The Arrangement Duet Box Set

by Madison Quinn

  “No! I don’t want them to be mad at you either.”

  “Let’s not worry about this now. When the time comes, I’ll find a way to take care of everything, I promise.”

  I can see her try to relax, but I know she is struggling just as much as I am with what my mother said. I never thought about how this would impact my family; I didn’t expect them to get so attached to Kenzie. I vow to find a way to make this right before we dissolve our marriage. I won’t let them think badly of her for what will ultimately be my decision. With everything that she has done for me, the least I can do is to accept full blame when the time comes for the divorce.

  The rest of the reception flies by quickly; we eat our dinner and dance the customary first dance together. The cake is cut and we take our final pictures before Carter and Hunter escort us to the SUV where our bags from earlier have already been loaded.

  “Kenzie… thank you again for doing all of this. I cannot begin to tell you how much this means to me and how much I appreciate what you are doing. This is for you,” I hand her the envelope that Carter gave me when we boarded the private jet, “to show you how much I appreciate everything you are doing for me.”

  “What is this?”

  “Just a little something to say thank you.”

  “NICHOLAS!!!” she gasps when she opens the envelope and realizes what she is holding. “I CANNOT accept this!”

  “The deed is in your name, the bakery is yours.”

  “When… how… I thought the bakery was sold a while ago?”

  “It was, to me.”

  “But we hadn’t… we weren’t engaged then!” she looks around the room to ensure that no one can hear us. Carter is in the back as he is the only member of our security team joining us on our honeymoon. The flight crew are busy preparing the plane for takeoff so they can’t overhear anything.

  “When I bought the bakery, my intention was to give it to you when we terminated our… original agreement. It was always with the intent to thank you for what you have done for me. You have gone above and beyond what I ever expected when I signed the contract with Bridget. I never expected to find someone I would consider my closest friend, someone I would tell my secrets to or someone that would even consider doing this for me. You amaze me, Kenzie, in all that you do. This is merely an attempt to thank you for that.”

  “Nicholas… I….” she stutters trying to figure out what to say. “I never expected you out of my contract with Bridget. I thought I would end up with some stuffy business man, who could have cared less about me. I never thought I would find someone I could trust, someone I felt… safe with. I haven’t had a friend in a very long time… you are truly my best friend—”

  “Kenzie,” I pull her close to me as a tear falls from her eye. I rub her back and just hold her against me. Her head is on my shoulder, her arm around my stomach as she tries to hug me back.

  “I don’t know the first thing about running a bakery! What if I screw it up?”

  “You won’t. Ginny has agreed to work on site with you for the first year, and she will teach you everything you need to know. After the first year, she has agreed to consult with you from a distance for up to three additional years or until you feel comfortable.”

  “Nicholas… I… I can’t accept this.”

  “It’s in your name—the bakery is yours.”

  “I don’t know what to say. No one has ever…”

  “You don’t need to say anything. This is nothing compared to what you are giving me especially after today.”

  Chapter 11

  Kenzie

  I am beyond stunned: shocked and floored by Nicholas’s wedding gift to me. I never expected a wedding gift, let alone him to give me the deed to the bakery. I had always dreamed of one day opening my own bakery, but I never thought it would happen. Yet here I am holding the deed to Sweet Dreams bakery in my hand.

  I’m speechless, yet there’s so much I want to say. Thank you just doesn’t seem like enough; those two words don’t seem like they would convey what I feel right now. How do you thank someone for giving you something you’ve dreamed of for so long but never thought would ever happen? I feel guilty for even accepting this—I can’t begin to imagine what buying the bakery even cost. I don’t know why he felt the need to buy me a wedding present, let alone one so damn expensive.

  He seems to think that he is the only getting something out of our new arrangement, but he’s not. In two years when this is all over, I’m going to be walking away with a condo, I will never need to worry about paying for, and a college degree. Those two items are priceless in themselves, especially the apartment. Having a place of my own, a place that is safe, is something I never had. I wish he would see what he is giving me the way I see it. I wish he would realize that I’m getting just as much from this new arrangement as he is.

  “I had the flight crew put an overnight bag in the bedroom for you; there should be a change of clothes and any toiletries you might need for the trip,” Nicholas pulls me from my thoughts as I realize my head was still resting on his shoulder.

  I quickly wipe away the tears that had fallen before sitting up. I want to say more about the bakery, but I can’t find the words. I want to refuse to accept it, I want to give it back to him and tell him to sell it someone else. But, I have someone handing me the dream I never thought I would achieve. How do you turn that down? Especially when the person is asking nothing of you in return than what you already agreed to? Except, how do I not feel like I’m taking advantage of him? How can I ensure he doesn’t think I’m like his ex who only wants material items from him? Who was willing to exploit him for his money?

  “Nicholas… I want you to know that I never expected this,” I gesture to the envelope holding the deed to the bakery. “I never expected anything more than what we already agreed to when you asked me to marry you. I cannot thank you enough though for this gift; you are making a dream of mine come true, one that I never thought I would see. Part of me really wants to tell you that I can’t accept such extravagant gift—”

  “Please. You say that I’m making your dream come true, but you fail to see that you are doing the same for me. You are helping me keep my dream alive. Without you, I don’t know how I would change things for PFS. This is the least I can do to try to thank you for everything you are doing for me.”

  “I… I just don’t want you to ever think that I expect things like this from you. I don’t want you to think you need to constantly spend money on me to thank me for marrying you.”

  “I can’t and won’t promise you that I will not spend more money on you over the course of our marriage, but trust me… I know you don’t expect it.”

  “Just don’t feel like you have to constantly thank me. Can we just call it even after this?”

  “Sure,” he chuckles. “If that will make you feel better about this, yes I will agree to that. We are even now.”

  “Thank you,” I don’t feel completely relieved, but at least it’s a start to get him to not think that I expect him to constantly spend money on me. “Now, can you tell me where we are going and when we’re going to get there?”

  “We are going to Turtle Island.”

  “That doesn’t help me; I have no idea where that is.”

  “Fiji.”

  “We’re going to Fiji?!?!”

  Holy shit!

  “Yes, the flight should take about 15 hours, but because of the time change we actually lose almost a day going there. The first day is probably going to be rough: because of the time change as we are arriving at about 3 a.m. local time. Once we land, we will change planes and take a small sea plane over to the island.”

  “Have you ever been there?”

  “No, but I did a lot of research on Turtle Island before agreeing to my travel agent’s recommendation. This island is very popular amongst those who value their privacy. It can only be accessed via plane or boat, so the chances of the press sneaking onto the island are very slim. We won’
t be staying in a typical hotel either, which helps with the privacy. Instead, we will be staying in a villa that is pretty secluded, even from the other. We have direct access to a private section of the beach, and the villa itself is surrounded by trees and wildlife. From what I’ve seen there are plenty of things to do on the island. Meals can be brought directly to our villa or we can eat at one of the many restaurants. Julie and Carter will be staying in a room at a hotel that is on the island, just in case we want to go off the island.”

  “Julie?”

  “She wasn’t able to fly out with us today as she had already made plans for tomorrow with her sister, but she will be flying out on Monday to join Carter. It’s a working vacation for him, but I expect it will be a lot less work once we arrive on the island. This way they get to enjoy some time alone and he isn’t completely bored for the next week.”

  “I’m sure Julie is excited about the trip.”

  “With everything those two do for me, it’s the least I can do.”

  I don’t think Nicholas ever realizes how kind he truly is; he constantly gives to others yet doesn’t expect very much in return. The wedding today is a perfect example of that; he gave me the wedding I told him I dreamed about when I was younger. And now, he’s taking me on what sounds like the absolute perfect honeymoon. I’m touched that he has gone through so much trouble for an arrangement that is designed to save PFS. It’s funny, when we entered the arrangement with Bridget, I thought of it as a business transaction and tried to convince myself that he would never see it as anything more than that. I think with this new arrangement, neither of us are that blind.

  “How long are we going to be in Fiji for?” I ask.

  “One week. I would have liked to stay for longer, but getting away from PFS on such short notice wasn’t easy.”

  “I’m… I’m just excited to be going for any length of time!”

  “I hope you like the island. There are tons of things to do, in addition to beach access, the villa has its own private pool that we can use.”

  “Thank you, Nicholas, for doing all this. You didn’t have to go through all this trouble—”

  “It wasn’t—”

  “We could have just gone away somewhere for a night or two after the wedding. You didn’t have to fly me to another country and take so much time off of work for the honeymoon. I just want you to know that I appreciate everything you did today to make the wedding special and now for giving me a honeymoon that any girl would wish for.”

  “You said you never thought you would ever get married, so I wanted to make this wedding and honeymoon something that you could happily look back on,” he shrugs as if it’s no big deal what he did.

  “I will always remember it; I’m touched that you wanted to make it special for me.”

  He doesn’t respond and after a few minutes, he takes out his phone and starts checking his emails. I don’t think he’s comfortable with the focus being on him. I’ve noticed that he tends to try to change the subject when someone tries to recognize something nice he has done. He’s told me multiple times he prefers not to be recognized for donations he has made. I vow to do something special for him when we return back to New York to thank him for this.

  “I think I’m going to go change, the bedroom is back there?” I gesture toward the back of the plane where he indicated it was when we flew to North Carolina the other day.

  “Yes, I’ll show you.”

  Obviously before our wedding, I had never flown on a private jet before, so it was quite a surprise to realize how big this plane really was. Besides the pilot and staff area, there are two large bathrooms and then a small bedroom in the rear of the plane. The bedroom isn’t very big, but there is a queen size bed, a small dresser and nightstand in the room. On the bed lies two small overnight bags which I assume contain everything we need for the flight to Fiji.

  “I asked Susan, the personal shopper who arranged everything for you, to pack you something comfortable for the flight over. Hopefully whatever she packed will be sufficient.”

  “I’m sure whatever it is, will be fine.”

  “I would suggest trying to get some sleep on the flight over; the flight crew will wake us when they need us to begin to prepare for landing.”

  “Are you going to sleep?”

  “The seats out there fully recline—”

  “You can stay—”

  “No, I’ll sleep out there. Kenzie…” he runs his hands through his hair. “I’m not sure how things are going to work once we arrive at the villa.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The villa only has one bedroom…”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah. I tried to get us a two bedroom villa, but there is only a handful on the island and they book months in advance. I didn’t want to push the issue too much and give my travel agent any reason to raise questions about why I was demanding a two bedroom villa only to then have our wedding announced days later.”

  “No, of course not. It’ll be fine, Nicholas… I mean, we’ve slept together… er… slept in the same bed twice now without an issue. I know it’s not ideal—”

  “No. I’m sure there is a couch or something at the villa I can sleep on.”

  “I don’t think that’s necessary. I’m sure the bed will be big enough for both of us—”

  “I… I’m going to end up having a nightmare, Kenzie. It’s inevitable; I rarely go more than a night without one. When that happens, I… I can’t risk hurting you.”

  “You won’t hurt me—”

  “You don’t know that!”

  “You didn’t think twice about sleeping next to me when I had a nightmare or when… after I freaked out the other night.”

  “That’s different…”

  “Why?”

  “Because, you can’t hurt me! Kenzie, I’ve given Carter a split lip and nearly broke his nose the one time he tried to wake me up. My parents learned very early on after they adopted me, not to try to wake me when I have a nightmare, because they would end up getting hit when they tried. I… in the nightmare I’m fighting… to get her hands off of me, but in reality…”

  “If you end up having a nightmare this week, I promise you I won’t try to wake you up. I’ll leave the room and wait until you wake up before I come back in.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “It’s better than you sleeping on the couch.”

  “Kenzie… what if I hurt you?”

  “You won’t.”

  “But—”

  “How about a trial run?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Carter is here now, so if something were to happen he could intervene. Sleep in here with me; I’m sure it’s more comfortable than sleeping on the chair out there.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Just think about it. I hate the thought of you sleeping on an uncomfortable couch if you don’t have to. If you want to try this tonight, then we can see what happens. If you have a nightmare and Carter has to intervene, then the couch it is in Fiji. But if you have the nightmare and you don’t hurt me, then consider sharing a bed with me there.”

  “Why are you doing this?”

  “Why?”

  “Why not just let it be?”

  “Because you deserve to be comfortable, and I don’t care what you say, sleeping on a couch is not comfortable. A night is one thing, but spending an entire week on a couch? Your back will be killing you before we even head back to New York. If we’re going to be in Fiji, we both should enjoy it. You won’t be able to do that if you can barely move.”

  “I suppose.”

  “Just think about it okay, no pressure. If you would rather sleep out there tonight or on the couch, that’s fine.”

  I suddenly feel guilty for trying to pressure Nicholas to share a bed with me. I really just want him to be comfortable and it doesn’t seem fair that he would have to sleep on the couch, leaving me with an entire bed to myself. As insistent as I was when I first si
gned the contract with Bridget that I would never be alone with a man, that all changed when I spent the weekend with him. Knowing him as well as I do now, I have no problems with the idea of sharing a bed with him tonight or in Fiji.

  “I’m going to go check in with Carter and see how things are going in New York,” Nicholas says before leaving the room.

  I shake my head, hoping that I didn’t hurt his feelings with my suggestion. Before changing out of my wedding gown, I decide that if he insists that we not share a bed this week, we will be taking turns sleeping on the couch. It’s only fair that we both get to sleep comfortably, so this way every other night one of us is comfortable. I have to admit that I like the idea of sharing a bed with him again—I slept so well the other morning in his bed. I loved feeling his arms around me when I woke up; I’ll never forget how safe I felt in his arms.

  Realizing I’ve been in here too long, I quickly change out of my wedding gown and put on the comfortable yoga pants and top packed for the trip. The overnight bag also has a long sleeve top and a clean pair of clothes for tomorrow for when we arrive.

  “Did you find everything you needed?” Nicholas asks when I come out of the bedroom.

  “Yes, it seems Susan thought of everything I would need.”

  “Good, she also arranged for your wardrobe for this week, but if she forgot anything I’m sure they will have it on the island or we can send Carter to get what you need.”

  “I’m sure I can make do with whatever she packed.”

  The next couple of hours pass by quickly; Nicholas gets some work done on his laptop, and I spend some time reading a book that Julie thought I would like to read on the plane. Julie and I have spent a lot of time together since I moved in; for the most part, it’s just the two of us in the apartment all day. Hunter is there on and off depending on what is going on for the day, but it’s typically just been the two of us.

  “I think I’m going to head to bed,” I close the book when my eyes begin to become too heavy to read.

  “The flight crew will probably need to wake us in a few hours, depending on the timing we make on the way there. Once we arrive and settle in to the villa, you can go back to sleep if you’re still tired. The time change is going to screw with your mind for the first day or two until you adjust.”