by Claire Adams
What Aria had just said really startled me, because the truth of the matter was that my heart had nothing to do with anything I was doing for her; a whole another organ was responsible for my actions. But she knew that. And I had never made any attempts to conceal my true intentions. That’s what surprised me the most: she thought I was a decent person, despite my intentions! Maybe she was just sucking up to me, maybe she just needed something, maybe she was just playing a game. The cynical part of me had all these suspicions, but somehow they didn’t seem to matter in the face of the knowledge that there was at least one person in the planet that didn’t think I was a total and complete douchebag. And that meant a whole lot more to me than it should have. Which made me wonder if what I was supposed to tell her next was a good idea.
“You are getting published,” I said as though I was merely complementing her hair.
She looked confused for a few seconds, and then looked behind her as if to check if I was talking to someone else. Then she looked at me, followed by my computer and I watched in satisfaction as her eyes widened in realization and her whole face turned as bright as the daylight. Her gasp was loud enough to echo throughout the whole office building, and she probably realized that and covered her mouth.
“How?” It came out as a little squeal.
“I sent your abstract to the Economics Journal.”
“The Economics Journal?” She was practically shouting.
“Yep, it’s published at my alma mater.”
“Of course!” she exclaimed, realizing where I had gone to school. “But, but, would they just like-“
“Not usually,” I said slowly. “But they review anything that comes from me directly and they were blown away by your ideas. And when I say blown away, those were the words used by the editor in his email, which I have forwarded to-”
I cut myself short because she lunged on to me and gave me a very tight hug. I could hear her sniff as she grabbed my body with her tiny little hands. I tried to control myself, but just feeling her smooth skin against my hands, her perfectly perky breasts against my torso, and her soft skirt rub against my crotch was enough to make me forget what the conversation was about, what was happening right now, or even what day of the week it was. All I knew was I wanted to rip her dress up right there and shove my hands into her panties, shove my fingers deep inside her as I kissed her breasts until they were sore. Then I would throw her on the couch and fuck her like she had no idea was possible, deep and fast and I would come inside her sweet-
She jerked apart from me, probably able to feel my excitement through her skirt.
“Okay, that’s all for hugs, I guess,” she said, her voice almost shivering. Wow, was she…
I studied her face; it had turned a very deep shade of red. Her right arm was tugging nervously at the hem of her skirt and she was looking squarely on to the ground. She wanted it too! If there was anything I knew about women, it was the look of desire on their faces, and right now, Aria’s face was nothing if not complete and utter longing. Should I say something? Was now my only chance?
If a simple hug could cause her to react this way, wait until I kissed her; she would melt. I felt a slight disappointment at the thought of the game getting easier, but knowing Aria as much as I had gotten to know her, just because she wanted it didn’t mean she would just give it up. The odds that she had been wanting it all along were always very high; what made her stand out from all the other women was that she resisted, not that she didn’t feel. I knew she felt it, every woman did. Somehow she had managed to convince me through her tough exterior that she didn’t for a little while, I realized, feeling idiotic for ever entertaining doubts. This was definitely going to be much easier than I had been anticipating, but the fact that she just jerked away meant that it would still be a challenge. I simply had to teach her to succumb to her desires. I would show her the things she was capable of feeling and teach her to accept the greatest pleasures of life. I couldn’t wait. For now, however, I had to play it cool.
“I’m sorry about that,” I said, feigning a look of genuine remorse. “But it tends to do that. I can’t really control it.”
She tried speaking a few times but her lips were visibly trembling. She took a deep breath and tried to conceal it with a cough. Finally she said, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
Of course she didn’t, I internally rolled my eyes. She would have felt my rock hard cock if she were wearing a space suit.
“Oh, never mind then,” I played along. She knew. I knew. What was the fucking point of this?
“Thank you so much!” She exclaimed, trying to change her expression to that of delight.
For what? For my hard on? It took me almost an entire minute to realize what she was talking about. I had completely forgotten the conversation that led up to that moment.
“Oh, my pleasure entirely.” I gave her a crooked smile. It would be my pleasure soon enough. I could not wait much longer. More hugs like that and I would forget all about the contract and the challenge and seduce her right away. “And you don’t really have to thank me, it was your hard work and intelligence that got them to accept the paper. I was merely the middle-man.”
“A middle-man that pays to run that whole department,” she said with almost a hint of envy. “Let’s be honest, if the email had not come from you, they would never ever give an undergrad the time of the day and my abstract would go straight to their virtual bin.”
“Yes,” I had to say. There could be no confusion about the fact that this would have been impossible without my help. But I also thought it important to add, “But they could read it and turn it down with ease if they didn’t like what they saw.”
“Seriously, Zayden.” I liked the way she said my name. Zay-den. It sounded intoxicating. “Thank you so much.”
“Don’t thank me just yet. That was simply the abstract. You have a whole paper to write,” I reminded her. “We have a paper to write.”
I killed it with the “we.” I could see the joy in her face. “You’re a really good friend,” she said.
Friend? Did she think of me as someone she could call a friend? That was a weird sensation, hearing her call me a friend; and not necessarily in a bad way. Of course, I wanted to be more than that physically, but I wondered if it was worth keeping her around as a friend after I got what I wanted? I didn’t really have any friends aside from Ned, and if I was going to allow a girl in my life in any capacity, that word seemed to nicely describe it. Her intelligence was obvious, and maybe if we could remain friends, it wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world to have her work for me. I knew I could gain a lot from her talents, and she could make more money than she would anywhere else. I definitely needed to consider this in more depth: it all depended on how she would react if – when – we eventually have sex. There was a good chance that she would hate me forever for taking her virginity and not wanting anything more. Would it, though? She seemed like a very rational and together girl. I wasn’t entirely sure she would want to get emotionally involved with me if she knew that the alternative would grant her the career of her dreams. Her ambitions almost reminded me of myself in my college years. In those days I would never have let anything stop me from my aspirations, and I suspected that Aria Roberts wasn’t the kind to either.
“If you really think so,” I said smiling at her. “Then do me a favor.”
“Anything!” she exclaimed immediately and hurriedly added, “Anything other than, you know.”
I laughed. “That wasn’t what I was going to ask. Have I asked that of you since our contract started?”
She looked like she was raking her brains for a moment and shook her head. “No, you haven’t.”
“Didn’t think so. What you could do for me is join me to a gala on Saturday I have to go to.”
She looked confused. “You didn’t have to ask me that, it’s part of our deal, I go with you to that kind of stuff.”
“I know, but I am giving you th
e option to say no. This isn’t about the contract. I want you to join me to the event if you want to. If not, no problem, it won’t affect our contract.”
I knew she needed to go but it was going to be much more satisfying if she said yes of her own choosing.
“Don’t be silly.” She gave me a look that said I was being ridiculous. “Of course I’ll go.”
“You don’t even know what it is. What if I take you to a dark alley and-”
“Zayden, I think we have by now established that I feel completely safe around you. So I would love to join you at this ambiguous gala thing, okay?”
The way she said that made me laugh. “I will send you the details to the ambiguous gala thing to your email. Do you wanna go shopping before it?”
“What? No! I have clothes,” she sounded deeply offended.
“Everybody has clothes, that’s not why people go shopping-”
“That’s not remotely true; there are millions of poor people in the world who don’t have clothes.”
“That’s not what I meant. I don’t know, I am used to girls enjoying activities like shopping, so I assumed you’d find it fun too. Didn’t mean to offend you. It’s a black-tie event so dress accordingly,” I shrugged and slyly added, “And honestly, you would look good in just about anything.”
A faint blush embraced her cheeks. “Thanks,” she mumbled. “Do you want to get started on the paper now? I have a publication to look forward to.”
CHAPTER 7
ARIA
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!” Stacey was hyperventilating, like she was the one going on a date with Zayden Sinclair to a fancy gala. “What are you going to wear? You don’t have fancy gala clothes!”
“We will go shopping,” I said with a mouth full of popcorn. Regardless of how haughty I had acted in front of Zayden, I did not, in fact, have clothes for the event. He had sent me the flyer and it was some kind of a vintage auction that he was attending for a business partner. Frankly, I was rather surprised that he wanted me to join him for this instead of some supermodel.
Oh wait, I had forbidden him from sleeping with supermodels as a part of the contract. It made sense that he wouldn’t want to take one to the Gala if he couldn’t take her clothes off at the end of the night. Chauvinists, I shook my head. At least I could safely say that he wasn’t taking my clothes off. I’d make sure to purchase a dress with extra-complicated zippers, just in case. And wear my granny panties.
Why was I thinking like that? Like someone that doubted herself? I had consciously made the decision not to sleep with him under any circumstances, and I did not need the aid of complicated garments in order to keep my restraint.
“Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god!” Stacey had a second round of hyper-ventilation when Nick walked in.
“What’s the occasion that we are remembering the Almighty for?” He sat down, grabbing a bunch of popcorn from the bowl. I moved the bowl and made a pretend shocked expression that said “mine!”
“Aria is going to a super fancy vintage auction with the most good looking guy in the world!” Stacy said.
“Ouch!” Nick made a mock-hurt expression.
“Sorry baby, you are the handsomest guy as far as I’m concerned,” she said air-kissing him. “But I meant in a more objective sense.”
“Don’t bother, Stace. I am not deluded enough to compare myself to Zayden Sinclair.”
Stacey looked like she was now feeling genuinely bad, even though Nick didn’t really care, so she walked up to him and locked him in an embrace. It was an adorable sight, since Nick was over a foot taller than her, but balled up inside his arms like that, they looked like a couple from a poster advertising happiness.
“I am just excited for Aria, you know that, right?” she asked, kissing his cheek.
“Nope, I was convinced that you are secretly having nightly dalliances with this billionaire playboy.” They both started laughing.
“Aria is!” she was almost too quick to chime in.
“You already told me about her deal,” Nick said, not sounding particularly interested.
“Care more,” I said, stuffing a new batch of popcorn into my face. “Please.”
This was why Nick was one of my best friends: he jumped off the couch and started dancing while screaming, almost singing, “Aria is dating a billionaire!!!”
I threw a pillow at him and went back to my bowl of popcorn.
---
On Saturday afternoon I changed about ninety-five times. I had tried everything in my wardrobe, but nothing seemed to be appropriate for a date with Zayden Sinclair. The shopping trip never happened because Stacey managed to catch the flu and I had no sense or intention to embark in such an activity without her, which I now regretted immensely. I looked at myself in the mirror after taking off yet another dress. I was wearing my red lacy bra and matching panties. Just because. There was no harm in looking and feeling good, it didn’t mean anything. I sighed as a tiny voice inside me began to send warning signals. Fine. Granny panties it is. Looking freshly eighty-years-old, I started going through my entire wardrobe when the doorbell rang and I shuddered.
I had at least four hours until the date, it couldn’t be….
“I got it!” I heard Nick’s voice from outside and quickly threw on a sweater and jeans to greet whoever was at our door. By the time I stepped out, Nick was standing with a giant package in his hand.
“It’s for you,” he grinned. “From your lover.”
“What on Earth could he possibly have sent me four hours before our date?” I approached the package and almost didn’t want to open it because of how perfect it looked. It was wrapped in teal and white paper with a beautiful mauve bow tied on to the top. I wished I could just keep the wrapper and not open what was inside. The wrapping itself was the perfect present.
“Open it!” Nick was getting impatient.
Very carefully I removed the bow and set it to the side, then I slowly started to bring apart the paper wrapping, hoping to do it perfectly and save the pretty paper, but Nick jumped in and tore the thing apart too soon for me to stop him.
“Nick! I wanted to save that!” I said, genuinely surprised by how annoyed I was. But Nick made puppy-dog eyes, something both him and Stacey did to get me to bend to their wishes. It was like having two kids, sometimes. I just could not be mad at that face.
“Ugh, it’s fine,” I said reluctantly. “What is in there?”
His eyes widened as he pulled out a long red dress with golden embellishments on the hem and neckline. I went forward to touch and it was the softest fabric I had ever laid my eyes upon. I didn’t know what to say or how to react. I should be angry, I did tell him I already had clothes! It was very presumptuous and quite frankly, disrespectful of him to just buy a fancy-looking dress, as though whatever I owned could in no way be good enough for an event where I accompanied him.
I really should be angry.
Which is why the sense of relief I felt made me feel uncomfortable. The truth was I didn’t have appropriate clothes, and even if I had gotten the chance to go shopping, something like this dress was simply not in my budget. Whatever I bought was not going to be good enough for this event, as proven by the immaculate garment I was now holding in my hand. Maybe he should have just taken someone who he knew could afford to dress in a way that suits him. I felt a little bitter again, but then thought of the last few hours of anxiety over my wardrobe and tried to accept this, be grateful. And I could always return it to him after the event! Maybe that would be tacky. It was either return it now and never wear it, or just take his gift and deal with it.
“There is more,” Nick said, watching me gaze into space.
“More what?”
“Jewelry and a note.”
I grunted. I grabbed the note from Nick’s reluctant hands:
Dear Aria,
I could care less if you showed up in torn jeans. Or better yet, nothing at all. But the spy I have recruited at your quarters alerted m
e of trouble you were having deciding on attire. So I had to step in. Don’t feel pressured to wear it though. I don’t know much about women’s fashion, just thought this would nicely contour your perfect figure.
See you at eight!
-Zayden
“Stacey!” we both screamed at the same time. She was supposed to be sleeping but if she had the energy to discuss my clothing with Zayden, she had the energy to explain it to me. She walked out of her room looking rather sick. I knew she was only trying to help me because that’s what best friends do, but I wasn’t going to let her go without a hard time, because that is also what best friends do.
“Oh wow, what a beautiful dress!” she exclaimed, looking at me. “You went shopping without me?”
So innocent. She should join the CIA.
“I know what you did.” I gave her a sharp look.
“Yes, we know, Stace!” Nick was giving her the exact same look.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said to me and then looked at Nick and added, “And why do you look bothered?”
Nick looked like he considered it for a second and frowned. “I’m not really sure. It seemed like the right thing to do.”
Stacey laughed. “You’re ridiculous. Can you make me some tea?”
Nick was off to do his bidding and I was left to confront Stacey. I opened my mouth to begin a long-winded lecture but ended up bursting into a fit of laughter. Stacey joined me and after about five minutes of this, I was finally able to speak again.
“How did you even do it, Stace? Did you just randomly dial his number and go ‘hey, guess what, I have the flu and Aria doesn’t have a dress?’”