by Jones, P. A.
“Thanks, Trisha. You know that I love you.” She hugged me tightly.
“And I love you, too. Now, let me go. I need to go to the mansion again tomorrow. And I don’t think we can meet till the wedding is over. I mostly will be spending my time there.” I waved her goodbye and walked out.
There was one thing which I hadn’t told her. Eyan had dropped me off at her house. And it was super fun to be with him. After I’d found out he was one of the Swans, I felt ashamed and I’d asked for his forgiveness. He agreed only on one condition—that he would drop me off home. So he did, and I hid it from Melissa. And now she wanted me to stay away from him. And I’d better do that. No more flirting with you, Prince Charming.
***
My cab stopped in front of the gate. I had to go through the whole process again and then there was a limo waiting for me inside the gate.
When I stepped out of the limo, I knew where I needed to go. I headed straight to the Evy’s room.
“Hey, gorgeous.” Those two words woke my mind up from all the calculations I’d been doing on the way there. It was Prince Charming calling me.
My head turned toward the direction of his voice automatically, which I hated. I should have been more careful and avoided him in the first place. I looked at him and smiled, but didn’t allow myself to lose my focus. I couldn’t lock eyes with him again. I just ignored him and called the elevator. When it came to halt, I got out quickly and walked to Evy’s room. I didn’t want Eyan to follow me or talk with me.
“Hi.” Evy was running on a treadmill in her room. Sweat was dripping from her forehead.
“Are you sure you have to run fifteen days before your wedding?” I asked. I didn’t want her to get hurt on the treadmill or look tired because of excessive exercise.
“Don’t worry, sunshine, I’m doing just fine.” She panted. She stepped off of the treadmill and took a sip of an energy drink placed on the table nearby.
“Did you see my dress designs?”
I shook my head. We’d just met yesterday, and she didn’t show me the designs.
“Let me change into something clean and we can discuss the details,” she said while walking towards bathroom.
“Okay.” I waited for a couple of minutes before she popped her head out of the bedroom door.
“Come here, let me show you.”
I followed her to her iPad. She opened a document and showed me the design folder.
It was a huge collection of the dresses from the different designers working for Brian’s. Evy was five feet seven inches.
“This is the one I’m thinking of.” She put her finger on one dress. There was one picture of hers trying on one of the dresses and it was so beautiful.
She chose a cream colored dress with a illusion beaded pop-over bodice, with a sweetheart neckline and a trumpet skirt with chapel train. She was wearing a mock-up dress in the photo, but it looked so beautiful on her that my heart flipped. The dress was cute and elegant, and it fit perfectly on her. The complete dress suited Evelyn’s fair skin. She really looked like a princes in that dress.
“Oh, my God, you finalized it? It’s so sweet. I feel like having a wedding now,” I sputtered, holding the picture in one hand and half-hugging her with other. She was a sweetheart and she looked like the most beautiful woman in the world wearing that dress.
“I haven't finalized it yet. I mean, I liked the way it was fitting my body and the overall appearance but I haven’t yet ordered it.” She smiled back at me.
“Oh, my, what are you waiting for, then? I think this one is just awesome and you should give it a go.”
“Thanks. I wonder how it would look on you.” She smiled.
“No, I would choose a white gown, complete white. It’s been my fantasy from childhood.” I smiled back at her. I wondered if that day would ever come.
“You will look like a sweetheart in any dress.” She neatly put the designs back in the folder.
“How are you planning to walk down the aisle?”
“Well, a flower girl would be there and my dear father would accompany me.”
“And what about bridesmaids? How many are there?” I asked.
“Five, and their dresses are ready. It’s only me who is left without the dress.”
“What does Eyan think about the dress?” I was curious what he thought of it.
“Hmm.... He liked it. You’re right, let’s order it today. It will be available in four days, max. Well, I should order a dress for you, as well.” She pulled out her phone and dialed someone.
“No, Evelyn, there is no need for that,” I said. It was flattering that she thought about that for me, but it wasn’t really necessary at all. And it didn’t fit in the company policy as well. My other colleagues would be there working with me and it would not look good.
“Calm down,” she said and walked inside, talking on the phone.
I stood there waiting for her.
My hand was pulled by someone and the next thing I knew, I was in someone’s embrace. Inches away from his face, his hot breath touching my face.
I knew who he was.“Eyan.” I whispered his name before looking up into his green eyes. He had a particular, masculine scent which I could smell now very clearly. Last night before sleeping, I was wondering about the smell I’d noticed in the car. I felt it when he saved me and I was very close to him in his arms.
“Trisha.” His hands were on my lower back, just above my ass. His touch was firm and igniting a fire inside me.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, slightly pissed off by his actions. I could no longer look into his mesmerizing eyes, so I kept rolling my eyes all over the room.
“Your hair smells so sweet, like strawberries.” His other hand moved to my hair and vanished in it, touching my head and pulling me towards him.
“Please, leave me alone.” I wanted to get away from him, but my resistance evaporated with his touch. I was ready to give up so easily. I didn’t know how he did it, but I was under his control.
“I want to kiss you. Can I?”
“No.” I pushed him away, but his grip was firm. Now his hand was almost touching my ass, sending tingles across my whole body. “Please don’t.”
He released me suddenly. My eyes darted to his face to check what had happened.
“Hi, Evy. I wanted to check on the cake. Would you mind if I take your friend with me?” he asked.
I turned back to Evelyn, who was standing there with a new t-shirt. I felt guilty. What if she’d seen us, almost kissing.
“No worries, brother. I was about to leave for my friend’s place and had planned to drop her off on the way.”
“Don’t worry. I have to collect some stuff from my apartment in the city,” Eyan said.
“Don’t you stay here?” I asked. I was surprised to know that he had an apartment in the city.
“We don’t stay in this mansion as this is far away from the city. We all have our own apartments there. But I wanted my wedding to happen in this place, so I moved here last week and to accompany me, Eyan had to come, dropping all his business meetings and other plans,” Evy explained.
“And our parents will be joining us in a couple of days,” Eyan added unnecessarily.
Now I knew why he was so free all the time and had time to be around me.
“Shall we get going?” he asked.
“Okay,” I said, looking at him. He was wearing a green jacket now, matching the shades of his eyes. It hugged his chiseled body perfectly. I wanted to see him naked; I wanted to see what his bare body looked like.
It’s not going good, Trisha. You are supposed to stay away from him. I warned myself, but the bullet had been fired. I was riding to the city with him.
***
“Why were you avoiding me back then?” he asked, jumping in the driver’s seat. We were driving in a red Ferrari today; yesterday, it was a BMW.
“I was told that I should keep my distance from you. Your reputation is not good in the city,�
�� I said straight, without hiding. I wanted to know the truth about him. If I wanted to be in his company, it was better to know the man.
“Oh, is that it? You want to stay away from me?” He grinned at me.
“If you are a bad person, why would I be with you?” My eyes darted to his face, studying his reaction.
He stared at me for a second.“Your good luck isn’t working, then. We are stuck together for the next fifteen days.” He smirked.
“What?”
“Do you remember the man sitting near you in that bistro couple of days back?”
“What? How do you know that?” I said. There was no way he could know that, unless he was there—unless he was that man. No, that can’t be true.
“No, you can’t be that man.”
“Sorry, sweetheart. But you were too involved in your discussion to notice anyone else.” He grinned.
“Are you going to tell my boss about that?” There was no way Tim could know about it. Melissa and I would be in solid trouble if he knew that we were messing with the client just to secure our jobs.
“I don’t like beautiful girls to stay away from me.” He grinned at me.
I was stuck with him for fifteen days, for sure. I couldn’t lose my job and just couldn’t put Melissa in danger, either.
Chapter 6
“You can’t get to me by simply knowing my secrets,” I whispered in anger. I hated the way he’d turned the tables on me. “And it’s not my secret at all, it’s Melissa’s, and if you are not a jerk you’d understand the motivation behind it.” I frowned at his smiling face.
I should have been bursting out at him, but instead I was acting soft with him.
My eyes darted to his smiling face. His hands were moving gracefully on the steering wheel. He was cutting the corners like a pro, his hair scattered more due to the open top. My hands were urging to touch those hair and put them back, he really looked cute like that.
“I’m not saying I want to get to you. Okay, relax. I just want your company for the next fifteen days. I’m already getting bored here but have to stay for my sis.” He smiled at me, his green eyes moving to my lips like he was trying to kiss them with his eyes.
“What are you looking at?” He was making me goddamn awkward and shaking my core for his attractiveness at the same time. Why am I acting so stupid, I shouldn’t be asking him these questions. I should just get out of the car and hail a cab to back home.
“Your lips.” He explained shamelessly.“They look so soft, I was wondering how would they taste.” He pushed his hair back with one hand. It made me go weak one more time.
“Please stop doing that.” The words came out of my mouth without the realization of what I was saying. Stupid, Trisha. Why are you doing this again.
“What? Looking at your lips? Sorry, they are too red to avoid. Or you are talking about the hair.” He chuckled. He pushed his hair back, again.
“Drop me home. I don’t care what you have to report back. I’ll take care of things myself,” I hissed. I hated him for knowing what was going in my mind.
“Okay, relax. The last thing I want is to screw up my sister’s wedding. So believe me, I don’t have any intentions to mess up with you.” His eyes were fixed on the road. His left hand touched my fingers, tracing through their length. “I won’t do anything that makes you uncomfortable.”
“You are doing that right now.” I frowned; he knew my weakness. His touch was sending me over the cliff. That had never happened to me in my whole life, not even with Tristan.
“Sorry.” He pulled his hand back,” I was just trying to give you confidence in me.” He gave me another of his mesmerizing, ear-to-ear smiles.
How can a man smile so beautifully like that? And why do I feel so weak around him?
“Just keep a safe distance from me. I’m not the girl who would fall for you,” I said straight. There was nothing between us and I would make sure that nothing happened. I don’t want to end up like other girls, destroyed and emotionless. I had my own baggage of emotions and I was just getting out of those.
“Whatever.” He smiled again.
“Why do you smile so much?” I asked.
“Do you have problem with that, too?” He tried to make his face serious, but he couldn’t. He laughed. Again, he looked cute, making my knees weak.
“No, you can smile as much you want.” I had to stop being stupid around him.
“Here we are.” He pulled the car out of the fast lane and we stopped in front of Barney’s cake shop. It was famous in town. They had all types of wedding cakes. I’d come here one time to buy a cake for Sarah, and goddamn, it was so expensive.
“Welcome, Mr. Swan. How are you?” The shop owner came out smiling.
“Fine. Thanks, Andrew, how are you doing?” Eyan smiled back.
”Your sister visited us a month ago and chose the sample. It’s ready for the display.”
I thanked Evy for actually making all the arrangements. I just had to make sure that I got the things right and make them available for the wedding. I was actually drifting far away from my original work. I’d come as an assistant to the wedding planner, but now I was helping the bride and her cute brother.
I could see why Melissa was confident about the whole wedding. Evy was the woman of our dreams for the wedding planners.
“Can we see it now?” I was curious how it looked and to make sure it was up to the details Evy wanted.
“Yes, please.” He took us to an inside room. For any cake-lover, the room was heaven. It had glass shelves and every shelf had cakes, of different flavors and colors, different sizes and shapes. It was such a beautiful sight, and there was a six foot tall shelf, where Evy’s dummy cake was present. It was six feet tall, the biggest layered cake I’d ever seen in my life. And a beautiful man was playing guitar on the top of and he was moving in circle.
“No, this is not what Evy has ordered.” Sweat accumulated on my forehead, a hint of horror ran through my spine. Evy wanted a singing couple, not a man.
“What happened, ma’am? Don’t you like it?” The owner’s voice was shaking.
“She wants a singing couple on top of the cake, not a man. Can you change it, please?” My heart was beating faster now. It couldn’t be happening.
“Oh, you mean like this.” He opened a drawer; there were dozens of different statues, couples, men, women. You name what you want—there was one. One of them particularly grabbed my attention, a couple kissing each other. If I ever married, I would have chosen that.
Eyan picked that kissing couple. “I bet you’ll choose this when you get married,” Eyan whispered in my ear.
“And why do you think that?” My chin jutted up.
“Because of your lips. They are so kissable.” He chuckled.
I decided to ignore him. I turned back to face the owner, Andrew. “Thank God, I thought it was something difficult to replace. Thanks a lot, Andrew.” My face softened.
“Of course. Anyway, the one in the showcase is just a prototype and will be used in rehearsal. The actual wedding one will be made in ten days.” He smiled at us.
“Thanks a lot,” Eyan replied.
“Any changes you foresee here?” he asked, while changing the statue on the top.
“No, that’s it.” I smiled and turned back toward the door. My eyes darted to Eyan and he was looking at me.
“Shall we?” I asked.
“Sure.”
We walked out of the cake shop and my phone buzzed. It was Evy.
“One moment, Evelyn is calling,” I told him and picked the phone.
“Hi, Evelyn. We checked on the cake and it’s the one you wanted. I sent you the pic as well.”
“Thanks,” she replied, “Can you also check on the florist? Sorry it wasn’t in your schedule, but you both are in town and you can easily check that one. The shop owner was supposed to call me today, but he didn’t.” She sounded a little worried and it was obvious, if I was in her place, I would have freaked out if
my florist didn’t call me.
“Sure, just text me the address and we will check on that,” I replied. Now it was my job to make her wedding as beautiful as she wanted. Not only because my company was paying me, but also she was a super-kind girl.
“Thanks, Trisha. You are a lifesaver,” She sputtered.
I should say the same to you, Evy.
I turned around; Eyan was tapping his fingers on the car’s hood. “We have to check on the florist as well. Do you mind taking me there? Or shall I call a cab?” I asked Eyan. It was just the start of the evening and the weather was getting awesome for a road trip.
“Anywhere you want, sweetheart.” He winked.
“Whatever,” I whispered and hopped in his car. I was annoyed by him, and at the same time I had started liking his company. And driving in the super-sexy, red-hot Ferrari was better than hailing a cab.
“There are only fifty of these in the whole world. I was the fourth to buy this one,” he said, pushing the gas.
“What?”
“The car, the F670.There are only fifty in the whole world.” He looked at me, drawing me in his eyes again.
“How did you know?” Why in the world could he read my mind so easily?
“I have that power. I know exactly what a cute girl is thinking when I look in her eyes.”
“And I should to believe that?” I giggled.
“Don’t.” He smiled back at me.
***
My life here in this town was an adjustment, an adjustment done to get rid of old memories and be closer to my mother. When I came here, it was difficult for me to get settled in this town where I had no friends. Then I met Melissa. She was older than me and had a kid, but then I didn’t know that when she became my best pal. But all her life was occupied with worries about her daughter, and most of our chatter remained mature. No one was actually around my age, someone I could hang out with for a beer or dinner. Or plan a movie or outing.
That’s why I’d became comfortable with Evy Swan in less than three days. Although she was a very rich client of mine, she made me feel at home. And never showed off her money. I had been with her for only two days now but that was more than enough for a bonding.