddling his waist with her legs. She could feel his arousal on the inside of her thigh throbbing to be inside her body. She leaned down, her face stopping just inches from his lips. "I have papers on you now my dear," she reminded in a seductive sexy voice. "I don't have to seduce you anymore. You're mine forever now and I can prove it."