Alice laughed, her interest piqued by his playful energy.
“Actually, I had my eye on the piece as soon as I saw it. I love the depth of field and the colors. It’s quite astonishing actually.”
They both looked at the painting again. Alice was impressed that he seemed to truly appreciate the artwork. Maybe there was something more to Kade Brannigan than the paparazzi gave him credit for.
When he spoke, his voice was a little rough. “Hey, so what time do you get off work?”
Alice’s tongue darted across her lips. She couldn’t believe the sensations she was feeling as he pinned her with his gaze.
“About two hours. Why?” Her voice was rough and her throat was dry.
“Good,” he said.
“I’m not for sale,” she blurted out.
Kade’s eyebrow shot up. “That’s okay. I’m not paying you.”
Now it was Alice’s turn to look at Kade in shock. “Seriously dude. Who do you think you are?”
Kade noticed the challenge in Alice’s eyes. He slid his hand around her waist, causing her breath to hitch. Without a warning, he leaned in and kissed her deeply on the lips.
Alice’s body relaxed into the kiss and she moaned as her senses flooded with Kade. When she pulled away, he looked into her dark eyes and smiled.
“What were you saying?” he asked
“Um, I... oh... I...” Alice trailed off as she tried to think through the mental fog coursing through her body from his touch.
He whispered into her ear. “When you finish up work, come and find me. You’ll find out all about who I am,” and trailed off into the crowd.
The following two hours were tortuous as Alice tried to concentrate on serving drinks, all the while feeling Kade’s eyes following her around. He was very forward, and came with a hell-raiser’s reputation. Did she really want to meet him for a drink?
When she came out of the ladies room she saw that Kade was deep in conversation with the artist giving the show. She watched them talking from behind a pillar. He looked like a typical jock but his interest in the artist and the sparkle behind his eyes definitely hinted at something deeper within him.
Lost in thought, she suddenly realized that Kade was no longer paying any attention to the artist. He was staring right at her, and the heat in his eyes made her feel as though he was mentally undressing her. She could feel her panties being moistened by her own juices. He was definitely stirring something in her. It had been so long since she had a man, and the sensations she was feeling made her realize how much she missed the feeling of a man beside her in bed.
The gallery finally closed and Alice changed into her own vest before grabbing her bag. True to his word, Kade was still in the gallery. She invited him back to her apartment for a drink.
* * *
When they arrived at Alice’s loft apartment, Kade looked around in wonder at her beautiful apartment.
Sensing that Alice was having second thoughts, Kade pulled her down to the couch and grasped her by the back of her neck. Planting a deep and probing kiss on her lips, he pulled her close to his body, causing her to gasp as he kissed the air out of her.
When he let go she struggled to catch her breath. Kade ran his hands through her hair and pulled it out of the messy topknot. Blonde tendrils fell round her face, haloing her delicate Scandinavian features.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, tracing his finger over her lips.
Blinking slowly, Alice slipped his finger into her mouth and sucked it gently. His pupils dilated and he groaned at the innuendo in her actions.
Suddenly he stood up and hoisted her up.
“Where’s the bedroom?” He growled lustily.
Alice pointed towards the door next to the open plan kitchen and Kade carried her there, throwing her unceremoniously on to the bed.
He began to perform miracles with his tongue. He lapped at her clit for half an hour straight and was showing no signs of letting up. It was evident that he wasn’t just a star quarterback.
As Alice orgasmed for the hundredth time (she’d lost count long ago), she pushed him away and looked up into his eyes, deploringly.
“You can’t tease me like this any longer,” she panted. “Get inside me or get out.”
Kade tossed his head back and laughed long and hard, loving the defiant smirk on Alice’s face. He grappled her and they tumbled over so that she was perched on top of him.
“You want inside me you’ve gotta do it yourself,” he grinned.
“Ah, you’re feeling lazy are you?” Alice smirked as she gripped the thick shaft of his penis.
“Well I’ve had a pretty busy time of it lately.”
“So I read,” Alice retorted, before sliding herself down on to his hard cock and revelling in the sensations as he filled her. “You really have no shame, do you?”
Kade grinned his trademark grin again and shook his head.
Slowly, she started to rock back and forth, up and down, rotating her hips and manipulating him with her inner muscles. She smiled with satisfaction as he growled with pleasure. He grabbed her hips and began to take more control.
Together, they worked up a sweat and built up the momentum until he finally came.
Afterwards, while Alice was making coffee, Kade slowly explored the lounge. He admired her artwork.
“Where did you get this sculpture?” He asked, pointing to a small nude.
“I made it.”
“Really? And this?” He pointed out a larger sculpture of a tribal elephant.
“All of it’s mine.”
Kade’s eyes widened. “So, the lady is more mysterious than I originally thought. You’re not just a hostess are you?”
Alice handed him his coffee and shook her head.
“Once upon a time I was a pretty successful sculptor.”
“Once upon a time?”
“This princess didn’t get a happy ending.”
Kade regarded her, confused. “But your artwork is beautiful.”
“Thank you.” Suddenly Alice felt shy.
He turned to look at her, noticing that her eyes were downcast.
“What happened?”
Alice shrugged. “I was supposed to have a private showing of my work and the night before the event, my ex destroyed two of my main pieces in an argument. I cancelled the show and pretty much ended my own career.”
“Wow. I’m so sorry.”
“So since then I haven’t had the will or desire to get back into my studio. I wish I could.”
“So why don’t you?”
Alice laughed bitterly. “When Alex destroyed my sculptures, I was distraught. I could have carried on with the installation without them, but I chose not to. As a result, my backers lost a lot of money and I ended up in debt. I have to host with the agency just to keep up the payments on this place and the car.”
“Jeez, Alice. That’s terrible.”
She shrugged. “That’s life.”
“You’re so gifted Alice. You really should do something about this.”
“I stopped dreaming about good things a long time ago,” she whispered.
“How much money would it take to set up another installation?”
“ At least a hundred thousand dollars to do it properly”
Kade held her for a moment, thinking hard. His thoughts wandered back to the meeting in Jimmy’s office, and he wondered. He thought about saying something then stopped. Alice noticed the sudden change in his breathing.
“What is it?”
“Alice, I have a proposition to make to you. Now before I begin, please just listen to what I have to say and then you can either say no and we can forget I said anything or you can, well, let’s just see what you think.”
He shifted in his seat uncomfortably. Alice frowned in confusion at him.
“You know that I’ve been in a bit of trouble with the press recently...”
“Okay, well, as you can imagine, I got reamed by my coach and my agent
. I’m about to lose contracts, sponsorship, maybe even my place on the team.”
“Jeez that’s serious.”
“I know. My agent told me that I need to find a way to divert the attention away from my bad behavior, like, find a way to change the optics. Uh, so, what he said was, that I should do what Tom Brady did and settle down with someone like Giselle. Oh, I’m not explaining this right.”
“Go on,” Alice said, thoroughly confused at what he was trying to tell her.
“What I’m trying to do is... ask you to marry me.”
Alice stared at him in shock. “What?”
“No, listen. Let me finish. It won’t be like a real marriage. It will be more like a marriage of convenience. We would help each other out.”
Alice drew her hand away from Kade, hardly able to believe what she was hearing.
“In what way?”
“Well, if you marry me, I’ll be able to show that I’ve settled down and the press will focus on the wedding and maybe I can get my reputation back for being a good player.”
Kade took Alice’s hand again, forcing her to look at him. “If you do this, I promise to re-launch you. I have a great PR team, and with my name on board you’ll have no problem getting back in the game.
Alice thought for a moment. She couldn’t believe what was happening. She stood up.
“I’ve had it up to here with men trying to manipulate me for their own good. I’m not doing that again. Please leave Kade.”
“Alice, please. I’m being serious. Don’t you want to be an artist again?”
“Of course I do. But not this way.”
Kade stood up and placed his hands on Alice’s arms.
“ Think about it Alice. Here’s my card. Call me and let me know if you want to do it. No pressure.”
Kade kissed Alice and she searched his eyes for answers to questions she didn’t even know yet.
Alice watched him as he walked out the door. She couldn’t believe what had happened. She had slept with Kade Brannigan, all-star quarterback and then he had asked her to marry him. It was crazy.
She buried her head in her hands. Why couldn’t she get him out of her head? She noticed Kade’s card on the coffee table and slammed her cup on top of it.
Feeling as though there were ants in her pants, she ventured over to her studio and opened the door. Memories of spending hours in the room flooded back, along with the sour taste of failure after Alex’s betrayal.
Her head throbbed as she thought again about Kade’s proposition. Should she do it? She wasn’t sure. It wasn’t her style, to depend on other people, especially after Alex. But it would only be temporary.
She thought about the way Kade had looked at her. There had been some chemistry there. She couldn’t deny it. Turning his card over and over in her hands, she eventually picked up her cell phone and sent a text to Kade.
“If I say no will you ever want to see me again?”
Alice sat and stared at her cell phone, hoping on one hand that he wouldn’t respond, but desperate on the other hand to see his response. His text came a few minutes later.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
Alice nodded her head. Although the whole scheme sounded crazy, there was something in the back of her mind that was urging her to accept. She took a deep breath and sent another message to Kade.
“Okay then. Yes.”
***
As soon as Alice agreed to the marriage, things began to move at lightning speed. She was immediately caught up with organizing the engagement and then the wedding. They didn’t announce to the press straightaway, but naturally the press caught up with them as Kade took Alice on a series of dates, which always ended up with them running away from the paparazzi and giggling like teenagers at the intrigue they were causing.
Alice told Carey that she was no longer going to work for the agency, and Carey screamed with joy when she heard all her news about Kade. She didn’t mention to anyone about the agreement they had made, which they worked out in fine detail over a dinner of lobster and champagne one night at Kade’s mansion.
It was really very simple. They would have a short engagement period and then a very quick wedding. It would be a lavish affair. Once the wedding was over and things had settled down, Kade would keep his promise of launching Alice again.
In fact, as soon as the paparazzi discovered who the mysterious blonde woman was that had caught Kade’s wandering eye, there were many articles written about Alice’s downfall, and lots of speculation about what she would do next. Kade was delighted that they were talking about Alice again, and promised her that they would soon forget about the past and Alex, and would soon be concentrating on her future artwork.
When the wedding day finally came around, hundreds of guests were invited to attend the wedding of the year. Alice was treated like royalty, and she felt so overwhelmed by it all, that she was glad to disappear into her own room in Kade’s mansion by the end of the night.
She had played the part well and looked every inch as though she was in love with the world’s most famous quarterback.
Sitting on the huge bed in the beautifully decorated duck egg blue room, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her wedding gown was Monique Lhuillier, a bespoke confection of wispy lace and chiffon. Her hair had been pulled into a low bun and her diamond hair comb was an heirloom piece loaned by her new mother-in-law. She looked and felt like a princess, but she felt empty somehow, as though it was wrong to be wearing a dress this beautiful at a false wedding.
She heard a soft knock at the door and turned around as Kade entered, looking splendid in his bespoke tuxedo. He carried a bottle of champagne and two glasses.
“Do you mind if I come in?” he asked.
Alice shook her head and watched as Kade strode purposefully across the room and set the champagne bottle and glasses down on the dresser. He popped the cork and poured them a glass of fizz with tiny exquisite bubbles that tickled Alice’s nose.
“We did it,” Kade said softly.
“Yes. We did. Do you think they bought it?”
“Of course. It was the best show on earth.”
Alice drained her glass.
“Are you okay Alice?”
She shrugged. “I guess so. I mean, the wedding was beautiful. It was like a dream. I just didn’t expect to be getting married like this. It somehow doesn’t feel right.”
Kade put down his glass and moved closer to her. He traced her jawline with his finger and tipped her chin up to look into her eyes. She blinked, her heart racing with the sudden romantic gesture.
Kade’s eyes dilated as he looked at the delicate beauty of her features, her brows furrowed with worry. He felt his heart beginning to race too as he thought of the magnitude of what they had done.
Yes it was crazy, but at that moment, even though he had just married this woman, who he hardly knew, in a marriage of convenience, all he wanted to do was kiss her beautiful bow lips and hold her close to let her know everything would be all right.
When he spoke, his voice was barely a whisper.
“May I kiss you, Mrs. Brannigan?”
Alice’s breath hitched at the name and a fat tear rolled down her cheek. She slowly nodded her head.
Kade took her hands in his and leaned in to kiss her gently on the lips. She responded by hungrily kissing him in return, and then leaned into his chest as he held her in a comforting embrace.
“You look absolutely beautiful Alice. Thank you for doing this for me.” He cupped her chin in his hand again and smiled.
“Now it’s my turn to keep my promise to you,” he said. “On Monday, my team will come to the house and we’ll discuss how to relaunch your art career.”
“Thank you,” Alice whispered.
“It’s the least I can do.”
Kade pulled away from her and hovered in the room, unsure of what to do.
“This is supposed to be our wedding night. But if you want, I’ll leave you here on your own
. We don’t have to do anything it if you don’t want.”
“Thank you, Kade,” Alice whispered, as Kade left the room, silently closing the door behind him.
He sighed deeply as he leaned against the door for a moment, debating whether to go back in the room or not. Despite the origins of their marriage, he was beginning to feel something for Alice, and wanted to spend the night with her, even if it was just to hold her. But he also knew that he shouldn’t push things, especially as she was probably going to be gone from his life in a short time.
Alice sat still for a while in her dress. She really didn’t want him to leave her alone in the room, but she knew she shouldn’t really get too close to him. Even though he looked good enough to devour in his tuxedo, and she had just married the most famous man in the United States.
Not for the first time, she wondered if she had done the right thing, playing along in this charade.
***
Alice found herself surrounded by men in suits the following Monday afternoon. She sat in the middle of it completely overwhelmed by the way they took control. Kade sat beside her.
“Look, you’re not listening to anything I say,” Alice snapped to one of the suits adamant that they rent a space that was far too large.
Kade shot a glance at Alice. “Hey babe, what is it?”
Alice turned to Kade, frustrated. “I’m trying to tell them that I want a smaller, more intimate space. There’s no need for us to be so ostentatious.”
A young suit with slicked back hair decided to explain to her, “Well Mrs. Brannigan, we thought that it would be better having the larger space to accommodate the guests we expect to view your work. I mean, you’re Mrs. Brannigan now. There’s a lot of interest in you.”
Alice slammed her coffee cup down on the table.
“Are you serious?” She spat.
Everyone in the room stopped and stared at Alice.
“Honey please,” Kade began, but Alice cut him off.
“I am not just Mrs. Kade Brannigan. This is my show. And we’ll do things the way I want.”
“Alice, please calm down. There’s no need to be like this. I’m sure they know what they’re doing sweetheart. They have a lot of experience. If we need a bigger place, we need a bigger place.” He leaned in and planted a kiss on her cheek. She swerved away, which drew a nervous glance from Kade.
Romance: Bad Boy Romance: The Billionaire Revenge (A Contemporary Multicultural Office Romance) Page 8