by Ella Miles
I huff. “That waiter did not run away because I looked at her.”
He folds his arms across his chest and gives me an oh really look.
“She ran away because you said we were engaged,” I say.
“Exactly, the combination of your scowl and the ring on your finger will keep the women away. I won’t have to worry about fending off women because you’ll do it for me.”
“I think you’re missing one essential part.”
His eyes deepen. “And what’s that?”
“That you won’t be able to do the sleeping with any of these women part. I’ll be fending off women, so I won’t allow you to be married to me and fuck other women on the side. And if anyone in my family found out, it would defeat the purpose of me doing this.”
He takes another bite of his bread, chewing, as a smirk forms. “Don’t worry, I won’t be fucking other women.”
I swallow. I don’t ask the follow up to my question, which is, does he plan on fucking me?
No. He can’t be. He doesn’t think of me in that way, and I’m far too inexperienced to be worth his time.
“So how would you see this working?” I ask.
“I’ll have my lawyer write up all the details, so we don’t have to worry about either of us getting hurt. But I’m thinking, stay married for one year. We would need to have a real wedding, and soon, for this to work. You could live with me. You can also work for my company if you want. And I’ll pay you well for your time.”
“Payment?” I ask, not sure why I didn’t expect to get paid for this.
“Of course. If you were my real wife and we got divorced, you would earn half of my money. I think you deserve to be compensated well for helping me with my problem while I’m in town.”
“And why do you need to be in town?” I ask.
His smile drops and I realize exactly why. Sebastian.
“Nevermind,” I say.
“I’m thinking one million for one year of being married. If we decide to stay married longer than a year, we can renegotiate if our relationship still benefits us. We can…”
Kade continues rambling on and on, but I don’t hear his words. All I hear is one million dollars. That would mean I could start any business I wanted. I would have earned the money.
No.
I couldn’t use the money. At least, not for what I want.
I could get my family off my back.
I could have a place to live while I saved my own money to start my own business.
And I could spend it all while getting to kiss Kade anytime we were in public together.
It wouldn’t be that bad.
I want to answer yes, but my heart still isn’t sure I can survive this.
Especially when he grins like he knows everything I’m thinking. I need to find a way to make him grumpy, so my heart stops skipping every time he smiles.
“Do you have any terms you would like to add?” he asks.
“We would live mostly separate lives. No questions about where we come and go, or anything personal the other doesn’t want to answer.”
He nods.
“We only have to attend a maximum of two events for the other person a month, and it needs to be scheduled at least a week in advance.”
He thinks for a minute. “Two should usually work, but exceptions may need to be made as long as it doesn’t interfere with the other person’s personal life.”
“We don’t sleep with anyone else or cheat on each other.”
He smirks. “I thought I already made it clear that wouldn’t be a problem.”
I nod, trying to rack my brain for more.
Steaks are placed in front of us, and we both dig in, starving after not getting to eat much at my parents’ party.
“I’ll have my lawyer start writing everything we’ve discussed in a contract, but text or call me any time if you think of anything else that needs to be added. I’ll also make sure my lawyer includes a way to amend the contract in a month, so if something we didn’t anticipate having to deal with arises, we can add it to the contract.”
I nod, unable to answer as I chew my last bite of food.
Kade reaches across the table and grabs my hand. “You don’t need to decide now. We will both think about it, and I’ll have a meeting scheduled for us with my lawyer at the end of the week. You can decide then. In the meantime, we can pretend to be engaged.”
I smile, enjoying pretending to be engaged already.
“Now as my fiancée, would you like to stay and have champagne and dessert, or would you like to do something else, like a movie?”
My stomach is stuffed, and I’m tired of living in his world. I need something relaxed to make sure I can at least tolerate his choice in movies.
“Movie.”
He grins. “Good choice.”
He grabs my hand and helps me up from the table.
“Don’t you have to pay first?” I ask.
He places his hand on my waist as he leads me out. “No, I have a tab.”
We slip through the restaurant and into his car and drive to the movie theater in silence, as his hand squeezes mine gently.
“I know I said this at the restaurant already, but I’m sorry I didn’t stop by your place first so you could at least put on flat shoes,” he says, as we walk into the theater.
“No way. I’ve never worn a dress this fancy, and I don’t care if we are going to see a movie, I’m not changing out of it until tonight. I’m not a dress person usually, but then again, I’ve never worn a thousand dollar dress.”
“Nine thousand, actually,” he says, smirking.
I stare down at the white dress. I’m afraid I’m going to get butter on it when he orders popcorn.
We head into the dark theater to watch a romantic comedy, to my surprise. Kade is probably just trying to give me what he thinks I want, to convince me to fake marry him.
“Are you wanting to return the dress after this? Because I’m afraid I’m going to get butter all over it.”
He eyes the dress and chuckles. “Even if I wanted to return it, I would have to pry it out of your hands, which would be impossible. But don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of more opportunities to wear more nice dresses.”
I smile and pop a piece of popcorn into my mouth as he drapes his arm around the back of my shoulders. It feels incredibly normal. I lean back against his arm with ease.
I moan softly, as I pop a piece of popcorn into my mouth. It has been years since I’ve eaten popcorn. It’s not on my healthy diet.
“Fuck it,” I hear Kade say, just before his lips crash down on mine in a kiss.
I close my eyes, kissing him back as the bag of popcorn drops from my hands onto the floor. His tongue slips into my mouth, whisking me away to another world. When he pulls away, he’s panting hard staring into my eyes.
“What was that for?” I ask, assuming someone is nearby he wants to make jealous. But it’s so dark in here I doubt that.
He smirks. “Because I wanted to.”
I bite my lip.
“How are you going to survive a year without sex?” I ask. He’s a sexual man, used to getting sex regularly.
He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear as I freeze.
“You didn’t listen to a word I said after I said one million, did you?”
“I caught some of it.” I wince.
He shakes his head. “I’ll make sure the lawyer sends the paperwork tomorrow, so you have plenty of time to read everything and decide.”
I nod.
He smiles.
“But to answer your question.” He leans down, so his lips brush against my ear. “I plan on fucking you any chance you’ll give me.”
I’m mush. My muscles don’t work. My voice has closed up. I’m not even sure if my heart is beating in my chest. He just rocked my world with one sentence.
My eyes meet his, trying to understand him.
“I’ve wanted to fuck you since the moment I saw you in my brother
’s room. I just didn’t think it was the best idea to fuck you that night. You were drunk, clearly inexperienced, and you were my brother’s date.”
I nod.
“I know you are inexperienced, and probably used to taking things slow. So that’s what I plan on doing. Getting to know each other better. Go on dates. And when you’re ready, I’ll fuck you like you’ve never been fucked before.”
I swallow. “I’ve never been fucked before.”
His eyes deepen, along with his voice. “I know.”
Cocky bastard.
“As I said, we can take as long as you want. Or no time at all, but I want you Larkyn. And I plan on getting what I want. So if you agree to fake marry me, know that I also plan on seducing you.”
I lick my lip. How could I be so lucky to get everything I’ve ever wanted? I can lose my virginity to the sexiest man in town, who also happens to be the most caring man in town. I get one million dollars and the guarantee that Kade will fuck only me for a year. It’s the kind of deal women dream about getting.
My eyes sparkle as I look at him.
“Sorry about the popcorn. I can get you another one,” Kade says, still being the gentleman that he is. But I know he can be a bad boy when he wants to. And that’s the version of him I want tonight.
“No, I don’t want popcorn. I don’t want to watch the movie either.”
“No? What do you want then?”
“I want you to fuck me, and convince me to fake marry you, if for no other reason than I get your cock any night I want.”
8
Kade
Larkyn wants me to fuck her.
I thought I would need to convince her over weeks or months. She’s the type of woman that needs persuading. Not because she’s a prude, but because she’s been hurt before. I don’t know Larkyn well, but I can feel the damage she carries around with her. She has an unhealthy relationship with her family. I’m guessing she has a reason not to trust men in her life.
But she’s choosing me.
She wants me to be her first. A second ago, it was all I wanted. When I kissed her, it took everything in my body not to pull her into the closest bathroom, hike up her dress, and fuck her against a bathroom stall.
I’ve never wanted a woman so badly.
Larkyn’s different. She doesn’t want me for my money. She took the time to get to know something about me before wanting me to fuck her. She’s not after my millions; I will have to practically force her to take the money that she would get if she married me.
But right now, I wish I’d just gotten a hotel near the movie theater. It would have been faster. Instead, I’m driving her the fifteen minutes to my house.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
She giggles as I run another red light. “You’d think you were the one who hasn’t had sex before.”
I growl, which makes her smile fuller.
God, I love her smiling. She only seems to do it around me. When she was with her family, she did nothing but frown. She should say yes to pretend marry me, if for no other reason than she might smile more.
“How long has it been?” she asks, beaming at me, and I know she’s teasing.
“Not as long as it’s been for you.”
She bites her lip and kicks off her heels, putting them up on the dashboard. Usually, that would drive me mad, to have her dirty feet on my pristine dash. But with Larkyn, I want her comfortable. I thought she might be a wreck about having sex with me. But she’s at ease. The second her begging words left her mouth, the panic evaporated, and a calm overtook her.
I kiss her hand again, wishing I could be kissing her more. But I don’t want to make her nervous of my driving. She’s been through too much already.
“It’s been three or four months,” I finally answer her question. I usually would never tell a woman something so personal, but she deserves to know. She opened up to me about being a virgin, even though I had guessed as much.
Her jaw drops open, and her eyes light up. “No way! I call bullshit. The great Kade King has had sex in the last three months. I bet you’ve had sex this week.”
I shake my head. “Nope, last time was when I was home over Christmas visiting my brother. I made a mistake with Harlow. I haven’t wanted a woman since.”
She puffs out her lips in a huff. Her eyes cut to me, as she folds her arms across her chest.
“I’m telling the truth,” I say, taking my eyes off the road for a second to see her annoyed expression.
“I know. I just can’t believe I have to take back everything bad I ever thought about you.”
I laugh, grab her hand, and kiss it again. I’ve never kissed a woman’s hand before, but I can’t stop doing it with Larkyn since it is the only place I can touch her right now without risking crashing.
“Be honest; you didn’t think that many bad things about me, did you?”
“No, but each time you shatter my preconceptions about you it makes it that much harder to…” she stops.
“Oh, hell no. You aren’t getting off that easy. You finish that sentence.”
“And, if I don’t?”
“Then, no sex.”
She chuckles, and her eyes deepen as she realizes I’m telling the truth.
“You’re serious? You wouldn’t have sex with me if I didn’t finish that sentence?”
“Yep. I’ve been through plenty of droughts before. I can hold out until you tell me.”
She stares at my dick, which is giving me away by pressing against the zipper of my pants.
“I doubt that,” she chuckles. “But fine. I’ll answer. I’m afraid I’m going to fall in love with you if we do this.”
I frown, my head snapping to her. “If we have sex?”
“Not sex. If we pretend marry. Live together. Are friends. Continue to have sex. All of it. I’m afraid I’ll fall in love with you, and you won’t feel the same. I’ll get hurt.”
Fuck, that’s a lot to take in.
Her eyes widen when I pull through the gate.
“This is your house?” she asks, her body leaning forward so she can get a better view out the window.
“Yes, I prefer condos. I have a condo in LA and New York, but I thought I should own at least one house. Makes me feel more like a grownup. Besides, there aren’t any nice condos nearby.”
As we pull up to the door, we both undo our seatbelts and stare up at my modern mansion. I thought if I designed it as modern as possible, it would feel more like a condo instead of a house. It would feel more like mine. Instead, all it feels is cold.
I open my door and go around to open hers, still thinking about what she said. I can understand why she might think that, but it’s not something she should worry about. No one ever falls in love with me. Not after they get to know me. I’m putting on the charm now because I like her and want something from her. But as soon as that changes, I’ll be an ass. She’ll figure it out soon enough.
I help her out of the car onto her bare feet, her heels dangling in her hands. I pull her against my body roughly. Her breath catches, and her body stiffens against mine.
“I’ll hurt you long before you fall in love with me. We’ll fight, I’ll sleep in a hotel for a night or two, and then we will go back to being friends. That is how our story ends. You don’t have to worry about falling in love with me. You were right. I’m a cocky asshole.”
She smiles, but her eyes don’t believe me.
I sigh. She’s about to find out how much of a bad boy I can be. I should back off. Let her think about this more. Find a way to protect her heart. But I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’m going to move faster.
I kiss her. Her head tilts to the side as her lips part wider, giving me more access to her tantalizing tongue. If she’s half as good at sex as she is at kissing, I’m in trouble. My head is already spinning with thoughts of her. If fucking her is incredible, I won’t be going to work for days.
Her tiny body is pressed against mine as I start walking her backward, to
ward the entrance to my house. She winces when she takes an awkward step back.
“See, I can’t even remember that you have a hurt leg? How much of an ass does that make me?” I ask.
She grins against my lips, her eyes closed. “The biggest.”
I scoop her up, but instead of holding her bridal style, I throw her over my shoulder and smack her ass, making sure she’s at least a little-pissed off at me for manhandling her. It will make the sex better.
“Dammit, Kade!”
I laugh as I open the door.
“Oh sorry, I thought I should try to be a gentleman, and carry you with your hurt leg and all.”
“No, you aren’t. You’re a jerk. You could carry me sweetly. Stop trying to be an ass and just be yourself.”
“This is me, baby. Get used to it.”
I storm through my house, upstairs to my bedroom, and toss her onto my bed. She falls in a huff. Her white, lace dress covers most of my dark blue comforter.
She looks like heaven, and she’s about to find out how much of a devil I can be.
She’s smiling behind her glare. She’s pretending to be mad at me, just like I’m pretending to drive her crazy so she won’t fall for me. Not that she would on the first night anyway.
Larkyn glances around, taking in the large room with floor to ceiling windows looking out to the woods behind my house.
“Why don’t you have blinds?” she asks, trying to see if anyone can peer into my bedroom.
I take my time removing my jacket, tie, and shirt.
She finally looks my way, and her body blushes red at the sight of my bare chest. She bites her lip as she examines the tattoos on my chest. She rapidly blinks, like she can’t believe what her eyes are seeing.
“Never seen a shirtless man before?” I tease.
She grabs the single throw pillow on my bed, and tosses it at me, but misses.
“Of course I have. The tattoos caught me off guard. Maybe you’re the bad boy I originally thought you were.”
I kick off my shoes and lower my pants and boxer briefs in one push.
“Maybe I am,” I say, winking at her. Her eyes try desperately to stay on my chest instead of looking at my throbbing cock, which grows larger every second she stares at me with those big eyes of hers.