He takes a step away from me, slipping his hands in his pockets as he watches me adjust my dress and stand up straight. I'm trying to act sane but my head is reeling.
Was the kiss just now..an act?
"The contract requires you to not get attached. That means once we're away from eyes, we don't have to speak to each other, we don't even have to see each other. That's all your job entails as my wife," he finishes.
Oh, there's my answer. For some reason my heart sinks a bit but, I try my best to not show that in my expression.
"At least give me a warning before you shove your tongue down my throat next time," I say, my voice void of any emotion.
"You're already looking forward to a next time?" he lets out a dry laugh. I fight the urge to groan and just grind my teeth as I snatch up my bag and move to leave the room.
Aaron grabs my wrist and pulls me back to him, "I was under the impression that you enjoyed it, you were clinging onto me."
Oh, fuck me. "Well, I didn't."
Heaven knows I did, but l'd rather shave my clit than let him have that.
***
That was yesterday and this evening, I'm dealing with another bullshit.
Aaron called me at the wee hours of this morning, telling me to make myself presentable by 6:00 PM, he was sending someone to pick me up and take me to Lord knows where.
I did as he said albeit being bleary-eyed and sleep deprived. I'd spent the whole day filling Tasha and Darius in at the hospital. While this contract required me to sign an NDA, I'd like to pretend it doesn't apply to them at all, they're my support system.
We arrive at a fancy hotel and I'm led to the suite I'll be staying in, apparently.
It's empty, I realize as I step further into the suite, taking in the sheer luxury it exudes. The floor-to-ceiling windows, cityscape view, plush velvet furnishings, not to mention the king-sized bed draped in high-thread-count linens. It's everything.
I go stand by the window, silently watching the city. From up here everything looks so minuscule. Before I can inspect it any further, there's a knock on the door.
I go get it, expecting Aaron on the other side but it's just staff.
There are two boxes by her feet and once l open the door, she stoops to lift them and hands it to me. "Mr. Rutherford says he'll be up in a few and to change into these," the lady says with a smile on her face.
I thank her and shut the door thinking to myself, why does Aaron always feel the need to dress me up? If I was goona change anyway why tell me to make myself presentable.
I set the baxes down on the bed, unstack them and take the lid off the first one. It's a dress, a red strapless dress. A chuckle escapes my lips, it's funny how it's in my favorite color. The second box has shoes in it and a pouch containing jewelries.
Without wasting time, I go put the ensemble together and when I stand in front of the mirror, I can't help but smile at my reflection.
Everything's perfect, the slit makes me a tad bit uncomfortable because of the placement and I may be showing a little too much cleavage but, asides that I could definitely work with this.
"Where is he taking us?" I think to myself as I check out myself in the brightly lit bathroom, a space bigger than my whole apartment.
I wonder what he was thinking when he chose this dress, did he think, "her ass would definitely look good in this,"
Before I can finish my thought, there's a knock at the door.
This time, I check the peep hole before I open the door. It's Aaron. My stomach does that twirly thing it does every time I think of him. Fuck me.
I open the door. He's running his hand through his hair and his hat that I assume he's just taken off is in the other hand.
When he sees me, he freezes mid motion and for nothing short of a minute, he's just staring at me.
"Is something wrong?" I finally ask, my eyebrow arched all the way into my hairline.
He seemingly collects himself and gives the frames sitting on his nose a little nudge with the crook of his index finger. It's the first time I notice he's wearing glasses and that his nose is huge but oddly cute.
For the first time since l've met him, he's dressed in casual clothes, a dark green tee and black cargo pants. The mass of curls is back, framing his face and falling over his eyes.
His aura is a little less intimidating, in the sense that he looks approachable, like the incredibly hot, nerdy guy l'd date in college, if I ever went. It scares me a little, because this version of him? I could fall for that.
"You look stunning Leo," he says stepping into the suite and shutting the door behind him in one motion without breaking eye contact.
It catches me off guard, I didn't know we've moved to nickname basis.
"You have to have known you were handing me Poseidon's Trident with this dress," I say as nonchalantly as I can feign. I can't let him know my body reacts to him every time we're this close.
A flicker of a smile crosses his lips before his hands settle on my shoulders and steer me to the full-length mirror conveniently by the door.
He's standing behind me, taking me in from head to toe. I bite down on my lip as the feeling of his eyes rummaging my body settles in the pit of my stomach.
"Look at you," he whispers, swooping my hair over my shoulder, "you're beyond sexy. Everyone'll have a hard time keeping their eyes off you."
The words slip out my lips without much thought, "What about you?" I ask softly.
My chest tightens as the silence gets thicker. I turn around to face him, so I can see his expression and his eyes seem clouded even as they stare into mine but his lips remain sealed.
Understandingly, I begin to walk away from him but he pulls me back to him. "I won't be able to take my eyes off of you either, Leona. Even if I wanted to. Everyone's going to be watching, wondering when we happened and where I found such a bombshell," a smirk creeps up to my lips.
God, I hope he didn't mean that — because I believed him.
My eyes dart across his face, "Don't worry, I understand how to do my job."
He draws in a sharp breath and nods, "Give me a minute, alright?"
I nod back and he walks over to the bed area where there's a relatively wide closet. I tell myself it's weird to stare and that I should probably look away but my head doesn't get the memo.
I watch him take out some hangers with his clothes on them and lay them on the bed. I watch him take off his t-shirt and find myself staring intently at his toned abs, they look like they were sculpted ever so precisely by gods.
I have to conjure up some self-constraint to turn my head from the absolute eye candy he is and take some steps away from the whole situation, literally.
Before we step out and as his putting on his cologne, the variety of them, I ask him, "What do you mean when you say everyone?"
"We're headed to dinner and not to alarm you but there's going to be a hoard of paparazzi trying to get pictures of us together outside the hotel, do your best to make this look as real as it could possibly be, because this is a defining moment for us. The public is seeing us together as a couple, for the first time. At dinner, eyes are going to be on us, whether it seems like it or not everyone in there will be watching. Will it be too much for you?" he asks, his eyes completely zeroed in on me.
My teeth sink into my lower lip, nervous under his stare but determined to not let it show, I tell him, "It won't, I'll be good."