by Sadie Grubor
"You don’t need to work," he argued.
"We aren’t married yet, Aidan and even when we are, you don’t give me orders!"
"So, what! I already have my accounts set up for you to access them," he spewed out.
"You did what?" I exclaimed.
"You will be my wife. You have access to my credit cards, bank accounts…"
"Are you kidding me?" I looked at him in astonishment.
"No, why would I be?"
"You are already insisting that I get this large sum of money, so why do I need..?" he cut me off.
"While we are married you will use my accounts, you will get that money when we…separate." He looked at me like I was the idiot.
"I don’t….I don’t want your money, Aidan!" I buried my head in my hands.
"I know you don’t, but you’re going to use it, regardless." I could hear the smirk in his tone. "So, now you don’t have to go back to the bar." He sounded so proud of himself.
I sat up straight and turned my eyes on him.
"I committed to the next two weeks schedule and I will be doing it. After that I, that means only me, will decide if I will stop working or not!"
He leaned in closer to my face and smirked.
"You can have your two weeks, but you will be too busy to work there any longer after that."
"Busy how? Playing housewife to you?" I shouted.
"No! You will be going to school, full time to finish your degree!" I opened my mouth but he cut me off. "No arguments Lilli. You signed a contract to go to school." He stared directly into my eyes and it was almost becoming one of those ‘who could stare the longest’ contests. When he blinked I wanted to jump up from the seat and scream ‘I win, Loser’. Instead, I sat back into my seat and sulked.
As I sat pouting another thought crossed my mind and I smirked.
"So do you have a mistress lined up yet?" I held my giggle as I watched him blanch.
"W-what?" He looked over at me wide eyed.
"You know, the girl that I am going to become ‘friends’ with?" I nudged his arm with my elbow.
"Lilli, I’m not going to risk losing everything to have sex with some woman."
"So you’re going to be celibate?" I grinned.
"No," he smirked "I’ll have a wife who shares my bed." He wiggled his eyebrows at me.
Laughter burst out of my mouth.
"If you think I’m having sex with you, then you are dumber than I thought." I chortled.
"You know…wait, you think I’m dumb?"
Holding my stomach, the hilarity was just too much.
"Shut up," he scowled at me. "Anyhow…did you not remember the part of ‘consummate’ in the contract?"
I narrowed my eyes on him.
"Oh, whatever, we can lie." I shrugged.
"Lie?" his brow raised "What if someone finds out?"
"Who, Aidan? It’s not like someone is going to sit at the end of the bed and monitor if we have sex with each other, please." I chuckled and shook my head.
"You seriously think you could go four years?" He asked incredulously.
"Nope," I smiled widely. "That’s what the ‘pool boy’ will be for." I made quote marks with my fingers as I said pool boy and started to giggle.
Aidan went silent for a few moments, clearly not enjoying my humor.
"Oh God, Aidan, I am not going to screw some pool boy," I rolled my eyes. "It’s not the right weather for a pool boy." I winked.
"It is when you have an indoor pool," he growled.
"There is an indoor pool?" I asked in amazement. He nodded. "Holy shit," I shook my head.
"What?"
"Did you ever go without anything growing up or were you always a spoiled, little brat?" I teased.
"Yeah, I grew up without parents," he commented shortly.
"Aidan, I didn’t mean…"
A small grin spread on his lips. I smacked his arm.
"That is not funny!"
"Oh, it was hilarious." He laughed at the discomfort he’d caused me.
"So back to this…um..." He brought the conversation back around again.
I groaned.
"Lilli be serious. It’s four years." He exclaimed.
"What’s the longest you have ever gone? And be honest." I asked with a warning tone.
He thought for a moment and then rubbed that back of his head as he admitted.
"Um…like, maybe, three weeks." He looked up to my astonished face from under his lashes.
"Are you serious?"
He nodded.
"Jesus, Iverson, you’re a whore." I giggled.
"I am not," he argued.
"Sure you aren’t," I waved him off. "Like I said, I’ll help you make arrangements." I shrugged.
"So it won’t bother you that your husband is sleeping with another woman?" he asked with sincerity.
"Look, I know that this is just a business deal. I don’t expect the ‘real’ thing." I shrugged again.
I thought I heard him huff.
"So, how do you think that we are going to conceive?" He asked like I was an idiot.
"Uh…I’m hoping that we don’t have to," I chuckled. "Can’t you just buy off a doctor to say that I am infertile? Then you can have a baby with someone else." I smiled brightly at my brilliance.
"Diabolical," he muttered and I smiled bigger. "What if that plan doesn’t pan out?"
"Invitro," I responded quickly.
I watched him hunch his shoulders forward as he tried to think up something else.
"Just let it go, Aidan. You can rope me into marriage but not into my pants." I broke into a giggle fit.
"Shut up," he teased back and pushed my arm.
We landed in New York a little past eight o’clock and, just as Aidan had said, Viola was waiting in a limo for us.
"Aidan," she exclaimed as she pulled him into a large hug.
"Hello Vi," he kissed her cheek. After she released him, he moved to a petite, red haired girl. "Hey Magpie," he hugged her tightly and she hugged him back.
"Hey there Aidan-o!" she giggled.
"How come she gets to call you a nickname?" I exclaimed with my hands on my hips, before laughing.
"Because," he argued and smirked.
"Nice response genius." I smacked his arm teasingly.
"Viola, Maggie, this is Lilli Snowe. Lilli, this is Aunt Vi and Maggie,” Aidan motioned between us with his hand.
"It’s very nice to meet you." Prepared to shake hands with Viola, she had other plans.
She grabbed my shoulders, looked me over and pulled me into a tight hug. After pulling back she examined the ring on my finger. Her face lit up like the seeing the sun for the first time.
"You accepted," she said cheerfully and then pulled me into another hug.
"Okay, mom, quit hogging Lilli," Maggie pushed in between us.
"It’s a pleasure to meet you, Maggie." I smiled.
"Definitely a pleasure to meet anyone that puts Aidan-o-boy in his place," she giggled and then wrapped her arms around me. I laughed and squeezed back.
"Hey!" Aidan pushed her arm.
"Okay you two. It’s getting colder by the minute, everyone in the car." Viola ordered.
Aidan stood, letting everyone in before him. Viola pulled me close to her side and Maggie climbed on the other. At that moment, I felt very claustrophobic.
"So, Lilli, you look like you’re about a size six?" Viola raised her brow.
"Uh…yeah." I said hesitantly.
"Perfect," she clapped her hands.
I looked over at Aidan in confusion, clearly I was missing something. He simply shrugged.
"You will fit her dress," Maggie answered my unspoken question.
"Dress?"
"The wedding dress," she smiled like a kid who just got away with something.
"Oh," was all I could say.
"Do you have a preference on colors or the cake?" Viola asked pulling my attention back to her.
"Huh?"
"I told you she would bombard you with questions. I tried to warn you." Aidan laughed.
"Keep it down over there Aidan-o-boy" I said cockily. He scowled and Maggie burst into laughter.
"I will need your friend’s and family’s information so we can try to make arrangements for them to attend." I turned back to a very eager Viola.
"Um…it’s only my mother, sister and father, but they won’t be attending." I spoke quickly and hoped that there would be any further questions about it.
"Oh dear," Viola’s face fell. "Why not?"
Damn!
"My father is sick…uh…heart problems and, well, my mother…she…she’s not a fan of marriage anymore." I shrugged.
"Oh," Viola answered. "Well, I’ll need your friends in New York dear and don’t tell me they won’t be coming, because I know that a nice girl like you has friends." She smiled sweetly.
The rest of the car ride was about the wedding and I was ready to poke my eyes out. When the car finally stopped I realized that we were in front of a building that I didn’t recognize. Aidan scooted forward toward the door.
"This is us." He spoke as he opened the door.
I sat still and Aidan leaned back in offering me his hand.
"What?"
"This is us," he repeated.
"Us?" I motioned between him and me.
"Yeah, dork, so let’s go."
"Look loser, don’t call me a dork." I teased and took his hand.
We said goodbye to Viola and Maggie, but not before Viola made me promise to meet her for brunch Tuesday. Then the car pulled away. I don’t think I’ve ever had brunch before in my life.
I reached down for my bag but Aidan grabbed it first.
"What are you doing?"
"Taking your bag up," he said like it was nothing.
"Aidan, I have a home," I stood with my arms across my chest, "and there is nothing more than I would prefer than to go home to my own bed and bathroom."
"Uh…yeah…well….I kind of…"
"What did you do?" I growled.
"Ihadallyourstuffbroughthere," he said so fast that the words ran together.
"What the hell did you just say about my stuff?" I shouted and took two steps closer to him.
He sighed.
"I said, I had your stuff brought here" He flinched before I even started yelling.
Oh, he knew it was coming.
"You did what?" I shoved him in his chest. He went stumbling back. "How could you do that without even talking to me about it?"
Aidan grabbed my arms as I attacked again.
"Calm down," he growled. "This way we can get to know each other before we get married."
"Didn’t I tell you that—"
"Yes, you did, but it was after I already made these arrangements," he shrugged.
"Did you even think about Dixon? He is my best friend, Aidan and you just took me away!"
"I’m sorry," he let go of my arms "If you want, I will have your stuff taken back." He turned and walked through the glass doors.
"Ahggghhhgg!" I screamed before I followed him through the doors.
He stood on the other side grinning.
"Feel better now?"
"I’ll feel much better after I slap that smirk off your face." I threatened.
He chuckled and led me to the elevators.
When we reached the top floor and walked off the elevator I realized that there were only two doors on the floor, besides the exit door. Which, I won’t lie, I considered running through that door. Aidan walked over to the large black door on the right and opened it, motioning for me to enter first.
I stepped inside.
"This is your apartment?"
Astounded by the size of the place, I stretched my neck taking in large open dining, living room and kitchen. Two doors at the far end, near a staircase, could’ve been extra rooms, a bathroom or closets. I didn’t know what lay behind them or the multiple doors on the landing the staircase climbed up to reach.
"Well, technically it’s now our apartment."
Turning around, I was met by Aidan’s large grin.
"Jerk," I muttered. "You live here by yourself?" Further into the apartment, overstuffed leather couches, chairs. and dark wood tables filled the open living space. Bar stools lined the dark wooden island separating the kitchen and a pool table sat in place of a dining room table. Definitely a bachelor pad.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, why the hell do you need so much if it’s just you?" Pointing at him, I raised my eyebrow. "Hmm?"
"I don’t know, I just liked it." He sat onto the large leather couch.
"You mean it fits your ego?" I giggled.
"Ha ha," he made a face. "You’re such a smartass, you know that?"
"Why yes, yes I did know that." I stuck out my tongue.
"Your room is this way," he got up from the couch and walked up some stairs.
I followed.
"The door at the end of the hall is mine," he motioned to a large dark wooden door.
I nodded.
That door is a guest room, this door is an extra room, and this," he opened the door and motioned me in, "is your room now."
"Thanks," I muttered looking around at my things in this strange unfamiliar room.
"You can put the stuff where you want."
I jumped, having forgotten that he was behind me.
"I just didn’t want you to have to unload a bunch of boxes."
"Thanks."
"Well, I’ll uh…leave you to uh…get settled," he smiled small and shut the door behind him.
Walking around the room I realized this wasn’t my bed. This one was nicer and larger. My clothes were hung in the walk-in closet and my laptop sat on a small but very expensive desk. A second door opened into a large bathroom. My toiletries were placed on the sink and in the shower. This bathtub had Jacuzzi jets. I moaned thinking about sinking into that bathtub. The thought itself almost made me orgasm.
Lost in thought, my cell phone’s ring startled me. I pulled my phone out and looked to the screen—Demitri. I wasn’t married, yet…right? I kicked that thought out of my head, but it crept back in. Biting my lip, I answered the call.
"Hello?"
"Hey you," his voice a deep, rich Spanish seduction.
"Hey yourself," I was trying to use my teasingly seductive voice.
"Are you up for a ‘Deli night’?"
"Hmm…may—"
The knock of the door stopped my words and Aidan leaned in.
"Lilli?"
"Who’s that?" Demitri asked. "Do you have company?" He laughed.
"Hold on a sec," I covered my cell phone.
"What’s up?"
"I just wondered if you wanted to get something to eat?"
"Umm…I may be stepping out for something to eat with a friend."
Aidan’s face fell slightly. "Oh," he said.
I went back to my call. "What time?"
"Want me to pick you up now?" he asked, eagerly.
"No, umm...I’ll meet you at the Deli, okay?"
"In about twenty minutes?"
"Sure." We said our goodbyes and hung up.
With a smile on my face, I spun around. The smile disappeared. Aidan was still in the doorway.
"Who was that?" he asked with a little too much acid in his voice.
"A friend," I answered curtly, grabbing my purse.
"The same friend you spent the night with before?" He raised his brow and crossed his arm over his chest.
"It’s none of your business. We aren’t—"
"Lilli, you’re engaged to me. You can’t just go off with some guy in the middle of the night." He lectured.
"So, you’re telling me we have to start this fake relationship now?" Venom seeped into my words.
"Yes," he snapped.
"And when some girl is all over you, before the fake marriage, you’re going to push her away and do nothing?"
He squirmed under my intense gaze.
"That’s what I thought." I started to walk passed him.
"It’s four years, Lilli," he argued.
"Exactly…four years…I say we get it while we can and before anyone finds out we are engaged, married or whatever," I argued back and headed down the stairs toward the door. "If you can do it, so can I!" The front door of his apartment clicked shut behind me.
About to step onto the elevator, I was pulled back and spun around. Before I could process what was happening, Aidan’s lips were on mine.
Chapter Twelve
Rules and Guidelines
Aidan
When she called me out on the fact that I would take up a hot girls offer, I was stunned into silence. She took that opportunity to get past me and out the door.
"Oh, hell no!" My words fell on an empty apartment.
Moving fast, I was out the door and at the elevator before she could take a step inside it. Acting on pure instinct, angered at the thought of her with another man, I grabbed her arm and swung her around.
Once facing me with her eyes widened in shock, I had no idea what I was going to say to stop her from going to meet that…guy. I did the first thing that came to mind the moment my hands touched her. I pressed my lips to hers, firmly.
The feeling intensified and I slid my tongue against her lips. Her mouth started to part. Then pain shot across my bottom lip, Lilli’s teeth clenched down on it, painfully.
"Christ! Shit! Ow!" My hand flew to my lip, eyes squeezed tight. "What the fuck, Lilli?" Shouting, I scowled at her.
"Me? What the fuck do you think you’re doing?" She shouted back.
"We’re engaged," I shrugged. "You are committed to me. We have an agreement." I pulled my hand from my lip, red dotting my finger. "You drew blood!" I glared at her.
"You touched me without my permission, asshole!" She crossed her arms over her chest and glared more. "Have you ever heard of personal space?"
Pointing my finger at her, "We have an agreement, an arrangement, and I won’t let it be screwed up!" Grabbing her arm, I pulled her back to my wide open apartment door.
"Let go of me!" She slapped my arm. "You don’t own me, Iverson!"
"Just stop," I snarled, pulling her through the door, shutting it behind me.
"Move," she shouted.
I stood with my arms over my chest.
"You’re insane, you know that. I don’t want anything to do with this." She sneered.
"Too damned late, you already signed the agreement," I smirked. "Now, what do you want to eat. I’ll have whatever you want delivered." I stalked to the phone.