The Arrangement

by Thayer King

  He was a good actor, she thought. He was supposed to pretend to love her and that’s what he was doing. And that was the end of it. There was no reason for her to think that she was anything special to him. He’d already admitted that he wanted to sleep with her again. Of course, he’d do whatever it took to facilitate that.

  She opened her purse, a tiny gold clutch that matched her dress, and pulled out a tube of lip gloss. She slicked it across her lips. Her mother ducked her head through the swinging door of the restroom. She’d been waiting in the hall for her. Her mother refused to use public restrooms and only entered them in dire emergencies. “They’re about to do the drawing for the next reunion committee.”

  Ariadne waved her on. “You go ahead. I’m exempt.”

  “Okay. I’m leaving right after. See you on the yacht.” Aurora disappeared as quickly as she’d appeared in a swirl of silver chiffon.

  Ariadne pressed her lips together and rolled her shoulders. It had been a long day. These get-togethers were fun but tiring. She was definitely ready to go home and sleep in her own bed.

  The restroom door swung open again. Janice came to a halt when she saw her. Ariadne dropped her gloss back into her purse and closed it. “Just leaving,” she said.

  “Whatever you want,” Janice said with a twist of her lips. “Eager to get back to your rich stud? Wherever did you find him? I didn’t think you had it in you to corral a man like that one.”

  Though she didn’t owe Janice any answers, she thought it might behoove her to try to be civil for the sake of their future relationship. They would never be friends, but she didn’t relish the idea of facing outright hostility at every year. “Ash and I have known each other since high school.”

  Janice studied herself in the mirror. She smoothed her brows and made adjustments to her hair. “You always come out a winner, don’t you? You know why I’ve never liked you?”

  “No.” Ariadne sighed. “And I guess at this point in our lives, I don’t really care anymore. I’m done trying to befriend you.”

  The other woman’s mouth twisted. “You’re such a snob. You think you’re too good for everyone. I didn’t even really want Daniel, but he was a doctor and I thought it’d be nice to teach you a lesson.” She made a sound of disgust. “But what do you do? You go out and replace him with someone better looking and more money.”

  “If you didn’t want him, why are you marrying him?”

  “Duh, he’s a doctor.”

  “Well,” Ariadne trailed off. She supposed she should be wishing them well, but she didn’t. She strongly suspected that they were both going to get exactly what they deserved. And she simply didn’t care to waste another minute thinking about either of them. “Goodbye, Janice. See you…next year.” She was sure they would both be on the yacht to witness the fireworks, but she had high hopes that they wouldn’t have yet another encounter.

  Chapter Eight

  “We’re home.”

  Ariadne roused slowly. She stretched and then groaned. She’d fallen asleep after only an hour of the drive back to Greenville. The fireworks had been spectacular. Asher had held her in his arms while they watched the sky light up. Even better, her luck had held and she’d had no more run-ins with Janice or Daniel. After the fireworks, everyone had said their goodbyes. Those who lived farther away or had small children returned to the lodge for the night with plans to make their trip home in the morning. Others like herself that lived within driving distance had left for home.

  She slid her feet back into her strappy gold sandals. She was still blinking when Asher came around to open her door. “Why don’t you go get out of that dress while I bring in our bags?”

  She nodded. It was almost one o’clock in the morning. She wished she’d remembered to leave on the porch light. It was dark and she fumbled to get her key into the lock until Asher approached. He activated his cell phone’s screen so that it illuminated the doorknob. “Thanks.”

  “No problem.” He followed her upstairs and placed their bags by the closet. “Okay, if I unpack this tomorrow?”

  “That’s fine. I’m beat. I just hope I don’t fall asleep in this dress.” She walked into the closet and grabbed the first oversized t-shirt she found on a shelf. When she reentered the bedroom, Asher had already removed his shoes and his jacket. The buttons of his shirt gaped open to reveal his chest.

  Ariadne stopped short. He didn’t think he was sleeping in here with her, did he? She bit her lip. “Um, Asher….”

  “Yeah?” He worked open the cuffs of his sleeves and shrugged out of his shirt. He tossed it over the end of the bed. Bending, he removed his socks and then threw them down next to her bed. When his hands went to his pants, she knew she had to stop him or he’d be naked in a second.

  “Ash, wait! What are you doing?”

  He frowned. “Getting ready for bed,” he said as though it should have been obvious to her.

  “Yeah, but why are you in here?”

  Holding her gaze, he undid his pants and let them drop. Ariadne swallowed. “Ariadne, we can’t go back. We both know that what we shared isn’t over.”

  “Don’t you think it would only complicate our situation more if we continued along this vein?”

  He shrugged broad shoulders and pulled back the comforter and sheet on the bed. “I don’t want to stop.” He yawned. “I’m exhausted. Perhaps we can talk about this in the morning?”

  Her eyes dropped to his cock. He was semi-erect. “Just sleep,” she said. She wasn’t in the mood for an argument and she was too drowsy to win a battle of wits against an opponent as sharp as Asher.

  Asher nodded. He gestured at his penis. “Ignore him. He’s got a mind of his own.” He slid into bed. Stacking his hands behind his head, he watched her.

  Ariadne frowned. She still had to change out of her dress. “Close your eyes.”

  He grinned. “Really? After last night?”

  “Humor me.” Shaking his head, he did as she requested. Ariadne struggled a moment with her zipper but finally got it undone. It spilled to the floor and she draped it over the edge of the bed. She quickly slipped on her t-shirt. The hem fell to her knees. “You can open your eyes now.” She gathered up his clothes and hers and took them into the closet. Since she’d napped, she wasn’t as tired as he was. She could afford to spend a few extra minutes picking up their clothes. She hung her dress and his tux. Monday she would take them to the cleaners.

  Reaching beneath her shirt, she removed her strapless bra and tossed it into the hamper. She turned on the bedside lamp and then crossed to cut off the overhead light before climbing into bed. Asher lay on his side facing her. He was the personification of any woman’s erotic fantasy. Long dark lashes accentuated his pale eyes. His strong jaw was shadowed by stubble. Ariadne fisted her hands to resist the urge to run her fingertips over the rough hair. His shoulders were wide and his chest was well defined. Recalling his nude state, she kept her gaze strictly above his waist even though he had the sheet draped over his lean hips.

  His lips stretched in a slow grin as though he could guess her thoughts.

  Ariadne cleared her throat. “Thank you for coming to the reunion with me.” She knew it was their part of their deal, but he’d performed the role of loving husband far better than she would have expected. “You saved me from what could have been an embarrassing situation.”

  “No problem. You’re welcome. Let’s not forget that you’re helping me, too.”

  It was odd laying here with him in her bed. It was cozy and intimate. They’d been together for practically forty-eight hours without arguing. It had to be a record. “Well, I haven’t helped you yet.”

  Laughing that husky laugh of his that went right between her legs, he propped himself up on his elbow. “Just being married to you has helped me. You got Tara off my back. She was texting me practically every day. And if all I got out of this was last night, I’d consider it worth i
t.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Be serious.”

  He held her gaze. “I am serious.”

  She was the first to blink. She wasn’t ready for such a heavy conversation tonight. She could barely believe the position in which she found herself. A month ago if someone had even suggested that she’d be sexually involved with Ash she would have balked and probably slapped the person stupid enough to have predicted it.

  “Well, um, I’m beat.” She reached behind her and clicked off the lamp. “Goodnight, Ash.”

  “Night, Ari.”

  ***

  Asher woke with Ariadne folded in his arms. It was both a wet dream and a nightmare come true. He’d been fantasizing about being in her bed since he was a teenager. Her t-shirt had worked its way up around her waist. His hand spanned her belly, his thumb just brushing the underside of her plump tits. Her ass was snuggled in his lap, only a thin layer of silk separating his cock from her skin. As she wiggled said gorgeous ass, he bit back a groan. Too much of that and he’d embarrass himself and make a mess of her sheets.

  Resisting the urge to touch her more intimately, Asher rolled away from her and slid out of bed. If he didn’t he didn’t know how long he would be able to control himself. And he knew she’d be pissed with him if he took advantage of her. He used Ariadne’s on suite bathroom and showered. He used cold water in hopes of cooling his libido. He dried off quickly. For once, it was convenient to have his clothes in her bedroom. He crossed to the closet and found a pair of jeans. He tugged them on and zipped them up but didn’t bother to button them.

  He crawled back onto the bed to watch Ariadne sleep. She was beautiful. He liked that she wasn’t vain and that she never used her looks to take unfair advantage. If anything, she usually played down her sexuality.

  He took a shiny midnight lock of her hair between his fingers and rubbed it. It was very soft. Her hair tumbled across her pillow and around her face. She’d either forgotten or been too tired to bind it. Her curls were crushed.

  He’d never dated an African American woman before. It wasn’t that he hadn’t been attracted. It was that he’d always feared he’d be using the other woman as a substitute for Ari. To a certain extent, all the women he’d been with were merely distractions for him. Over the last year or two, he’d tried and failed fall in love with some great women. It seemed that he was a one woman man. She’d hooked him early and hooked him well. Ted was correct when he’d accused him of lying to himself. He was as strung out on Ariadne as he’d ever been. Marrying her, making love to her, had only deepened the addiction.

  Ariadne hummed as she stretched. Then her big brown eyes popped open. She frowned at him. “What are you doing?”

  “Watching you sleep.”

  “Why? What are you planning to do to me?”

  Propping himself up on his elbow, he laughed at her. “You’re so suspicious. I was watching you because you were so lovely I couldn’t look away.”

  She frowned. “Really, you have to be the happiest person I’ve ever met.”

  He shook his head. “No, I figure you can laugh or you can cry. I choose to laugh. Besides, I probably laugh more when I’m around you because you make me happy.” He knew he was getting awfully close to laying it all on the line with her, but he was tired of hiding it. Besides, if both Ted and Erika knew, she seemed to be the only one who couldn’t figure it out. Maybe it was because of their fights or maybe she just didn’t want to see it. Thinking of their many skirmishes, he smiled. “And you have to admit, it drives you crazy when you insult me and I laugh it off. I swear sometimes I can see smoke coming out of your ears.”

  She growled and shoved his shoulder. “I should have known you were doing it on purpose.” When she was irritated, her eyes sparkled, her skin glowed, and she pursed her lips. God, how he wanted her.

  “Can we talk now?”

  “Can it wait until I’ve had a shower and a cup of coffee?”

  He nodded. He pressed a quick kiss to her lips because he couldn’t resist. He rolled to the floor while she was still too stunned to retaliate. “I’ll go brush my teeth and make that coffee.” His toiletries were in the guest bathroom. He’d used her soap for his shower. Fortunately, she used an unscented bar.

  The coffee was made and he was pulling coffee cups from the cupboard when she entered the kitchen like a recalcitrant child. She wore a snug baby pink t-shirt that hugged her full breasts and loose fitting white pants. Her feet were bare. She’d brushed her long hair and put it up in a bun.

  He couldn’t help but grin at her reluctance. Handing her an empty mug, he said, “So we should start with what you want. I already know what I want.”

  She took a deep breath and hell if he could stop his gaze from dropping to her breasts. “And what is that, Ash?”

  He gripped the carafe and filled both their cups to give his hands something to do other than grab her. She was far too tempting. “We both agreed that there would be no outside relationships. We’re going to be together for two years or more. I don’t see why we can’t also have a mutually satisfying personal agreement to meet each other’s sexual needs.”

  Her brows rose. “You said it had been a while for you. How long had it been? How long is ‘a while’ for Asher Hollister?”

  He laughed and was satisfied to see her shift and cross her arms over her chest. “Well, normally I’d say a couple of months. But before you, it was before Christmas.” Before he’d seen her at Ted and Erika’s Christmas party with Daniel on her arm looking so cozy. The bottom had fallen out of his world at the thought of losing her forever. He hadn’t been able to make himself bed another woman since then. He just couldn’t go through the pretense anymore.

  “Oh.” She gave him a strange look.

  “What does that look mean?”

  She shrugged. “Um, it’s just…that’s how long it’s been for me as well.”

  He frowned. “Weren’t you with Daniel then?” It had eaten him up to think of her with another man. Seeing her with Daniel again on New Year’s Eve had driven crazy. He’d been so preoccupied with thoughts of Ariadne that his date for the evening had been pissed with him. She’d abandoned him at the party before midnight. When the ball dropped at midnight, he’d been sipping champagne and glaring a hole in Daniel’s back as he kissed Ariadne.

  “Yes and I know what you’re going to say. If he wasn’t sleeping with me, I should have known something was going on. At the time, I was busy grading papers, preparing averages for report cards, and shopping for Christmas. I didn’t make him a priority.”

  Asher frowned. She sounded like she was taking responsibility for that slime’s infidelity. “That doesn’t mean he should have cheated. He has a damned mouth. If he felt neglected, he should have said so.”

  “And you’ve never cheated on a woman?”

  “No. If I’m unhappy, I walk. I don’t cheat.”

  She opened the refrigerator and took out creamer. “And are these women prepared for you to walk?”

  “If you’re asking me if I’ve ever broken a woman’s heart, then the answer is probably yes. I haven’t always been a good bet.”

  She added creamer and sugar to her coffee and stirred. “Asher, did you really need to get married or was this all some attempt to get into my pants?”

  “You know why I asked you to marry me,” he hedged. She was skittish and if he didn’t handle this correctly he’d find himself booted back into the guestroom for the remainder of their marriage. Then he’d be lucky if he ever saw her again.

  Her eyes narrowed on him as though she suspected subterfuge. “I told Erika that you didn’t want me enough to lie, but considering what you’ve just told me, that you were hard up-”

  “I never said I was hard up. I can get pussy anytime I want.” Her lips tightened. Asher put down his mug. “Shit. I asked you to marry me because my dad needed me to be stable. That’s true. Did I want to fuck you? Hell, yes.�
��

  Ariadne’s mouth fell open. The doorbell rang and she looked away from him. With hands that noticeably trembled, she put her cup on the counter. “I should get that.”

  He moved to block her exit from the kitchen. “Damn it, can it really be that much of a shock to you? Especially after the other night.”

  Knocking sounded from the front entrance. “Asher, there’s someone at the door.”

  He threw his hands up and backed out of the way. He paced the small kitchen until Ariadne came back with Ted and Erika trailing her. He scowled at their friends. Their timing could certainly use some work. Hadn’t they just seen them a couple of weeks ago? He knew they lived in the neighborhood, but, hell, couldn’t they give him some space?

  “Ash,” Ted inclined his bald head. Erika gave him a quick hug. “Sorry to bother you guys so early on a Sunday morning.”

  “It’s my fault,” Erika said, all smiles. “I couldn’t wait to hear the details about the reunion. How was it? Did you make Janice and Daniel green with envy?”

  Ted groaned. “Fascinating as that all sounds, Ash, how about you come out and look at my truck? I want to show you something.”

  Asher wasn’t in the mood for a rehashing of the weekend either. He followed Ted out. Outside he resumed pacing and Ted remained silent, letting him work it out. Asher appreciated that about his friend. He knew when to keep quiet. “I’m so close, Ted. She’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

  “I know.”

  He shot his friend a look. “I never said anything.”

  He smiled. “You didn’t have to. What’s going on with you two?”

  Asher ran his fingers through his hair. He was sure Ariadne wouldn’t want him revealing the intimate details of their relationship so he said, “I’m upping the stakes a little at the time. I was laying some ground work and I’m hoping that your interruption didn’t just screw me over.”