The Agreement: Book two in the Seattle Billionaires Series

by Nora Ford

  Unlike most of the women I knew, Tessa was never after the Hamilton name or fortune. Seth knew this, which explained why he chose to use Jacob. Tessa wouldn’t do anything for money, but she would do everything for justice. She wouldn’t sit and watch Jacob spending Seth’s money. She will agree, I assured myself.

  I was staring at the phone, waiting for it to ring when I heard a noise outside my office. I went to see what the hell was going on, but before I could reach the door, it burst open, and Tessa rushed in followed by Abby, my assistant. I swallowed hard as my gaze fell on Tessa in a slim-fitting summer dress that stopped just above her knees.

  The low-cut front of her dress emphasized her perfectly shaped breasts. My body responded even when my head was telling it to shut up.

  Only then I looked past Tessa to my flustered assistant. “Sorry, sir. I told her that she couldn't see you without an appointment, but she has just walked in. Should I call the security, sir?”

  “Hi, honey. Aren't you going to introduce me to your assistant?” Tessa gave me a cocky smile as she leaned in and kissed me on the mouth. It was supposed to be short and sweet. Just for the show. But hell, I wanted more.

  I held her body tightly against mine and took control of the kiss, crushing my mouth to hers. She hesitated for a second, but she didn’t pull away. So, I tugged her head back and deepened the kiss.

  She moaned as I sucked her tongue into my mouth and nibbled her plump lips. Obviously, Tessa didn’t want me to stop. She wrapped her arms around me and completely melted into the kiss.

  When I put my hand on her sweet ass and ground my erection against her, she groaned as it hit her at a perfect spot. She moaned and I ate up every sound. Our tongues mingled slow and unhurried.

  Kissing her was like coming home. It was hard to explain. I didn’t want to think about how it could be like this. It was so easy, so fast but it just felt right.

  “Shall I, shall I bring your coffee, sir?” Abby stuttered. I hadn’t noticed she was still in the room.

  We both pulled away. Tessa's hand touched her swollen lips; her eyes widened in surprise. She was beautiful as a warm embarrassed glow traveled up her face. I smiled at her and looked back at Abby, who was blushing. “Sorry Abby, I didn't notice you were still here.”

  “I… I didn't mean to interrupt, I didn't… I didn't know…” She stuttered again.

  “It's fine, Tessa is my fiancée. We're getting married very soon. We just got carried away,” I grinned as I took my place behind my desk. Tessa did the same and sat on the chair opposite me.

  “Con… congratulations sir, do you need your coffee now?”

  “Yes, two, please. Tessa takes her coffee black, extra strong and with one cube of sugar,” I said without taking my eyes off Tessa. She looked surprised that I know how she drinks her coffee but said nothing.

  Once Abby left, I leaned back and studied her for a long moment. “So, we're doing this?”

  “Do we have another choice?”

  “No, we don't,” I shook my head.

  “I still don’t get it. Why would Seth do this?” Tessa looked stressed and confused. Her head flinched back slightly.

  “Didn’t he explain it to you in the letter?”

  Tessa opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She looked away to gather her thoughts, then she finally said, “No, or at least not in a way I understood.”

  “Care to explain?” I wanted to know if Seth told her anything about how I feel about her.

  “Um…I don’t know. The letter was vague. He wanted me to be happy, fall in love and live. Things like that. But I don’t understand, why you?” She tilted her head to the side and pursed her lips.

  “What do you mean?” I raised my brows in question.

  “I mean, don’t you think Jason would have been a better choice? I mean at least we get along with each other,” She said in an uncertain tone.

  I felt a sudden urge of jealous, but I tried not to show it. I crossed my arms in front of my chest and asked her, “Do you want to marry Jason?”

  “I don’t want to marry anyone, but I am confused here. Seth knew how much you hate me. So, why did he want to bring us together?” She glanced around as if she was looking for an answer.

  “I don’t hate you, Tessa.”

  “No? Come on Aron we both know how you feel about me.”

  “And how is that?” I asked amused. This conversation was getting interesting.

  “Fine, maybe hate is a strong word. Let’s say you don’t like me.”

  “What makes you think so?” I knew I wasn’t always on my best behaviour when Tessa was around, but I had my reasons.

  “Listen, I am not here to discuss how we feel about each other. We’re in the same boat now. The way we feel about each other is irrelevant,” She said in a resigned tone.

  “Fine.”

  “I am going to marry you, but I have a few terms we need to discuss first.”

  I raised my brows in question, “What terms?”

  “A courthouse marriage, no wedding, and no rings.” When I didn't answer she carried on, “I will keep my maiden name, and I am not moving in with you.”

  “Fine, I'll move in with you,” I simply said.

  “No, you're not. I don’t like having anyone in my space,” Tessa said quickly.

  “What else can I do? We have to live together. Marriage isn't just signing a piece of paper Tessa. If we agree to do this, we have to do it right. Jacob could take us to court and claim that we’re in a fake marriage.” My tone was sharper than I'd intended but I was irritated by her ridiculous terms.

  “Um, I didn’t think about Jacob, but I know that the police are still after him.”

  “Yeah, but it could take few months. We have to live together until Jacob is out of the picture.”

  “Fine, but only temporarily,” she sighed. “I guess, I can live with this. I work crazy hours anyway. So, we won't have to see each other.”

  “Good, anything else?” I asked impatiently.

  Tessa hesitated for a moment. “Um… one more thing. I won't be sleeping with you.”

  I didn't say anything, I just grinned.

  “What's so funny?” she asked annoyed.

  “Nothing, but the way you kissed me earlier told me otherwise.”

  “You kissed me. It was good, but I'm not interested,” she said brusquely.

  When I raised an eyebrow, she added, “Fine, we kissed. It was a great kiss; I enjoyed it, but I don't want to pursue it further. Satisfied now?!”

  “Yeah, that's much better but can you explain why?” I asked amused.

  Tessa glanced away and sighed. “Let's say if I slept with you, I would break more than one of my rules. It's just going to complicate things.”

  “You're the one missing out here,” I gave her a devilish grin.

  Tessa was about to say something, but a knock on the door interrupted our conversation. A moment later, Abby came in with the coffee. “Anything else Mr. Hamilton?”

  “Please, cancel all my appointments for the rest of today.”

  “I'll get right on it,” she said, but before she turned to leave, she stole a furtive glance at Tessa, who sat sipping her coffee, and smiled knowingly.

  Tessa waited until Abby was gone, then she asked, “Are you sleeping with her?”

  “Me and Abby?! Hell, no. Why would you say such a thing?” I was shocked.

  “Nothing, just curious,” she smiled coyly.

  “I don't sleep with my employees; it's against my rules,” I assured her.

  “Well, I don't mind if you did. I was only asking,” she shrugged.

  I had a pretty good idea where this conversation was going, but I needed to know what she was thinking. “What do you mean, you don't mind?”

  “I mean, our agreement. It's not real. We will have a sort of an open marriage,” she paused, “So, you can sleep with whoever you want as long as you're discreet. I don't care.”

  “Aha! So that's what you think? An open marr
iage?! Sorry, but there is no such thing in my book,” I paused, and my gaze met hers. “I don't care what you're calling this: agreement, deal, marriage or whatever. I'm going to respect it; I won't be sleeping around. I expect the same thing from you.”

  Tessa lifted her head. “Wow, I didn't know you can go without it for a whole year. I'm impressed.”

  “Tessa…” I struggled to leash my fuming impatience. “No affairs, no flings and no one-night-stands for either of us.”

  “Well, I guess I'll have to replace my monthly hot steamy nights with good porn and my BOB,” she tried to joke, but it didn't lessen the tension growing in the room.

  For the next few minutes, we said nothing. I was sure Tessa was trying to provoke me when she bragged about her sexual adventures. I wasn’t jealous of her battery-operated boyfriend. However, I didn’t like to be reminded of her way of living. Being with a variety of men, having a good time with whomever she wanted to on a whim. I was aware of her sexual proclivities.

  I knew exactly when the last time she had a one-night-stand, too. It was two months ago. Not that I was stalking her or anything, but after Seth's accident, I assigned two of my private security team to protect her. She didn't know that, but someone was always watching her over the past three years.

  She wanted people to believe that she was living her life to the fullest and was hopping from one bed to another. However, that wasn't entirely true. I knew everything about her and the way she lived. She didn't date or do relationships; only one-night-stands. Although she has had a lot of those in the past three years, they meant nothing to her. Other than her work and her family, her life was empty. But not anymore, I was determined to change that.

  “So, how soon is very soon?” Tessa's voice pulled me out my thoughts. “Sorry?!”

  “You told your assistant we're getting married very soon. When exactly is that?”

  Her detached, impersonal tone made me furious, yet I kept my temper and said casually, “We're running out of time. I was thinking tomorrow.”

  “Fine, let's do it then,” Tessa suddenly went all red as she realized the double meaning in her sentence.

  “I, … I didn't mean it that way,” she flustered.

  “I know what you meant,” I grinned.

  Without looking at my eyes, she quickly stood up and gathered her purse. “Well, see you tomorrow, then.”

  I waited three seconds before I stood right behind her.

  “And Tessa?”

  “What?” She turned to face me. As I leaned forward, she thought I was going to kiss her. Jesus, how I wanted to kiss her again but doing so would have been a colossal mistake. Tessa was already on the defensive; her body went rigid.

  Instead, I made a twisting gesture with my hands and said, “The keys?”

  She looked up at me confused.

  “The keys to your apartment; I need to move my things in,” I explained.

  “Oh, yeah, sure.” She quickly searched through her purse for the keys and handed them to me.

  She left without a word.

  Chapter Five

  Aron

  My grin widened as I watched Tessa leaving my office in such a hurry. She didn't even notice Abby, who waved goodbye. I made her nervous, and that was a good sign.

  Tessa claimed that our new living arrangement wouldn't change anything. She thought that we could live together like two roommates who barely meet. I was going to prove her wrong, and I was going to start right now.

  After I made a few phone calls and arranged to move my stuff, I drove to her place.

  Tessa's luxurious penthouse apartment in Queen Anne was a generously sized home. Other than the master bedroom, it had three more spacious bedrooms. She furnished two of them to be guest rooms and left the third one empty. The floor to ceiling window in the separate dining area provided a great view of the Seattle downtown city skyline but she rarely ate there. I smiled as I stepped in her large living room. While it was too feminine for my taste, it was warm and cozy.

  She and Seth bought this apartment together right after they moved back to Seattle and decided to get married. Seth could have afforded to buy it alone, but Tessa insisted on paying her share, so she used her trust fund.

  Tessa has been living in it for five years now, three of them alone. Other than Seth and her father, she never had a man in her apartment. I knew she didn't like that I was moving in with her, but she had no other choice.

  Although she believed otherwise, Tessa needed someone in her life. Someone who would make her feel, love and live again. Why couldn't that be me? I craved her for so long, yet I never tried to make her mine. Even after Seth's death, I watched over her, but I kept my distance. Not anymore. Whether she liked it or not Tessa was going to get used to having me in her life.

  I deliberately chose the guest room next to Tessa's and turned it into a solid, grand, sturdy and most importantly, functional masculine bedroom. When I was satisfied with the result, I took a shower, changed and waited for her.

  I was sitting in the living room when the front door closed. A few seconds later I heard Tessa's voice. “Tal! Is that you?”

  When no one answered, she took a few steps forward. She froze in her tracks when she saw me. “Aron?! What the hell are you doing here?”

  “I moved in this afternoon. Now I live here.” A grin tugged at my lips. Tessa wasn't expecting me tonight.

  Before she could recover from her surprise, I added. “I moved my stuff in the main guest room; I hope you don't mind.”

  “You did what? That’s Talia's room. Of course, I mind.”

  I knew that, and I also knew that a door connected it to her room. “I moved her things to the empty room next to the kitchen. Talia said it was okay.”

  “You called Talia?” She was surprised.

  “Yes, if you don't believe me, you can ask her yourself,” I shrugged.

  “I don't care what she says. You can't move into that room. It's connected to mine,” she said, irritated.

  “You can lock the door from your side if you don't trust me. Or are you afraid you'd be tempted?” I gave her a devilish grin.

  “You're so full of yourself! You know that? Fine, keep the damn room!” She's beautiful when she's angry.

  Just then the doorbell rang, startling Tessa.

  “I'll get it. Must be the pizza guy,” I said as I went to open the door. A minute later I was back armed with pizza.

  “Go change and let's eat.”

  “I'm not hungry,” she said stubbornly, despite the sound of her stomach growling. She turned to leave, a moment later slamming her room door.

  It took Tessa only five minutes to return. “Okay, I haven’t eaten anything all day. I’m starving,” she confessed, joining me on the couch.

  We ate in silence for a while. Tessa was devouring her third slice when she said casually, “This pizza is just the way I like it. How come you know that?”

  “Maybe it was a lucky guess.”

  “Yeah, sure. Like this morning at your office when you told your assistant how I drink my coffee. How do you know these things?”

  “I just know,” I shrugged and took another slice.

  After we finished eating, she locked eyes with me. “Are you stalking me or something?”

  When I looked away, she said, “Oh my God, you're stalking me!”

  “I'm keeping you safe. That's all.”

  “What do you mean by keeping me safe?”

  “It means there are two of my men protecting you day and night,” I said brusquely.

  “I can't believe this. You're having me followed. How dare you?” She was shocked and angry.

  “Listen, this is for your safety. Jacob is dangerous. As long as he is still free, you need protection,” I tried to talk some sense into her.

  “Jacob? What does he have to do with this?”

  Jacob had everything to do with this. He presented a real threat. I knew he was involved with some drug lords. He promised to give them access to my ho
tels if they helped him take over. They helped him kill Seth, but he hasn’t given them anything in return, yet. They were starting to lose their patience. Jacob went crazy the past few months; he would do anything to save his ass. But Tessa didn't need to know that. I didn't want to scare her.

  “You know Jacob was responsible for the accident.”

  “Does this mean you've been following me for three years now?” Her tone was getting harsher.