Cole glanced from the strawberries to the bouquet of roses to Andre. "Did Gideon put you up to making crepes this morning?"

There was a twinkle in Andre's eye as he said without a hint of sincerity, "The strawberries caught my eye at the farm market yesterday."

Cole rolled his eyes to the window with a smirk. Inside his chest, his heart melted as easily as butter, going all squidgy and soft.

Being with Gideon had always been a slippery slope. Cole's one single complaint was that he could be a little overprotective, to the point of treating Cole like one of his paintings. He did stuff for Cole's benefit without consulting him. He wanted to take care of Logan for Cole, not with him. He could present the results of the revenge to him on a silver platter later.

When James twisted Cole's thoughts up a few months ago, giving him the impression that Gideon was nothing more than a bull in a china shop, unable to temper his actions, he hadn't conjured the notion out of nothing. Gideon tended to do what he wanted when he wanted without consulting anyone, especially if he thought it was to Cole's benefit. And who could blame him? Growing up with all that Barta power backing him, he did not know how else to operate.

Cole had accepted by this point that he was a kept man, but he didn't want to be treated like a child or a piece of art.

Fortunately, in all his overthinking, Gideon generally knew when he was about to reach Cole's bottom line. He'd still toe that line, like he had yesterday, but he also knew when to admit he was going a little too far. And he always prepared something to make up for it.

Cole was weak when it came to his husband.

If Gideon had prevented him from seeing Logan, would these roses have assuaged his anger this morning?

He wanted to think not, but he wasn't so sure anymore.

When he sent Gideon a picture of the roses and asked [no instructions?] he didn't receive a reply. His diligent husband was probably in the meeting now and couldn't text back whenever he wanted. When Cole took a shower, he made sure to send a steamy picture of the water running down his chest, skin flushed from the heat, nipples on full display. Hopefully, it would cheer Gideon up a little.

After all, the man hadn't given into his psycho instinct and chained him to the bed to keep him from coming along. And he had been the one to orchestrate the whole revenge. Cole wouldn't have been able to pull it off on his own. He wouldn't have had the balls, let alone the resources. Hell, without Gideon, he'd still be dancing for Logan.

He had successfully been wooed, though he hadn't needed to be.

But the bouquet and crepes were only the beginning.

The car came as promised to pick up him. It was not actually a car, but an SUV Limo that Cole recognized from a few other times Gideon had taken him out. The back was spacious, with a TV, plenty of seating, and, of course, a fully stocked bar. Out of all the times Cole rode in it, more than half ended with Gideon fucking him.

Since it was such a large vehicle that Gideon only called around when he wanted to show off or planned on getting into Cole's pants while they were driving, it seemed a little odd to send it to pick Cole up alone. Of course, Gideon had planned on being here with him, so that was probably why.

He hopped up from his seat on the front porch steps and jogged down the sidewalk, fiddling with his phone between his hands. He had been picked up like this plenty of times since he married Gideon, but the whole process still made him feel a little awkward. He waited for the driver to come around to the passenger side and greet him.

The one time he tried to open the door for himself, the driver that day had acted like he'd been gravely insulted, like a bellboy who wanted to carry your luggage for the tip but was turned down. Except Cole didn't tip any of Gideon's staff. It was, like, a matter of pride for them.

"Hi Barry," he smiled when today's driver came into view. "How's it going?"

"I'm very well, Mr. Barta," Barry reached for the door with one of his gloved hands. There wasn't a smudge anywhere on the gleaming black paint job and he wasn't about to leave any fingerprints. Maybe that was why they didn't like it when he opened the door himself. They'd have to buff his fingerprints off. "How are you today?"

"Hot," Cole complained. After waiting outside for only two minutes, he was in danger of sweating through his shirt. "It's so hot out. How's your wife, by the way? She's, what, seven months along now? Eight? This heat must be killing her."

"She's certainly ready to welcome our daughter into the world already," Barry replied mildly as he opened the door.

"A daughter! It's a girl? Congrats," Cole said with a smile. Then he turned his eyes toward the inside of the SUV and promptly forgot everything else.

Forget those two dozen roses.

They had nothing on the hundreds of roses stuffed into the back. The car was practically bursting with bright, vibrant red. They were strapped to the seats and lined the floor, creating a whole carpet of that blocked the mini bar, TV, and most of the seats from view. Usually there was enough room for Gideon to have him quite comfortably in any number of different positions, but now he would be lucky to squeeze himself in alone with all those flowers.

"Um."

Barry followed his line of sight with a knowing glint in his eye. "I can move a couple of them to the front?"

"No," Cole said faintly, "No that's alright. I want to see all of them."

He crawled inside and Barry shut the door behind him. Cool a/c and the cloying scent of hundreds of roses enveloped him. He wrinkled his nose. Though it was a shame to let the a/c out, he cracked a couple of the windows for some fresh, muggy air.

The petals were silky soft beneath his fingers when he touched them. Not a single one seemed bruised, as if they had been loaded into the car with extreme care. It wasn't until they started moving that he wondered if he should have unloaded them so they wouldn't end up stuck in the hot car after Barry took him wherever he was taking him. He also realized that he had failed to ask where the hell they were going.

Seemed like he'd been lured into the car by roses the same way guileless kids could be lured with candy.

He took a picture of all the roses and sent them to Gideon with a bunch of exclamation points and heart emojis. Then he slid the divider at the front of the compartment open so he could talk to Barry.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"It's a surprise, Mr. Barta," Barry told him.

"Oh come on, you know I won't tattle if you tell me."

"Don't you think a surprise is more fun?"

Cole pouted.

Barry took pity on him, or perhaps on himself, since he knew Cole would keep pestering him about it and said, "Don't worry. I know for a fact that you'll like it." Then he winked in the rear view mirror.

That meant he'd taken Cole to this place before, which narrowed it down to a handful. Without the pressure of the vast unknown bearing down on him, Cole could relax.

The places Barry had taken him and Gideon to before were all ones he was comfortable with. Gideon's office. The restaurants they frequented. A country club, since Cole decided he needed to take up some kind of physical activity now that he wasn't dancing. Gideon, the rich motherfucker, was a member of a country club. No going to the Y for him. Nothing less than the Manor Hill Club. Actually, his mother had a membership, and he was just listed on it or something.

But it got Cole free tennis lessons.

He's chosen to learn tennis mostly as a joke and because Alexis said that it was a must for a rich househusband. Also, because it was an excellent excuse to wear tiny little shorts which drove Gideon absolutely bonkers. Thirdly, once he learned how to play, it turned out to be an amazing workout and way to vent frustrations.

Gideon probably planned for them to play a few rounds so he could vent all his anxiety about dinner into tennis yelling. And distract himself with the sight of Cole prancing around in those tiny shorts. He would have to take a picture to send him.

His phone buzzed and he dropped his eyes to the screen. A jolt of satisfaction ran through him when he saw that Gideon had finally responded.

[Did you find the instructions?]

Cole whipped around and scanned the roses, then spotted a little note attached to one of them.

There is a bag of clothes in the trunk. Make sure to take it with you. The outfit you picked for tonight is inside. The limo will pick you up again later, so you don't have to worry about anything. Just relax and enjoy yourself.

This was handwritten in Gideon's gorgeous cursive on the back of one of his business cards, which meant it was definitely an addition after he'd ordered the roses. After he'd learned he needed to go to a meeting instead of coming along with Cole to relax and enjoy himself. Cole pouted down at it.

[Wish you were here relaxing with me. I've been thinking about you all day. Is your meeting done yet?]

[Not even close, baby. We're only starting the second round of coffees.]

That was tragic. Given the importance of this meeting, it would last at least four or five rounds of coffee, as well as a lunch, and, hopefully, a round of whiskey glasses to end it. To fortify his dutiful husband against the dreadfulness of all that, Cole sent him a picture of himself sniffing the roses with his eyes closed and a happy smile on his face, the color of the petals reflecting off his cheeks to make them glow a pretty pink.

[Thanks for working so hard], he texted along with the picture.

As expected, they pulled into the lane for the country club. It was lined with huge beautiful maples, a few of which were already turning yellow, despite it still being August. Beyond them were the rolling hills of the pristine golf course, dotted with sand pits and ponds. The flags at each hole fluttered in the wind. Cole watched a golf ball go soaring. One of the sand pits had captured a player, who was struggling to extract his ball.

This was an entirely different universe than the world Cole had known until only half a year ago or so. But he liked the peace and quiet of this place, just as he'd always enjoyed the hushed reverence in the art museum. Plus they held adult arts and craft nights here that he liked to come to sometimes. Gideon had hinted that he could ask about becoming an instructor, but for now, Cole was enjoying the leisurely life of a house husband.