by Claire Adams
“I did, which is why I thought it was okay, but—”
“No but. You thought right. It felt good.” As relief seemed to run through his whole face, I added, “Really good. Really, really good.”
“So you would do it again?” He grinned and I was glad to notice that all tension had vanished from his face.
“Maybe.” I smiled mischievously. “Maybe if you help me out first.”
He raised his eyebrows and made a quizzical expression as if to say “Aren’t I already helping you enough?”
“What? Don’t make that face! It’s just, I have this paper due tomorrow. And as you can imagine, between the stress with my mother’s bills and the contract and…well, us…I have hardly been able to concentrate on schoolwork. I have to do it tonight no matter what. And your help would be appreciated.”
“Hmm,” he said, smiling from the corner of his mouth. “If you aren’t careful you are going to make me think you’re using me for my brains.”
“Well, of course I am,” I said matter-of-factly. “I would be an idiot not to, wouldn’t I? But if it took you this long to figure that out, your brain is obviously not all that I thought it to be.”
He looked affronted for a split-second before catching my eyes, which must have been twinkling with the mirth that I felt because we both burst out laughing.
“This, right here, Aria. This is why I am so smitten. You are fucking extraordinary.”
Smitten? He was gripped by me? That sounded oddly like saying he was, I don’t know, in love with me, didn’t it? Why didn’t he just say that? I did not let it show on my face. Nor did I let it show even a hint of the profound joy that I was currently feeling. Instead, I nodded simply, bidding for time so that when I spoke I would say something sensible and wise, instead of squeaking.
“You got awfully quiet, did I offend you?” He asked, looking concerned.
“No, not at all,” I jumped to say immediately. “I was just thinking of how to thank you for your complement.”
“Have you figured out a way, then?” he asked smiling.
“Oh I can think of many, but we have both exhausted ourselves enough so that will obviously have to wait. But don’t worry; you will be handsomely rewarded for your flattery.”
“It’s not idle flattery. I really mean those things.” After looking like he was deeply considering whether to speak these next set of words, he added, “Sometimes I wish I didn’t. You frustrate me so much, you haven’t the slightest idea. Nobody in my living memory has made me feel the roller coaster of emotions you put me through and I hate it, but I can’t help be drawn to you.” He gently ran his fingers through the small of my back. “I don’t think you know this, but you are a really special girl.”
I rolled my eyes, even though I knew he couldn’t see me. “Sure.” I chuckled. “I am so special, I go to college and work on an hourly wage and have regular people friends. Yep, I am so special.”
“That’s one of the things that makes you so special. You think of yourself as ordinary, even though you are the most exquisite girl – woman – that I have ever met.”
I snorted involuntarily and tried to turn it into a cough. “If I am so very exquisite, then, why don’t you help me with my homework?” I said that mostly to change the topic, as his increased description of my merits were starting to make me feel uncomfortable, especially since I had no clue what the appropriate response was.
“What do I get in return?” he teased.
“An opportunity to spend time with me, of course.” I giggled. “I mean that is obviously worth a lot to you. Word on the street is that you are paying tens of thousands of dollars just for that.”
He grunted and said, “Don’t bring that up right now.”
“Sorry.” I shrugged. “Only joking. And you don’t really have to help—”
“No, I want to help with your paper,” he cut me off. “But I do have one condition.”
I turned around to look at him so that we were no longer spooning and surveyed his face feeling slightly nervous. What could he possibly want now?
“What is it?” I asked carefully.
“I would like to meet your mother.”
Immediately, I burst out laughing. “You are really funny, Zayden. But seriously, what can I do for you?”
“Why is that funny?” He raised both his eyebrows. “I am serious. I would to meet your mom.”
“That is the worst idea you have ever had,” I said with a smile. “Right after the first worst idea of making me this contract.” As his face began to look dismal, I hastily added, “I am joking around. Seriously though, it’s not a very good idea. Maybe we should wait a little bit longer before—”
“Don’t you think I have the right to get to know the person for whose medical bills I am investing so much money?” He looked annoyed now. He was right, after all. He did deserve to know whom he was making these payments for. If I argued with him, I wouldn’t get the help I needed with my paper and we’d just spend time arguing back and forth. Plus I could always tell my mom that Zayden was simply someone I worked with, rather than letting her find out that I was sleeping with my boss.
“Just tell me when and where and I’ll arrange for it,” I said, giving up. “Now, we have a paper to write.”
---
When I woke up the next morning, the world was suddenly a different place. I felt as though I had awoken from a fantasy so deeply etched into my subconscious that I didn’t even know it existed. Groggily I turned around on the bed and reached for Zayden, but he wasn’t there. From the sound of the shower running I could tell he was in the bathroom.
I looked around the room and took a deep breath. As of last night, I was in a real relationship with my boss. The thought sent a shiver of excitement and happiness through my entire body. I was going out with Zayden Sinclair. I was going out with handsome, incredible Zayden Sinclair that every girl between the ages of eighteen and seventy would give up an arm and a leg to spend just an evening with. How had this happened? How had I not only managed to attract the attention of such an incredible man, but also make him fall for me? He had said he was smitten, hadn’t he? I only realized how hard I had been grinning when my cheeks started hurting. It was too good to be true.
I could dwell on that later. For now, I fancied a nice warm shower and fresh comfortable clothes. I slowly got up and gathered whatever items of my clothing I could find discarded all over the floor and started walking towards the shower that was in the hallway since I didn’t feel like interrupting Zayden.
As soon as I got out of his room, however, I almost had a heart-attack. An older looking woman was walking alongside the other end. I had thought there was nobody but me and Zayden in the house. With great embarrassment, I tried to cover myself up with whatever bits of my dress I could grab, but it was probably neither timely nor very effective. The woman had already caught a glimpse of my face and was smiling in what seemed to be a very sinister manner.
“So,” she said in a scornful tone. “You’re his latest conquest?”
“Excuse me?” I looked at her in confusion.
“Zayden’s newest arm-candy.”
“Um, no. Who are you?”
“Never mind that. I have to say I am not very surprised he picked such a young girl. That’s just his style. You are of legal age, right?”
Was this woman suggesting I was a minor and Zayden was committing a crime? What the hell was her problem?
“I turn twenty-one next month, not that it’s any of your business.”
“Oh wow, you’re feisty too. That’s right up his alley. Congratulations! Zayden is quite a beneficial catch for you.”
“I don’t know who you are or what you are talking about, but I don’t have time to address your needless concerns about things that to my knowledge do not pertain to you in any way shape or form.”
I turned my heels around and walked into the bathroom, feeling pissed. Who the hell was that woman and why was she being so judgmental? Sug
gesting I was a minor and some kind of an object of Zayden’s fantasy – well that part was, in a way, true enough, but what did she mean “beneficial”? Was she suggesting I was using Zayden for his money?
The thought gave me an uncomfortable feeling in my chest. In some ways that was exactly what I was doing, wasn’t I? I was using the resources he had to my own advantage. But I was going to pay him back eventually for all the medical bills. That was for certain. No matter what happened between the two of us in terms of our romantic relationship, I was never going to forget what he had done for me and would always be grateful. Even if I wasn’t, even if I ended up hating him somehow, I would pay each and every penny he spent back. It might take me a few years, but I was determined to make it happen.
I turned on the shower and stepped into it. Feeling a little better, I let the warm water run over my body, letting all my worries momentarily evaporate. But a part of me was still wondering who the heck I had just talked to…
Chapter 3
Zayden
Ned was driving the Limo on the day I was to finally meet Aria’s mother. Despite her many protests, I had decided that there was nothing wrong in displaying how affluent I was. If anything, it would perhaps help her feel a little less badly about my investment. It always worried me that Aria thought that the money was worth more to me than it really was and I did not want her mother to start feeling so indebted too.
“Do you think I did the right thing getting the limousine, Ned?” I asked, unsure, more to hear some kind of a reaffirmation than anything else.
Ned didn’t speak for a while, which was rather odd.
“Ned?”
“I am sorry, Zay, I want to agree with you, I really do, but come on, a limo? To see your girlfriend’s mother?” He made a noise that sounded an awful lot like a chuckle but hid it with a cough, so as not to offend.
“Shit. What do I do now?” Ned’s honesty had scared the shit out of me. “She is going to hate me, isn’t she?”
“You are spending sixty thousand dollars to help out this woman, she couldn’t hate you if you landed on her backyard in a helicopter. A limo is a bit much, yes, and you should keep that in mind for next time, but this won’t hurt your impression much. Don’t worry.”
“If you say so.” I sighed as we pulled outside of Aria’s apartment building. Some college girls walking outside were pointing at the car and giggling so I presumed that they had never seen a limo in the area before.
“We are here,” I said into the phone to Aria and hung up. She arrived shortly, dressed in jeans and a casual navy t-shirt, making my heart sink. I was wearing a suit, as I almost always did. It hadn’t even occurred to me to dress down.
“Hi,” Aria said moving into the car. Her face made it obvious that she had wanted to burst out laughing and it was taking a lot for her to keep a straight face. “Limo,” she said, the sides of her mouth twitching.
I felt the strangest sensation in my stomach, something I couldn’t quite identify. It wasn’t anger or frustration or – I realized with a jolt that I was embarrassed. Not used to such a feeling at all, I wasn’t sure what the appropriate reaction was.
“I’m sorry,” I said, hoping apology would cut it.
“No, no, why are you sorry?” Her face was starting to look pained. “It’s—” she gestured around the car. “It’s quite – exclusive. And you look, uh, you look very professional.”
We both burst out laughing at the same time.
“Oh God, Zayden, what were you even thinking?” she said between laughs. “We are going to the suburbs to see my mother, in her house. This isn’t some business meeting where you have a client to impress.”
“I do have a client to impress, though,” I said matter-of-factly. “I doubt your mother will allow me to continue dating her daughter if I don’t impress her.”
“Yes, but there is a huge difference between your business partners and my mom. You can’t employ a one-size fits all approach to dealing with human beings.”
She shook her head, still giggling, but I wasn’t laughing any more.
“Do you think I don’t know how to deal with people?” I was taken aback.
“No, no, no. That’s not what I meant at all!” She looked horrified by my reaction. “Of course you’re fantastic with people. You have built and expanded upon a wonderful business by winning people over. Dale Carnegie would be so proud of you—”
“But?” I said impatiently. “Just get to the but, Aria.”
“But you’re a businessman,” she said meekly. “You think of every interaction as a business opportunity. Like there is always a give and take involved. Like you must ensure certain advantages of having the interaction in the first place.”
“Well.” I frowned. “What else am I supposed to do?”
“With my mom, don’t worry about impressing her. She’s already impressed with you based on the fact that you, you know, paid off her hospital bills without even so much as ever meeting her just because you cared about me.”
“So I shouldn’t try at all?” She was really confusing me.
“No, but try less intensely. If you really want to get along with her – and notice I said get along, not ‘impress’ – then you have to find out what she is like and what interests her. Limos and suits are not those things.”
“What does she like, then? What is she like?” I was genuinely curious at this point. I had assumed that the woman who gave birth to the force that was Aria Roberts was bound to be no less fierce.
“She is very simple.” Aria shrugged. “She is an everyday woman. Very loving, enjoys feeding her children and everybody who visits her house. She likes puzzles and board games.”
“Wow,” I said thinking back. “I haven’t played any board games since I was ten years old.”
She looked shocked upon hearing this and her eyes widened twice their size. “What? You never play board games?”
“Is that something adults do regularly?” It was strange to think that there was a whole other world out there where people participated in activities like board games. Perhaps families spent time together that way, I wouldn’t know. My had been unique compared to Aria’s. I wanted to be part of her life.
“Yeah, me and my roommates play them all the time. And card games, they are fun too. You never get too old to huddle around the people you love and get extremely competitive over things that don’t matter in the long run.”
“That sounds like a lot of fun,” I said ruefully with a little smile.
“Don’t be like that. You know what us regular people don’t get to do? Fly to the Bahamas in a moment’s notice. So don’t sit there feeling all sorry for yourself. And if you really like, we can play some scrabble with my mother tonight, but just know that she likes to win. If you don’t let her, it’s not going to go well.”
“I thought I wasn’t supposed to try too hard,” I said, now grinning at her.
“You know what I meant. Now can we please stop by a store on our way there so you can get into some regular people clothes? The limo we can deal with but you really want to get more comfortable if you don’t want her fussing about how hard you must work that you came to visit her straight in your work clothes.”
“One condition,” I said. “You pick out the clothes for me.”
Shopping with Aria was an exciting affair, mostly because she picked out items of clothing that I would never in a million years deem appropriate for a meeting such as the one that was about to transpire. I didn’t understand how her mother was going to approve of me with the slightly ripped jeans. Aria matched them alongside a navy blue T-shirt that supposedly made my eyes pop out. I shrugged since she probably knew what she was doing.
When we were back in the car Aria looked much more relaxed then when she had first walked in. Even Ned seemed to be pleased with what she had picked out as well to my utter confusion.
“How do you feel?” Aria asked me happily as we continued to drive along.
“I can’t
really feel my muscles tighten as usual,” I joked.
“That’s called being relaxed and comfortable,” she joked back. Aria laughed endearingly. “You should get used to it.”
“I suppose.” I shrugged. “Anyways, I bought your mom a bottle of wine. Does she like wine?”
“She loves wine. Red.”
“Perfect, I had a bottle of Pinot Noir ordered from the most expensive Vineyard in Napa Valley. It only arrived yesterday and I think your mom is going to love it because it’s seasonal and not available for retail. Members of the Vineyard club are the only ones allowed to purchase it.”
“She drinks ten dollar Yello Tails. I highly doubt she can tell the difference.” She must have noticed the disappointment in my face cause she immediately added, “I mean, she will most definitely appreciate the thought though. I didn’t mean – that was very nice of you, Zayden.”
“It’s no big deal.” I waved my hand nonchalantly. “I just hope she likes it. I didn’t know what else to get her. I should have probably asked you. I don’t know why that didn’t occur to me. Perhaps I was a little nervous. I haven’t met a girlfriend’s parents in very long time to be honest.”
For some reason, that made her blush and she looked away, not helping my nerves whatsoever.
“Everything okay?” I frowned.
She looked back at me. “Yeah, I just haven’t gotten used to you calling me your girlfriend yet. It feels nice.”
I pulled her into me in a tight embrace and lightly stroked her hair. “Well you better get used to it.”
She let out a soft giggle. “Look how far you have come from being a womanizer. You are really sweet.”
“Shh,” I whispered. “We don’t need anyone to ever know that at the office.”
So we rode in a silent embrace all the way to her mother’s house. Meanwhile, I pondered upon what she had said and all the things that had happened this evening. I couldn’t quite believe I had so eagerly let Aria change me into a different set of clothes. Only a couple of months ago, if someone had so much as suggested such a thing I would have been completely outraged.