Boss's Virgin - A Standalone Romance (An Office Billionaire Boss Romance) by Claire Adams, Joey Bush (31)

I couldn’t believe what Zayden had been saying and wished I could stop the damn tears from pouring all over my face. The last thing I needed was to show weakness in this situation, yet I felt completely lost in terms of words to produce from my mouth. Scammed. He had said he felt scammed. That I had somehow, unintentionally scammed him!

My gut felt like it was falling low on a downward spiral of a dangerous roller coaster when I had heard him use that word. How could he? In the time we had gotten to know each other, he had most certainly gotten some idea of the kind of person that I was? If not, then this whole relationship itself was a scam. After how much I had insisted that he add the clause about me paying him back to the contract, how dare he question my character.

He had overheard the whole conversation between me and mom, which meant that he knew very damn well that I was completely clueless about this and intended on telling him everything. He found out as soon as I found out.

It was not good enough though! None of it was apparently good enough for him. He had decided what I was doing was my fault even when I wasn’t and demanded payment – literal and figurative – even though he knew the insinuations would hurt me. It wasn’t that I minded the idea of paying his bank the money my dad owed it. After all, if things all went as planned, I was going to be successful in a couple of years and it would only make me feel good to know that I cleared up the mess my dad left behind. This was regardless of whether I had ever found out South National Bank’s involvement. No, the money was not what hurt me so much. It was the fact that he sat there, looking me straight in the eye and asked me to pay him that money as though I had personally stolen it from him.

The fact that he could make me feel so low made me furious!

To think I was coming to believe our relationship had been making progress. Maybe it had. To Zayden’s credit he had gone out of his way to make me feel like our relationship was, at last, real, even going so far as to asking to meet my mom. Obviously, when he had asked for that he wasn’t expecting all these revelations and neither was I. It wasn’t some trick or an effort to make me feel as shitty as I was feeling right now. He was genuinely interested in my life and getting to know my mom.

I tried imagining myself in his place when he overheard the conversation, from the point of view of a guy who had just gone against all his reservations and jumped into a serious relationship with me. After all that he had been doing for me these past few months, a part of me understood why hearing about my dad must have completely ticked him off. His running off last night was completely justified. I would have run out of there myself if I could have, given what I had heard.

I couldn’t run every time things didn’t go the way I wanted to. Perhaps it would take more time to earn Zayden’s complete respect and if I wanted to keep this relationship, I was going to have to be okay with that. As angry as I was, I was not willing to give up what we had built over the past few months. It would be much easier and respectful to just agree to pay him the money that my dad owed.

“Option two,” I spoke after what felt like an eternity, wiping off my tears. “One business-oriented person to another, I will pay you every single penny back. Happy?”

“Far from,” he snapped, somehow looking even angrier for getting what he had wanted. He had expected me to put up a fight, or argue in some way, or most likely of all, walk away. I had thrown him off with my response, undoubtedly, and it felt oddly like the ball was in my court all of the sudden.

“But well, good,” he said, standing up from his chair. “That’s settled then. Is that all you wanted?”

“Are you kicking me out?” I looked at him quizzically, now beginning to feel amused.

“I don’t know, last time I checked, it was still my office.”

“So you are kicking me out?” I pressed, trying not to laugh out loud.

“I have a bank to run, Aria, so if there isn’t anything else you need from me today—”

“My paper,” I cut him off. “Remember the paper I was telling you about? That you so nicely volunteered to help work me on? Well, the deadline for that is coming up, so I was wondering if you were up to helping me out?”

“I seem to be making a career out of helping you out.” He snarled at me trying to look menacing, but simply appeared comical to me.

“I mean you don’t have to help me. I was just reminding you because you volunteered.”

He sat back down and played with his stress ball for a bit before speaking. “We will do it tonight,” he eventually said. “Now for the rest of the day, please just let me be okay?”

“Gladly.” I smiled and walked out of his office.

---

Later that night, I told the whole story to Nick and Stacey, who for some reason found it hilarious and burst into a chorus of laughter.

“Oh my supportive best friends,” I said sarcastically. “It wouldn’t be so funny if you were in my place, would it?”

“No,” Nick said, trying to straighten up his face. “It wouldn’t at all. And it’s not funny that this is happening to you, Aria. Not at all!”

“That’s not the impression one would get based on your uncontrollable laughter,” I snapped.

“It’s just that,” Stacey, who had finally managed to catch a breath, spoke. “What are the odds you know? Very, very low. But then, you’re not going to believe,” she started laughing again. “I can’t, Nick, you tell her.”

“Well, after you and Zayden had gotten over your last set of – uh – complications, Stacey and I were talking about it – we were glad!” he added immediately upon seeing the expression on my face, which wasn’t exactly that of glee. “We are always happy to see you happy, Aria, you know this. But Stacey and I were talking about how, well, theatrical this whole thing between you and him has been. So full of twists and turns and popcorn worthy. He’s a handsome billionaire and your boss. How often does stuff like this happen in real life?”

“I don’t understand why any of it is funny yet,” I said, still annoyed. “Enlighten me?”

“Okay, okay.” Nick sighed. “So Stacey and I were talking about it and she jokingly said ‘what’s next, we find out that Aria’s dad banked with South National before he went bankrupt?’ and we just laughed about it.”

“That is eerie,” I said with my mouth hanging open, and then burst out laughing myself. If this hadn’t been so utterly bizarre, perhaps I would have been really pissed. “My goodness, Stacey, you should become a fortune teller!”

“No,” she gasped. “It’s not like I was predicting this or would ever wish for something like this to happen to you. The reason I had even said it was because it seemed so absurdly far-fetched to be true.”

“It is. Too absurdly far-fetched to be true. And yet it’s true. If this wasn’t all happening to me, I wouldn’t believe it could happen to anyone in real life.”

“Are you okay though, Aria?” Stacey now looked serious, as though only just registering the full implications of what I had told them. “What are you going to do?”

“I am going to pay him back.” I shrugged. “Eventually.”

“Oh god, Aria. This is ridiculous! You shouldn’t have to. You’re not the one that lost him all that money!”

“He knows that. He is just angry right now and you can’t exactly blame him. I did for a bit but then I put myself in his shoes and it kind of makes sense why he is so frustrated, with the money he is paying for my mom and everything.”

“You are so mature about this, Aria,” Stacey said in amazement and looked at Nick. “If you ever made me pay you five hundred thousand dollars for something I didn’t do, I would dump your ass.”

“That is never going to be a problem since I doubt either one of us will have that kind of money any time soon. And if we do in the far, far future, it won’t matter cause it will be both our money since we’ll be marri—” he immediately stopped talking. His cheeks flushed hard. I turned to look at Stacey, who seemed to be about ready to pass out.

“So you guys ready for when I invite Zayden over for pizza?” I asked brightly, trying to change the subject and making a mental note to ask Nick if a proposal was coming up. It was essential that I helped him pick out a ring that Stacey would like or else she would never forgive me for not fulfilling my best friend duties.

Neither of them answered for a while, but Nick finally broke the silence. “I actually really am. Let’s see what the big deal about the dude is anyway!”

“You will soon enough.” I sighed, relieved that the awkward moment had passed. “For now I have to go to his house. He is helping me with my paper after much cajoling. He thinks he has made a career out of helping me out.” I rolled my eyes and walked towards my bedroom to gather my stuff. I was glad to be able to leave the two of them alone.

 

Chapter 7

Zayden

I was informed that Aria was waiting in my living room when I was still speaking to my mother on the phone, exasperated.

“Yes, I am fine,” I said for the thousandth time. “Of course I was hurt by what happened with Gina mom, but I’m trying hard to move on. If you keep calling me every day to remind me of this, I won’t get past it.”

“I’m sorry, Zay. I don’t mean to upset you further. I just, I worry about you sometimes,” she said, sounding dismayed. “And quite honestly, I am always just looking for an excuse to talk to you.”

I swore silently and clutched my palms tight. How long was this going to go on? When it was over, I also had Aria to deal with. While I was looking forward to seeing her – certain parts of her especially so – the last time we had been in each other’s company had not exactly been pleasant. I wasn’t very keen on picking up from there.

A sentimental speech from my mother was the worst possible preamble to the evening. It went on for another ten minutes before I could excuse myself, claiming an essential business contact was waiting for me outside. I did not dare mention Aria. My mother was not ready to hear that I had managed to fall for a young employee just yet. Not that she could complain at this point since she was convinced she had ruined the last woman in my life. Grinning at that thought, I finally stepped outside to find Aria sitting alone, cross-legged, on the sofa, wearing a bright blue and extremely low-cut dress and reading a magazine. The effect on me was instantaneous and I wondered why I hadn’t chosen to wear more comfortable pants knowing Aria would be showing up. There wouldn’t be enough room for all of me that got excited upon seeing her shimmering legs. I swallowed, ignoring the odd yet now familiar desire to lift up her skirt and devour her with my mouth. I simply coughed lightly to announce my presence.

She looked up at me innocently. “Hi,” she said and smiled brightly. “Thanks for agreeing to help me out with my paper. Especially under the given circumstances. Are you still feeling…unpleasant?”

I hardly caught on to what she was saying, as I was still mentally salivating at the thought of whatever was underneath her skirt.

“Zayden,” she whispered, looking at me pleased. “You’re ogling.”

“Am I now?” I asked in a barely audible whisper. “Sorry,” I said, not feeling sorry at all, rather wishing that I could take her clothes off with my eyes. I didn’t see how any work was going to get done unless I took care of my raging erection first. I suspected Aria had a different order of events in mind. I blinked hard in order to shake off whatever was boiling inside me. I tried looking to the side of her and said, “Sorry, what were you saying?”

“I was asking if you were still…I don’t know… upset with me?”

“Aria, I was never upset with you, you understand that?” I sighed and sat as far away from her on the sofa as I could.

She snorted. “Right. You weren’t. And you sure as hell didn’t go completely batshit on me in your office earlier either. Or scowl at me until I promised to give you five hundred thousand dollars. That was all my imagination.”

And there we were. No matter how hard I had hoped that we would just simply ignore what had happened earlier, I knew Aria far too well to even momentarily consider she would just give me an easy pass for offending her so deeply. How else was I supposed to react to what I had heard?

“I was upset. Wouldn’t you be if you had overheard the conversation and you were in my place?” I demanded.

“Of course I would’ve. Your reaction was natural at first. I didn’t even blame you for storming out like that, did I? The only difference is, I would have given you a chance to tell me and explain yourself had we switched places. But I understand that you work differently than I do and that’s okay. It’s all okay, really Zayden. I am not upset with you and I will gladly pay you that money back. It’s good business practice, something I wish to employ myself going further in my career. So really, there was no reason to have been so hot-headed earlier and—”

“Can I fuck you?” I cut her off without thinking about what I was saying, unable to pay attention any longer. She stopped her sentence looking taken aback, opened her mouth and the closed it again. “Sorry.” I grinned, though I wasn’t sorry at all, and she wouldn’t be either after I was done with her. “It’s just that dress…it’s really bothering me…I just want to take it off over your head and fuck you right here.”

She blinked tightly as her cheeks flushed. Clearly, my words were having the right impact on her and her whole body was screaming for me to take her. But when she opened her eyes a few minutes later and heaved a deep sigh, her words were not what I had expected them to be.

“As much as the thought of you coming over here and you know…I have a deadline, remember?”

“Do you think either of us are equipped to use our brains right now without the…you know?” I asked in a very low voice and winked. I walked slowly over to her and leaned next to her. I whispered across her ear, touching it slightly with my lower lip, “Do you really want to do homework right now?”

She swallowed hard and I could see the back of her neck shivering, as I casually ran my fingers over her dress around her mound, ignoring the throbbing in my own veins. Suddenly, she jerked upright, startling me into reality.

“Zayden!” She looked at me with her eyes twinkling. “My paper is due tomorrow! I came here because I need help.”

I grunted like someone had just taken away a piece of my favorite candy right when I was about to eat it. “What do I even get out of this?”

“I’ll make you a deal,” she said and removed her dress from over her head, revealing matching black lace underwear. I began touching her, but she used her hand to gesture me to stop. “I need five major bullet points for advocating fair trade as an alternative to free trade in developing countries. I already have a few written down here,” she said, producing a notepad from her purse that was lying on the couch. “They are not all solid and need to be perfected. I need your help particularly with researching live examples and case studies to back up every point. And we certainly need to add more main ideas because not all of mine are strong enough, which is also where you come in.”

The way she was speaking with so much confidence and well, command, made me momentarily forget about my sexual desires and look at her in complete awe. I had never gotten used to this aspect of being with Aria. She liked to take charge. I had never been one to take orders from anybody, let alone a twenty-year-old girl. But when she got that spark in her eyes and decided how things were simply going to go her way, no questions asked, I was at once exasperated and convinced that there was no woman better suited for me in the whole world.

I perused her bullet points, which seemed to me to be solid. Instead of interrupting her passionate instructions, I chose to smile and nod along. It seemed to be an appropriate response, considering she looked pleased.

“Now, on to where your reward lies in all of this,” she said, putting a hand on her right hip and pointing another towards my general direction. “Here is the deal. Every bullet point leads you one step further to getting to have you know what with me.” She grinned, looking mightily pleased with herself. “This is how it will go. For the first bullet point perfected, I take off the rest of my clothes for your ogling pleasures.”

“I’m not sure that will help my, uh, situation.” I pointed towards my crotch. “Hurt it, rather, and make it harder for me to concentrate on your bullet point.”

“Not if you want to finish the whole game. You have to force yourself to concentrate or you lose. For the second bullet point, I’ll sit on top of the table and let you watch me make myself come.”

Just hearing her say those words made my dick go out of control. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to actually experience it. “You’re making this so hard.”

“Pun intended?” She grinned. “Hard, yes, but fun?”

I sighed loudly. “Yes. Fun. In an extremely torturous kind of a way. Go on.”

“Third bullet point and you will receive the best blow job of your life. Plus, you can come all over my face.”

“If you keep talking like that,” I said, desire now driving me to the point of insanity. “Then I’ll have to forget all about your homework and take you right now.”

“That’s the idea, for you to want to do that!” she exclaimed charmingly. “That’s the challenge. If you can come up with great ideas under this kind of pressure – and I’m sure you can – then you will be rewarded. Because at the fourth bullet point, you can, ahem, recharge yourself, by going down on me.”

“That’s what I have wanted to do since I saw you in this living room. I can’t wait to taste you…”

Unconsciously, I was lightly rubbing my shaft, my brain unable to register much that was going on around me. She was right, controlling this was going to make it fun. I had to find a way to snap out of it long enough for my brain to work, one great idea at a time.

“You know what happens at the final bullet point. You can…how do you say it…oh yeah…fuck my brains out. Long and hard. But only if you make it through all five bullet points.”

“What about your case studies and examples?” I asked, trying to conceal the effect she had on me by mentioning me fucking her brains out. If she was set on playing this game, I had to be set on winning. After all that I had accomplished in my life, keeping my cool for another hour or so and generating some good ideas while my whole body refused my brain’s attempt to function should not be that hard.

“Once we have taken care of the framework, which is kind of the hardest part.” She made a dismissive hand wave. “Filling in the research will be a piece of cake and we have all night to do that. You will definitely deserve a reward for coming up with ideas under such pressure. That’s your answer to what is in it for you.” She grinned, leaving me more excited and sexually frustrated than I could remember being in the longest time, or ever.

The very first bullet point wasn’t that difficult to perfect. Sure, my brain was still fuzzy from looking at her exposed skin, particularly her breasts that seemed slightly too big for her lacy bra. But as long as I didn’t look at her, my brain worked. After the underwear came off, though, things started getting more and more difficult. Her pussy seemed to have been recently waxed clean, so that I could very easily see it wet and her nipples harden. While on one hand it was oddly satisfying to know that she was suffering as much as I was, on the other hand her body’s physical reactions, particularly her wet pussy, made it impossible for me to not think about sliding in through what was surely going to be a very smooth ride.

The hardest part – literally and otherwise – came after the second bullet point had been perfected. As promised, Aria sat on top on my glass table and spread her legs wide to put on a show. It was the sexiest thing I had ever seen, which was a good thing, but I couldn’t do anything about it for three more bullet points.

“You’re allowed to touch yourself too,” she said while messaging the insides of her thighs. “You can touch yourself as you watch; however, you just can’t make yourself come. Only because that’s my mouth’s job to do soon and that will force you to come up with a good third point at a faster pace.”

She cupped her entire pussy with her palm, rubbing it in circular motions and threw her head all the way back. She gasped lightly. Thoroughly glad to be granted permission to enjoy the show better, I let my own pants drop to the floor and began rubbing my shaft, watching her. Her middle finger was rubbing up and down her clitoris, as her other hand was spreading her pussy open as wide as it went. I rubbed myself faster and faster, as she was close to making herself come, but then stopped a couple of times for the fear of exploding. I would much rather that happen inside her tiny little mouth and all over her face. Then I would make her lick it, I thought and moaned.

Aria started massaging her breast with one of her hands and then slowly stuck her middle finger inside her pussy, letting out an audible gasp. Perhaps afraid of ending the show prematurely, she removed her finger and licked them seductively, causing me to almost come once again so I had to stop the rubbing entirely. Instead, I satisfied myself with thinking that the hardest part was soon going to be over and watched her fuck herself with her fingers until she came so hard she screamed.

“That was…quite a show,” I said, my dick pointing straight at her, rock hard.

“It felt as good as it looked,” she said after a few minutes and then eyed my dick. “We will take care of that shortly. One more idea, Zayden.”

It took me everything I had to look away from her and into the notebook. After a few difficult attempts, my brain finally worked and with great hardships we finally had a suitable third bullet point.

“I am going to fuck your mouth so hard,” I said longingly as she approached me and kneeled across from me. “You better brace yourself.”

As soon as she took me in her mouth, however, I was completely unable to speak. Or think. Or function in any way other than pulling her head harder and harder on to me and thrusting myself as deep into her throat as I could. It couldn’t have been longer than a few minutes when I exploded all over her face. She swallowed whatever was in her mouth immediately, without my asking.

“Lick whatever you can off your face,” I said triumphantly when I was able to speak again, feeling relieved and ecstatic. She did as I said and just watching her was enough to get me excited again right away.

The fourth bullet point, however, was much easier to tackle now that I had been satisfied. When it was over, I was delighted to have the opportunity to finally taste her sweet, wet pussy. Taking my time to torture her just as she had been torturing me all evening, I started from her inner thighs and spent an unreasonable amount of time licking them, while pinching her nipples with my hands. The effect was just as I had desired. She was so drenched that her drips were beginning to run down her thighs and into my mouth. She tasted sweet and perfect, it started getting difficult to not devour her, so I jumped face-first into her pussy and sucked on it as hard as I could. I licked her clit and fucked her with my tongue. She came even faster than I had, if that was even possible. She quivered and moaned my name.

Now that we had both been immensely pleased, the final bullet point took a mere few minutes to perfect and I was more than glad to feel the insides of her pussy once again. I threw her onto the sofa, her back facing me, then grabbed her breasts with my hands before entering her with fierce strength. She felt better than I remembered and I couldn’t help but move so fast that I was automatically sliding in and out of her pussy.

By the time it was over, both of our bodies temporarily stopped functioning.

 

Chapter 8

Aria

Today was the day! Zayden Sinclair was finally coming to my tiny little apartment to hang out with me and my roommates. The thought induced some panic of severe magnitude each time it crossed me. What if he hated it? What if he got super claustrophobic? My entire apartment, after all, was the size of his living room. Surely it would bother him more this time around because when he was here last time he had just hovered around terrorizing Nick. To spend an entire evening here was a different matter altogether.

As though this wasn’t enough for a source of crippling stress, this afternoon I was supposed to accompany Nick to purchase an engagement ring for Stacey. The afternoon after Zayden and I had excitingly finished my paper, I had found Nick lurking around the living room all-alone, trying to hide a jewelry magazine underneath some book. He had jumped a little too comically when he’d seen me gazing and it had taken less than two seconds for him to blurt.

This afternoon, Stacey was going to be off buying baking products to bake some of her popular goodies for dinner with Zayden tonight. I had intentionally piled a long grocery list on to her – including things she would have to drive far away to get – and begged that she retrieve those things for me while I prepared the apartment for Zayden.

It was surprising that she bought it, however, considering there was hardly much to “set up” and I had stayed up all of last night cleaning up. Luckily Stacey didn’t ask many questions and was off mid-afternoon. As soon as she was gone Nick knocked on my door. He looked like he was ready to throw up.

“Hey, hey, hey,” I said sympathetically. “You need to calm down a little there, Nicholas. If you freak out so much while buying the ring, how do you suppose you’re going to handle proposing?”

He quietly sat on the edge of my bed, looking deeply sickened. “I haven’t quite thought that far yet. One step at a time. It’s the ring first. Just the ring.”

“Nick.” I looked at him incredulously and even though as Stacey’s best friend, I should have been nothing short of a complete cheerleader when it came to this looming engagement, I was also Nick’s friend, so I had to ask, “You’re sure you want to do this, right?”

His eyes widened as though understanding exactly what I was thinking. “It’s not... I’m not being forced into this proposal or anything! Stacey has absolutely no idea. It’s just that the other day – you were around for this –when I mentioned us being married in the future, her reaction really took me by surprise. She looked shocked at first, as though this simply hadn’t occurred to her, which was not a good sign. After you left she started tearing up and seemed so happy...”

“And that gave away that she was ready so you decide to propose right away?” I asked starting to somewhat tear up.

“Yeah, pretty much. I’ve been ready for years now. Honestly, a couple of months into us dating I knew where we were going, that we would obviously get married someday.”

“So did I,” I said and nodded thinking back to those days. “And everyone else knew, really. You and Stacey were a match made in heaven, Nick. It’s incredible that you found each other. I can’t imagine a world where you hadn’t…”

“That’s really sweet, Aria,” Nick said, looking like he was about to tear up too. It made me a little uncomfortable because Nick wasn’t exactly an expert at showing his feelings. “It gives me quite a boost. I am so glad we have you in our life.”

I took his words as my cue to tell him something that I had been considering over in my mind since I had first run into him with the magazine and found out what his plans were.

“And I am really glad that I have two of the most amazing people in the world as my best friends,” I said sweetly. “Who are now going to be married, which is an incredibly wonderful thought. I can safely assume I’ll be the maid-of-honor at this wedding since Stacey already promised me that when we were like fifteen. That’s a role I am looking forward to fulfill in your lives. There is one role that I can no longer play, Nick, because you guys are about to start an epic life ahead and you need your privacy. Don’t even try to deny that! After the proposal I am going to move out.”

Nick looked disappointed but nodded. “Stacey is not going to be happy about it. Neither am I.”

“I’m not happy about moving out, Nick!” I exclaimed, hoping he didn’t think it was because of anything they did. “I love living with you guys! You’re my second family. And my god, these past few years have been some of the best of my entire life. You guys are growing up now though and I have to do the same. I can’t be living with a couple that’s about to be married.”

“If there is anything I or Stacey can do for you – in terms of finding a place or beating someone up or anything – you just have to say the word.”

“I know that. I always knew that, don’t be silly, Nick. Nothing has changed. I do need your help telling Stacey about this after the proposal though. I’ll need someone to grab the pillow she will most definitely throw at me,” she joked.

He bowed as to say ‘at your service.’

“Of course that’s not for a while and I have this freaking party with Zayden tonight to worry about too,” I said, suddenly remembering. “When do you plan on doing it anyway?” Then I eyed him suspiciously and added, “And how do you have so much money for a fancy ring?”

“I want to do it next week on her birthday. And my grandma gave me the money. She was quite the anarchist back in the day so her and my grandpa decided to get married without spending a dime – something about love not needing a show – so there was no ring. Now that she’s older, she thinks there should have been one so she could pass it on to my bride. Since she can’t, she’s been insisting on buying it for me.”

“That is so adorable,” I said and smiled. “Okay, let’s get going, Nick. We don’t know when Stacey will be back and we need to spend as much time as we can to find the perfect ring. Both Stacey and your grandma deserve that.”

---

By the time Nick and I were back with a beautiful princess-cut diamond ring that she would definitely adore, Stacey was already home and in her baking gear.

“Where did you two go?” She raised her eyebrows. “I thought you were supposed to be setting up the place, Aria.”

“I was! I was scrubbing the floor. Look how much cleaner it is now,” I said, pointing at the floor which hadn’t been touched, but she would probably believe me because who can really tell the difference? “I got super exhausted from doing that so Nick and I went for a walk…to get some ice-cream.” I must have sounded obvious to anyone in the world, but Stacey shrugged oblivious, focusing on the batter she was beating with surprising intensity. “When are you going to start the chicken? I only ask cause the stove is going to be very hot for the next two hours because of the oven beneath and I don’t think you cooking over that heat is the best idea.”

She looked at her watch. “We still have about three and half hours before your boyfriend is supposed to get here.” She paused and gave me a very amused half-smile. “You’re grinning really hard, Aria.”

“Oh, sorry,” I said, feeling the sides of my mouth stretched. “I didn’t realize I was doing that. It’s just that…you called him my boyfriend.”

Stacey made an “aww” face and said, “If I wasn’t completely covered in cookie batter I would give you the biggest hug right now. But more importantly, let’s make the best of our time here. Why don’t you go get ready – it’s bound to take over an hour since your man is coming – while the oven is on and then you can make the chicken? I’ll cook everything else. I already have the rice cooker running. I would do the chicken too but he has yet to try your cooking and your chicken and sausage curry really is to die for!”

“No, I want to make it!” I said, thinking of how he had grilled everything on the night that I had been to his house. “But not after I get ready. I hardly want to smell like chicken and curry.” I giggled.

“Okay then, if you wait for the oven to be done you’ll only have about a half hour to get ready, so if you can manage—”

“Of course,” I cut her off, grinning once more. “My boyfriend is coming. Part of the charm of that particular terminology is that I get to spend less time getting all dolled up. He has seen me right out of bed and right out of a shower so he knows what I really look like.”

“Shower?” Stacey looked at me with her eyes wide open. “You guys have already managed to hit the shower?”

Nick, who had been sitting on the couch and too busy munching on chips so far to speak, chose this moment to quietly exit the living room.

Stacey and I both giggled for a second because of Nick’s reaction. “I thought I told you. So much has happened these last few days. The shower was fun…but Zayden will be here soon so we better get all set up. Thanks so much for agreeing to hang out with us tonight.”

“Are you kidding?” She pointed her spatula at me. “I’ve been dying to properly hang out with the dude since we first – ahem – corresponded about you.”

“Yeah, I haven’t forgotten,” I said, trying to be reproachful, but was glad that all those months ago Stacey had tipped off Zayden, believing he would be the right guy for me.

---

“So where is your living room?” Zayden looked at me expectantly as he sat on our couch sipping on the Margaritas that I had freshly made.

I looked at him with my mouth open, unable to answer, while Stacey and Nick burst into a chortle.

“Did I say something funny?” he asked.

Before Nick or Stacey could answer with something sarcastic, I jumped in. “We only have one. Most people only have one, Zayden.”

My face was getting scarlet red.

Zayden grinned softly. “I was only joking.” He chuckled.

“So, uh, Zayden,” Nick said nervously. “What do you do for fun?”

Zayden shrugged, non-committal. “Stuff. Work mostly.”

“You do work for fun?” Nick was trying hard not to laugh.

“No, I mean…I work a lot. Sometimes I go golfing, but it’s mostly for networking purposes. Can’t say I particularly enjoy the sport. I did play basketball in college, but no time for that sort of a thing these days.”

“You watch T.V.!” I interjected. “Why else would you have a 80-inch television in your room?”

“News mostly. Bloomberg is usually always playing in the background wherever I go.”

Stacey, who had been quiet so far in a respectful attempt not to laugh, spoke, “Bloomberg is not watching T.V. and you sure don’t need eighty inches of television screen to analyze the stock market. Wanna switch?” She pointed her head towards our regular thirty-two inch T.V.

“Sure, you can just have mine. I hope you don’t feel offended if I pass on yours though,” Zayden said nonchalantly to everyone’s surprise. We all sat quietly for a few minutes before we bursted out laughing.

“We don’t actually want your T.V., Zayden. Stacey was joking.”

He probably knew that, but with his kind of money probably didn’t care.

“But why not?” He raised his eyebrows. “You guys seem to have a real interest in it and sure look like you could use a better set. A wedding present perhaps—”

Everything escalated after I gasped and gave Zayden a look that meant to say I was ready to commit murder. Nick looked like he would throw up and Stacey just sat there motionless in complete shock.

“He doesn’t mean you guys,” I said lamely, trying to rectify the situation, while still glaring angrily at Zayden. “My other friends are getting married. From my Stats class. You don’t know them.”

I was rambling nonsensically, making the situation worse and worse. After a few minutes, things got increasingly uncomfortable so I looked at Zayden and said, “Can you come with me to my room real quick? We need to talk.”

He seemed to have gathered he had said more than he was allowed to and looked guilty and nervous. If the situation hadn’t been so bizarre and ridiculous, I would kiss him for how adorable he looked.

Quietly, he followed me into my room, leaving Nick and Stacey to themselves.

As soon as he shut the door behind him, I snapped. “What the hell, Zayden? I told you it was supposed to be a secret! He is not proposing to her until next week.”

Covering my face with my hands completely horrified about having ruined Nick’s surprise, I threw myself on to my bed. “You can sit, you know,” I said when he continued to stand awkwardly by the door.

Carefully, he walked closer and closer to me until he was right next to me. He ran his palms through my face and sighed deeply. “I am sorry. I had completely forgotten you mentioned it was a surprise. I didn’t mean to ruin it for your friends. You know I wouldn’t do that.”

“I know,” I said, pulling him towards me to cuddle. “But what are we going to do now?”

“We are going to sit here for a few more minutes and let your friends figure things out. Then we are going to go out, I’m going to apologize for my blunder and we are all going to have a nice evening. How does that sound?” He stroked my hair, pulling me towards his chest.

“It sounds like all we can do for now.”

“It will be okay. Don’t think about what’s happening outside. Let’s talk about something else. Did you get your paper back?”

I removed myself from his embrace and lying by my elbow looked at him and said, “Yes, I got an A and the teacher said it was one of the best papers he had encountered on the subject.”

“If only he knew how we got to the idea.” Zayden snickered.

“I want to write all my papers with you exactly like that from now on,” I said, getting slightly cheerful again.

“I don’t know how much writing will actually get done, but I am not going to protest, baby.”

His use of endearment made me feel the ground beneath me disappear. 

“I love you,” I said, looking him straight in the eyes this time. He didn’t say anything but I was sure I saw a twinkle in his eyes. He leaned in and kissed me softly and passionately. Then I understood. He was not able to say it just yet but he loved me too.

We just lay there holding each other for a long time before going back out.  When we finally made it back to the living room, Nick and Stacey seemed engaged. They were beaming with joy. It wasn’t so bad after all.

 

Chapter 9

Zayden

Aria had somehow convinced me to redo the dinner with her mother, but go about things a little differently this time. For one, she had picked me up in her car, a blue Ford Taurus that she managed to drive pretty well but kept me on my toes the whole time nonetheless. I wasn’t sure I had sat in a car quite like it before. It was incredibly small, the seats felt like they were made of plastic, and my legs were hurting from the little room in her front seat.

“You okay there?” she asked, eyeing me quizzically.

“Yeah.” I smiled, trying hard to ignore the discomfort. “I’m great. I’m with you.”

That had the desired effect of making her blush, to my relief, and she didn’t ask me any more questions regarding my comfort for the rest of the ride.

We pulled into her mom’s driveway and I was met once more with the foreclosure notice.

“How long does your mom have the house?” I asked Aria as we walked in.

She shrugged nervously. “I am not sure. She’s had the notice for a while, but my mom doesn’t like to discuss it with me very much. She feels guilty, so I don’t ask her questions.”

“Hmm,” I said, thinking I would figure out how to help them out of this situation soon.

Molly received us with a huge smile despite the way I had walked out of here the last time.

“Thank you so much for coming over again,” she said joyfully.

“Of course! I am sorry I had to run out the other night. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. It was just…” I looked at the floor, afraid to accidentally catch Aria’s eyes. “Stuff came up at work, you know how it goes.”

“Absolutely!” Molly exclaimed. “Don’t worry about it. You must be busy running the bank. I am grateful that you could make some time to come over again. Aria, why don’t you take Zayden into the living room and you guys hang out while I prepare dinner?”

“I…let me help,” I said uncertainly. “I am not too bad of a chef myself.”

“Oh he’s brilliant,” Aria chimed in.

Molly looked uncomfortably from me to Aria and back. “That’s quite wonderful of you to offer but I can’t possibly…you’re a guest here.”

I waved my hand nonchalantly. “Please. I insist.”

“If you want.” She shrugged.

“I’ll set up the table and the living room and you can help him mom,” Aria said brightly and walked away, leaving me to join her mother in the kitchen.

“So what are we in the mood for?” I asked, surveying the kitchen. It was small, but very well structured. I quite admired the simplicity.

“I was going to make some steaks.” Molly still looked nervous.

“That happens to be my specialty! I can throw in some sautéed vegetables as well. You can chop them off for me if you feel like it. But really, feel free to just go hang out with Aria in the living room. You made us a delightful dinner the other night as it is.”

“Don’t be silly, I want to help,” she said, pulling out the chopping board and some mushrooms and zucchini.

As we worked on the dinner, Molly began opening up somewhat. To an uncomfortable degree almost. Her questions were getting a little intense.

“So Aria was telling me you have been married before. Your ex-wife, where is she now?” she asked casually while chopping onions, like she might as well have been asking about the weather.

“Uh.” I was completely stumped, unsure how to take that question or answer it. “She’s around. I’m not sure where, we don’t exactly keep in touch.”

“That’s not what I heard,” she said, looking up at me for a brief moment and then changed the topic like that hadn’t just happened. “So how long have you been seeing Aria?”

“I’m sure she has told you, Molly.” I was trying hard not to be frustrated but I knew where she was going with this and didn’t feel like I deserved an interrogation after all that I had been doing for her family.

“Yes, but I was hoping to hear your side of the story. It’s quite alright if you’re not up to telling me much.”

“Fine,” I snapped in spite of myself. “I have known her for a few months now and have been fond of her since the very first time I laid my eyes on her.”

“That’s a rather odd way to put it, don’t you think?” she asked, giggling as though ensuring that the tone of the conversation remained outwardly light. “You couldn’t very well be fond of somebody just by looking at them. If you hadn’t spoken to her yet then surely you mean you just thought she was attractive?”

I tried hard not to grunt. I cared about Aria a lot and I was here in her mother’s house for the second time in the past week because she was important to Aria. Therefore, the fact that she approved of me for Aria had become very important to me. I didn’t want to ruin that just because Molly was asking too many questions I didn’t feel like answering.

Deciding to do my best to keep my cool and humor her, I said, “Sure, I pursued her at first because I thought she was attractive. Let’s be honest, isn’t that why anyone pursues anyone? All these talks people have about superficiality is such complete bull, because physical appearance is the first thing anyone can see and that’s always what draws people in. But that said, after the initial attraction passed, it became so much more. Every time I spoke with her she sounded brighter and more intelligent than half the staff in my bank put together. Her wits, her charms, her sheer confidence, all those things blew me away. I wasn’t exactly expecting or preparing to fall for your daughter, Molly. We have quite a large age gap and I assure you, I am aware of it. I’m not simply exploiting a young woman. She is so mature for her age! I am sure you know! You raised her to be this way. Most women my age wouldn’t be able to live up to half of what Aria has in terms of personality and brilliance. You should be proud of your daughter. You have created quite an extraordinarily exquisite human being.”

“Wow,” she said, stopping her chopping and looking like she had just escaped from underneath a train track. “I don’t know what to say…You’re right, she is quite extraordinary and obviously, I am proud of her. I just wasn’t sure what you were…I mean, someone of your stature and prominence, I just wondered how someone like you would take interest in my little Aria…And then you have been paying all this money for my hospital bills…don’t get me wrong, I appreciate it. But as a mother, you can’t exactly blame me for thinking it all seems a little too good to be true?”

“I love your daughter, Molly,” I heard myself say, startling the both of us. I had yet to say it to Aria herself or even admit it to myself, but it had just come out of my mouth in front of her mom, defiantly, as though daring her to question me any further.

“You do?” Her eyes were wide open. She was certainly taken aback and the effect was satisfying. Within a few seconds, Molly reverted back to her jovial self. “Of course you do! Well, I am glad to hear it. Aria deserves the best, Zayden. She has been through a lot and lives an extremely tough life for a twenty year old. She deserves more happiness than the world can even offer.”

“I plan to make her happier than in your wildest imaginations. I agree with you that she deserves it. So there is not much point having this discussion, really. Should we carry on with preparing the dinner then?”

She said cheerfully, “Of course! You seem to be doing a marvelous job with that steak. I can’t wait to try it.”

Glad that she was finally done quizzing me, I put all my efforts into dinner, making sure to perfect it to really impress her. My words were all well and good but I suddenly felt this burning need to outdo her somehow; to show her that I could make Aria as happy as she does, if not more. While I appreciated her mother’s concern – in some ways it only showed how much Aria was cared for – I also felt that I had already proven my dedication by meeting with her the second time. Not to mention all the money I had invested into their family.

Trying not to dwell on that aspect very much, I began to set up the table where Aria was waiting for us.

“How did the dinner preparations go? Did mom drive you too crazy?” she asked, looking genuinely concerned.

“Not at all. We had a good time considering we have a whole lot in common.”

“Do you?” She raised her eyebrows.

“Well, for one, we both care a lot about you.” I grinned, making her blush once more.

 

Chapter 10

Aria

So far the evening hadn’t gone completely awry and I was grateful for that. Zayden and my mom seemed to have had a pretty good time making dinner together and I was glad to see the potential for them to get along.

He had made a truly delicious dinner, which sure as hell helped my mom decide in his favor. Once or twice I had caught his eyes during dinner and he seemed somewhat amused by the whole ordeal. I wondered what he had talked with my mom about and debated asking him later, but decided that it was best that I left it alone. For some reason, I suspected it was best to just accept that they were getting along – for whatever reason – and not push it very much further.

I turned on the tap in the bathroom to wash my hands, thinking about how Zayden had been looking at me endearingly as my mom narrated stories of when I was a kid. I hadn’t thought he would find any of the tales of me eating pudding with my hands as a three year old interesting, but he had looked delighted and kept asking mom for more. It was a side of him I had never seen before and I wondered if he would be reacting the same way, with as much enthusiasm if it was his mother we were having dinner with and she was telling me his childhood stories.

That made me realize, with a sinking feeling, I didn’t know very much about his childhood or his family. I knew his mother was a little difficult and pushy from everything he had told me about her, especially in her trying to get him back with his ex-wife. But had she always been this way? What had his dad been like? I knew he had passed away six years ago, leaving Zayden in charge of everything. From the way he mentioned him on the odd occasion, it seemed that Zayden had been rather fond of him. Somehow I had never thought to ask more. I resolved to ask him about his childhood and his dad the next time we were alone together – maybe the car ride back – and maybe even suggest meeting his mom, if he didn’t completely hate the idea.

As I started wiping my hands off, I heard the door behind me and jumped.

“Holy shit!” I exclaimed rather loudly. “What are you doing here?”

The look in his eyes said everything. They were raw with desire and his topmost shirt button was undone. I gasped.

“My mom! Where is my mom?”

“She went to give your neighbors the leftovers. She looked rather happy about it. I am assuming there is some kind of a romance going on there,” he said, taking another step toward me. “Which is good for us.” He leaned down and planted a kiss on my neck while his bulging shaft rubbed against me, making my arm hairs stand. “Cause we can have some romance of our own. There is nothing as good as spontaneously fucking.”

Trying to ignore the fire igniting throughout my whole body as he nibbled on my neck, I said, “She won’t be very long and I told her I was just in here to wash my hands. Zayden, we can’t.”

“Oh,” he said, breaking off the skin contact and for a second I really thought he was going to back off. I couldn’t help but feel disappointment. But then he shoved me against the bathroom wall and pulled down my panties so fast, my heart started thudding rapidly. He leaned back down on to my neck and removed my hair to the other side of my shoulders. He ran his tongue over my neck as his hands crawled across my back and up the hem of my skirt. By the time he cupped my throbbing center with his palm, I would have let him do just about anything he wanted to me whenever he pleased, wherever he pleased.

I moaned, “Zayden.”

He broke off abruptly, leaving me burning and folded his arms. “I thought we couldn’t do this right now.”

“Oh just fuck me and do it fast before she gets back,” I said impatiently, throwing my skirt over my head to reveal my naked body.

“Oh Aria,” he moaned and without another word pulled his pants down, revealing himself, hard as a rock. For a moment I was tempted to kneel down and take him down my throat, but time was ticking so I had to let him take charge.

“Fuck me,” I repeated in a coarse whisper and he needed no further begging. Grabbing me by my ass, he pulled me towards him, and to my utter confusion and delight lifted me off the floor.

“What are you doing?” I whispered between heavy breathing. To answer my question, he wrapped my legs around him and pushed me further into the wall before shoving himself deep inside. I grabbed his hair hard, biting the side of his shoulders so I couldn’t make any kind of a sound. That got increasingly difficult, however, when his thrusts got harder and more intense. I found myself moving with him, towards him, matching every push with an equally harder push, as my orgasm began to build up deep within me.

“Oh, Zayden,” I moaned, as his mouth somehow found my nipples in the midst of us being wrapped around each other. “Fuck me faster, I want more,” I said with whatever wisps of breath I could manage.

He complied, going deeper than he ever had before and then it was like an earthquake hit every inch of my body and it started shaking uncontrollably, pleasure rushing through my veins. I was ready to collapse as he erupted himself .

To my complete horror, there was a knock on the door.

My boyfriend was still inside me, his orgasmic groan still midway, as he wasn’t able to stop himself.

“Umm…I’m sorry. I heard you screaming and just wanted to check if you were okay. Oh God. I’ll see you …outside…later. Dessert is ready!” And then she walked away from the closed door, making me gasp in a completely different manner this time.

We both stood there breathing heavily for a while, ignoring the horrifying awkwardness that was now echoing from every corner of the bathroom. Neither of us spoke for a very long time. I wasn’t quite sure what the right thing to say was or how we were ever going to get out of the bathroom and face my mother again. Pulling myself out of Zayden’s clench, I sat down on the bathroom floor and covered my face with both my hands, sighing deeply.

By the time Zayden finally spoke, my wish that this whole thing be a bizarre dream felt to be coming true because he said, “Aria, please marry me.”

Surely, that couldn’t actually be happening, so this whole thing must have been a dream. Removing my hands from my face, I almost expected to be in my bedroom waking up amongst my pillows and laughing.

Nope, I was still in my mom’s bathroom. Zayden was still partially naked and he was looking at me with a gaze that I had never quite seen on his face before.

“I’m sorry, what?” I asked, almost on the verge of nervous laughter.

“I said.” He walked further towards me and kneeled across from me so we were almost eye-to-eye. He took my hands in his, looked me straight in the eye and said once more, “Aria, please marry me. I love you.”

 

THE BOSS #5

 

Chapter 1

Aria

I stared at Zayden, comically kneeling in front of me half naked while I sat on a toilet seat, asking me to marry him, and burst out laughing. There was no way he was being serious. For one, he had yet to tell me he loved me. And we hadn’t even been dating that long – granted that the few months we had shared each other’s company was rather eventful – and he had already been married once, so I kind of assumed he wouldn’t be interested in going down that road again. No, the only logical explanation was that he had been joking and I would make a complete fool of myself if I were to take him remotely seriously.

“Sure,” I said, trying to make a straight face. “Let’s run off to Vegas tomorrow and get hitched. Would you like a couple dozen babies to go with the marriage?”

Zayden raised his eyebrows high and screwed his nose upwards in confusion. “I mean…sure, kids, yeah. I am not sure about dozens though. How about just three or four? After you’re settled in your career, of course.”

“What career?” I played along with a completely serious face. “I don’t suppose I will be requiring much of a career after marrying you, now will I?”

He chuckled. “Okay. You can stay home and spend all my money if you like, but I have the slightest bit of a suspicion that you won’t be happy unless you’re trying to run my company for me.”

“Nah! What’s the point of tricking a rich businessman to fall for you if you’re not going to spend the rest of your life lying around doing nothing?”

“Oh, so this was your grand plan the entire time?” He grinned. “That makes a whole lot of sense.”

“Mm-hmm,” I said, putting my hands over his head and pulling him towards me for a quick peck on the lips. “Now we should probably start putting some clothes on.”

I got up and started looking for my panties. But Zayden remained on the floor on his knees, looking intense.

“This is not a joke, Aria. I would actually like us to be married. Sooner rather than later if that is okay with you.”

It took me quite a while to process the fact that Zayden was being completely serious. Suddenly, all humor disappeared from the room and my giggles were replaced only by the thudding sound of my own heart, which was now pounding as though I had just gotten off the scariest roller coaster in existence.

I tried to open my mouth and speak a few times. A futile effort, since my tongue now pretended it was glued into my mouth and words were alien concepts to which it had never been introduced. My mind on the other hand was working on extra-time, trying to understand the meaning behind Zayden’s request. Marry him? Perhaps he meant something else? Like, uh, like…

“Do you know what you are saying?” I finally summoned the ability to make some sounds and sounded idiotic.

“Not at all. I’m just blabbing on nonsensically.” He shook his head sarcastically. “Seriously Aria, yes or no? Will you marry me?”

“You know I once took an advanced level college economics test while I was still a sophomore in high-school. I have never in my life encountered anything as difficult as that test had been that afternoon. One particular question got me so stumped; I threw up and ran out of the exam hall.”

“What does that have to do with anything we are discussing?” Zayden asked impatiently.

“I thought that would be the hardest question I had ever been expected to answer in my whole life,” I said. I added softly, “Until now.”

Zayden’s face changed colors so fast, I felt that I must have been imagining it for a little bit. I had never seen him so red and wasn’t sure it particularly worked towards adding charms to his handsome features. If someone had told me Zayden Sinclair was capable of blushing to begin with, I would have laughed in their faces. But watching his perfect olive skin get patched with deep red, while his eyes focused firmly on the bathroom floor, made me feel thoroughly uncomfortable.

Was he nervous?

Embarrassed?

What had I said or done wrong?

Zayden was demonstrating a sign of weakness like he never had before and I knew right that moment that I never wanted to see him that way again. Weakness did not suit this incredible man. He was better than that.

When he spoke next, his voice was shaky, to my surprise. “I get it. It’s okay.” He wasn’t looking at me still, but I finally understood. He thought I didn’t want to marry him. Ever.

“I haven’t said no,” I offered sweetly. “It’s just…it all seems so ridiculously sudden. You’ve never even told me you love me.”

“Well isn’t it obvious that I do?” He finally looked at me, straight in the eyes, and the bright blue in them were so piercing, I could just about starting crying any moment.

“I don’t know, Zayden. How can I assume you love me without you saying it? I guessed that you must, don’t get me wrong. The things you do for me. You really do go out of your way and I have always appreciated that. I’ve kind of known that this relationship means more to you than you outwardly attempt. But you have to under—”

“I love you, god damnit!” he exclaimed with a slight frustration. “There. I have said the words. I am guessing it makes a whole lot of difference. So now will you marry me?”

“No,” I said carefully, as his eyes widened to the size of walnuts. “Not yet, I mean. I want to…eventually. Oh god, I want to. Because I love you too.”

I walked towards him subtly and started ruffling his hair. He looked confused, as I had expected he would.

“What are you trying to say, Aria?” He sighed.

“You are still married,” I said, pulling him into a hug. “Don’t forget that.”

“Are we really on that again?” he snapped. “You know that I ended things with Gina and all the crap I pulled to that end.”

“No, I know she is out of your life. But she’s still your wife in theory. I can’t say yes until your divorce is finalized. I hope you understand that.”

“Well we can’t get legally married until my divorce is finalized anyway. But I don’t see how that stops you from saying yes now.”

He pulled me off of him and frowned.

“It’s a matter of principle.” I shrugged. “I am not getting engaged to a married man.”

“Of course,” he said, shaking his head. “You and your great big principles. It should not be that much longer for the divorce to finalize. If I nudged my lawyer it should only be a couple more days. I’ll show you the papers as evidence if you need, which wouldn’t surprise me,”

Offended, I opened my mouth to say something in return, but noticed the glint of humor in his eyes and started laughing. “Just let me know when it’s taken care of.”

“As long as you will say yes when it’s taken care of.”

“Depends.” I shrugged again.

“Seriously, Aria?” He looked up as though expecting some answer. “Depends on what?”

“On whether you propose half naked on a dirty bathroom floor or you do it properly with a ring and some romance.”

His face lit up in realization and the blush from before was gone to my relief. He didn’t say anything on the matter however and just leaned in to kiss me passionately. In the midst of it, my mind went completely haywire, unable to believe what had just transpired. Zayden broke the kiss with a loud shriek of pain.

“Well, let’s put on some clothes and head back in. I bet your mom is already judging us – and don’t get me wrong, I’d be judging her if she wasn’t after what she just heard here – so let’s not give her more reasons to frown upon this.”

“It’s going to be okay,” I said, even though I felt awkward by the thought of seeing her shortly. “I will just tease her about our neighbor. That way she will be embarrassed and we can escape from here quickly.”

“Sounds like a plan.” He grinned.

 

Chapter 2

Zayden

It had been two whole days since I had contacted my lawyer’s office about the finalization of the divorce and they had yet to get back to me. I was fucking annoyed. How hard could the process possibly be? Gina and I were both amicable on the terms of the divorce. All the drama had subsided. It was an open and shut case.

My impatience to get Aria to say yes was taking over me and the stupid divorce proceedings were currently the bane of my existence. Even though I had been in my office all morning, I had been completely incapable of getting any work done whatsoever. The thought of how I was going to propose was occupying my mind.

I thought back to my original proposal in her mother’s bathroom and grinned to myself. What an idiotic thing to do. I had no idea what had gotten into me, but something about her mom hearing us fuck egged me on to do it on the spot. I had been planning to ask her to marry me ever since my conversation with Molly about how I loved her daughter. So when she heard us, I felt like I had to prove that we weren’t just screwing around and I proposed hastily. In hindsight, that was not the best idea in the world and I should hardly be surprised that Aria didn’t jump to say yes.

Any other girl in the world would have, I realized with an odd sort of a pride geared towards Aria. It was true. I was by any definition of the word, quite a catch. I had no reason to be coy about the fact that my money and my good looks made me the ideal husband for any woman in the world. But somehow I guess that neither of those things were good enough for Aria – at least not good enough to accept a shabby proposal on a bathroom floor – and that she loved me for reasons that had very little to do with my money. She was not going to settle for anything less than an extraordinary proposal and she deserved one. I was willing to do anything in the world to make her happy. I sighed deeply and covered my face in both my hands.

How had I come so far?

I had sworn off love a long time ago, after all. It was for lesser folk, for people who did not understand that feelings were at best a show of weakness, at worst a weapon of manipulation. With Aria, it was neither. Loving her did not make me feel weak, it made me feel stronger. The idea that I could feel this intensely about another human being and still keep my sanity and self-intact made me feel oddly powerful. And perhaps this whole ordeal was a weapon of manipulation at first, while I played games and she responded with perfectly crafted plays herself. But no, neither of us was looking for anything from the other anymore. There was only one explanation for what was going on between Aria and I.

We were madly and unconditionally in love with each other.

And why wouldn’t I be?

I saw her walking through the front door and towards her desk and felt a kind of awe. My god, she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. In a pretty blue blouse, black trousers and a cream colored blazer, she looked like she popped straight out of a career woman magazine. No other twenty year old I knew dressed as maturely and professionally as she did, and she pulled it off like nobody’s business. Her face was radiant and even with very little make up she outshone everybody else in the room. She outshone most people in most rooms. Usually looks like hers were enough to get by life. I had met many, many, women over the years who used their looks to get by. Not Aria, though.

More so than anything else about her, it was her brilliance and ambition that drew me towards her. A part of me realized that when we eventually got married, she would gladly handle half my business operations for me. Maybe I would make her the head of Credit Lending Analysts and eventually, if she was interested, the CFO. Knowing her though, if I tried to make her the CFO right away, she would protest claiming she hadn’t earned the title yet. I grinned again picturing that argument and then made a split second decision to go buy her the best ring I could find.

On my way out, I stopped by Aria’s desk as she was busy typing something on her computer and said, “Too busy to notice your boss now? Boyfriend. I meant boyfriend.” I smiled and noticed Mrs. Brian beside her try unsuccessfully to hide her gasp.

“Hi.” Aria looked up and smiled. I wanted to kiss her, but I would have to resist. I couldn’t quite do some things in the workplace just yet. “Sorry, my tyrannical boss gave me a lot of work so I am a little busy.”

“What a douche,” I said with a straight face. “Warn him that if he overworks you, your boyfriend will make him pay for it.”

She giggled and said, “What do you need, Zayden?”

“I need you, Aria, to say yes to my proposition.” I smirked and before she could open her mouth again, I added, “I know, I know. You made your points and they are completely valid, which is why I am off on a little mission right now that will hopefully satisfy you. But I just have one question. What do you prefer? Squares or Circles?”

She looked at me like I had just asked her something insane like whether two plus two equals seven.

“What now?” she asked.

“You heard me. Squares or circles?”

“Uhmm…” She raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips. “Squares I suppose. I have never really thought about it, to be honest. I mean, who even thinks about it? And how is this at all relevant to anything?”

“You’ll see.” I winked. “For now I have got to go.”

After turning around to head to the door and taking a few steps, I stopped and turned to look at her again. “I love you.” Ignoring the gasps from all over the place, I walked out casually as though I didn’t notice.

---

Just as I walked out of the building, a FedEx guy stopped me with some mail. It looked like it was paperwork. Ignoring the excitement bubbling up inside of me, I ripped the envelope open. The divorce was finalized! I couldn’t have chosen a better moment to go out to get the ring. I told Ned to take me to Dazzling Jewelers and Co, an exclusive jewelry store that only a few people within a thirty-mile radius could afford.

Ned tried hard to contain his excitement, as I could tell from the etches around his cheeks while he attempted to keep a straight face. “And why are we going to a jewelry store? I don’t remember you ever having the desire to purchase any bling before.”

“Shut up, Ned. You know why I want to go there,” I said, trying to sound stern, but it came out almost comical since I had been completely incapable of wiping the grin from my face.

“No, sir. I have a guess, but you know what they say, when you assume, you make an ass out of—”

“Fine, I want to buy an engagement ring for Aria,” I said. “Now can we hurry?”

“Of course!” Ned exclaimed with joy. “I am so happy for you, Zayden. She is exactly what you need in your life.”

“I’m glad to have your approval, Ned.” I smiled. “No, seriously, I meant that. It probably sounded like I was being sarcastic, but it was genuine. Your approval actually means a lot to me and if you don’t know that by now—”

“I know,” Ned said cheerfully. “Of course I know. Now before we drive off to get that engagement ring, might I suggest a pit stop?”

“Where?” I raised my eyebrows.

“To Aria’s apartment.”

“Huh? What will that accomplish? Aria is at the office.”

“Exactly.” Ned looked back at me and winked.

Within the next hour, we had managed to pick up Aria’s best friend Stacey from her apartment and made it to the jewelry store, while she squealed and made amusing sounds throughout the way there.

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!” She had been muttering those words as though it was a spiritual incantation for a while.

“You already said that.” I looked at her with a fake frown.

“But you don’t understand!” Stacey exclaimed, almost jumping. “You don’t understand! You’re…you’re going to…ask Aria to marry you!”

“I understand what I am about to do, since I am the one doing it. Makes some kind of sense, doesn’t it?”

She laughed hysterically, to my surprise. It was kind of endearing just how excited Stacey was for Aria. It made me realize how close they were and how much her friends cared about her. It also made me feel a little bit of an irrational jealousy. No one was allowed to love Aria more than I did.

“Zayden, this jewelry store! Everything is shining to the point of freaking blinding me. It’s going to cost you a fortune.”

“Well, your best friend and roommate are worth two whole fortunes and more.”

Her face lit up and I could see tears forming in her eyes. “Thank you so much. Thank you for loving Aria like you do. God knows she deserves it.”

“Hey! She’s mine, so thank you for taking care of her for as long as you have. I am quite grateful. But don’t forget she’s mine.”

“Ha!” she scoffed. “Since you’re about to, you know, marry her, I hope you know her well enough to realize she will not take well to be told who she belongs to.”

“I know.” I shook my head and sighed. “I will have to own her completely behind her back. Anyways, I am thinking of princess cuts, but I brought you here so you can help me decide what she would like. When I asked her if she prefers circles or squares, she said squares, which is why I think a princess cut would be the most—”

“You asked her what?” Stacey burst into another set of hysterical laughter.

“She reacted rather oddly to my question too. But really, how was I to ask it without raising any suspicion?”

“Men are hilarious sometimes.” Stacey sighed and looked at the shopkeeper. “Lucky for you, she always did kind of envision a princess cut for her engagement ring. Can we look at a few?”

“Of course, madam. I take it you’re not the bride?” An old, balding man with a silver moustache looked curiously at Stacey.

“No, of course I am! What bride doesn’t come to select her own surprise engagement ring with her fiancé?”

“You made your point,” said the man with a frown, pulling out a couple of boxes. “How about this one? 8 carat, on pure platinum.”

“No. I don’t want to look at anything that is less than 15 carat.”

Stacey looked at me with her mouth hanging open, as though the idea of a 15 carat engagement ring was preposterous. “Are you sure?” She raised her eyebrows.

“Absolutely positive.”

“Hmm, I think I know exactly what you are looking for, sir,” the man said with a sudden glint in his eyes that hadn’t been present until then. “Just give me a moment.”

When he disappeared to look for the rings, Stacey looked at me and asked, “Exactly how much are you planning to pay for this ring?”

I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. A lot? I haven’t really thought about it. It’s not really about the money or how much it costs; it’s about finding the perfect ring.”

Looking impressed, Stacey said, “It must feel awesome to have so much money lying around.”

“It’s alright.” I grinned at her. “It will ensure your best friend spends the rest of her life comfortably, though.”

“That makes me so hap—” she cut herself mid-sentence with a loud gasp.

The shopkeeper had returned with an enormous and beautiful princess cut diamond engagement ring in his hand. I had to open my eyes and close them again a few times before taking the image in. It was, to honor the name of the store, and Aria herself, dazzling. I chuckled to myself.

“That’s,” Stacey said, looking like she was trying to find the right words to describe it. “I have never seen anything like it.”

“I will take it,” I said in a single breath. “That’s the one.”

“You don’t want to know how much it costs?” The shopkeeper eyed me quizzically. “I get a lot of people with a lot of money here, but never has anyone agreed to make such a purchase without even asking about the price.”

“It doesn’t matter how much it costs. That’s the ring, that’s it,” I said, not removing my eyes from the jewel in his hand. I pictured what it would look like in Aria’s pretty dainty little fingers.

It would be perfect.

“All right then. 18 carat on platinum and I can engrave anything you want on the band for a total of five million.”

Stacey’s gasps upon hearing the cost could be heard in the entire neighborhood, I had no doubt. It didn’t matter. It was Aria’s ring and I would have reacted the same way if he had said it was for a hundred million dollars. She deserved the best of everything.

“Like I said, I’ll take it,” I said and looked at Stacey who I was afraid would faint any moment.

“Are…you…sure?” she asked, looking from me to the ring and back to me.

“Would Aria like it?” I asked earnestly.

“Are you kidding? She will adore it, as long as you don’t let her find out how much you paid for it.”

“I won’t tell her if you won’t. I will be right back, I forgot my credit card in the car.”

I walked out with a grin as an idea hit me. I hadn’t really forgotten my credit card. I just needed to get away from Stacey and into another part of the jewelry store across the hall. The rings were all in one room, while the rest of the jewelry items had their own separate areas.

After making the necessary purchase, Stacey and I returned to the car, and as she continued to look utterly stunned, I presented her with two boxes. “Congratulations on your engagement!” I smiled at her.

“What now?” She looked confused. “You didn’t—”

“I hadn’t given you and Mr. Nick anything for your engagement. I thought you would like—”

“It’s just Nick, I’ve never heard him called Mr. anything,” she tried to joke, but there were tears tingling around her eyes again. “You didn’t have to get us anything.”

I shrugged. “You are Aria’s best friends! This is the least I could do for all that you have done for her over the years.”

No longer attempting to hide her tears, Stacey opened the boxes sniffing, to find two matching platinum Him and Her bracelets that read “together forever.”

“This,” she sniffed back tears. “This…is….perfect. You really shouldn’t…I don’t know how to thank you.”

“You already have. Aria is very lucky to have friends like you,” I said, starting to feel uncomfortable since I didn’t know how to make her stop crying and wasn’t expecting this reaction at all.

“No, Zayden.” She looked up and wiped her face with her sleeves. “Aria is very lucky to have you.”

 

Chapter 3

Aria

“Wow, Aria. That’s…shocking…utterly…surprising,” Nick mumbled while determinedly avoiding eye contact. I had just told him and Stacey the whole story with the very awkward situation at my mom’s house, followed by an even more awkward proposal.

“We couldn’t have guessed that Zayden would propose to you so quickly. At all,” Stacey added, also avoiding meeting my eye. Something was obviously amiss.

“You guys already knew,” I concluded based on their joint reaction. “Both of you knew. I can’t believe this. How?”

“What are you talking about?” Stacey gasped accusingly. “How could I possibly? I mean how could we? We have barely seen you in a week!”

She had a point, but their reactions were certainly out of the ordinary. There was more going on here than I understood and I hated not knowing things. But they hadn’t seen me in over a week, how could they? Unless…

“Well, there were two people in that bathroom that night. If you know about the proposal, it had to have come from the second source.”

Stacey burst out laughing in a mocking sort of a way. “Yes, because Zayden Sinclair told us. A rich, billionaire guy had absolutely nothing else in the world to do but gossip about his life plans with your sorry-ass roommates.”

“Don’t call yourselves that.” I frowned. “And don’t act like you haven’t been known to scheme with him regarding me in the past.”

“Scheme?” She gasped, trying to look horrified. “That’s a little much, Aria. At best we exchanged some polite emails and under totally different circumstances! It was just about dating him – or contracting him or working with him or whatever you were calling it back then – and I already knew you wanted to so I just gave him a little nudge in the right direction. This is completely different.”

“Well, you haven’t yet once outright denied that you have been helping Zayden in some fashion.”

“The oven!” Stacey exclaimed and got off her chair. “Do you smell it? The cookies are done. For you, Aria. See how much I love you? Don’t question me.”

When she was back with the chocolate chip macadamia cookies, she had won. There was no way I was going to give her a hard time about anything after she bestowed me with the delicious crunchy, sugary goodness. If she was scheming with Zayden, let her. It almost made me feel kind of warm and fuzzy thinking of the two of them getting together to plan my proposal. When we got married – I meant if we got married – Zayden would have to get along with Stacey anyway, so it only made sense for them to start now. That thought, along with the cookies, made me light hearted. So much so that I didn’t really feel like discussing what I was about to mention. But I couldn’t put it off much longer. The divorce was sure to finalize soon enough and he would pop the question any minute. I definitely needed some advice as soon as I could get it.

“I don’t care what you guys know or how you know it, but the important thing I need to know is what you guys think I should do? Is this at all a good idea? Getting married to Zayden, I mean. I have only known him a few months.”

“You’re joking, right?” Nick raised his eyebrows at me. “You’re obviously not considering saying no?”

“Why not? I mean, it’s a big commitment. And I love Zayden! I do. There is no question about that anywhere in my mind. I have never felt like this about anybody in my life before. He makes me feel so smart and funny and beautiful and these past few months with him have been the most thrilling of my life. Like a rollercoaster. So marrying him will kind of be like…uh, moving in to live to Six Flags.”

Stacey and Nick both chuckled. “I’ll be down for that move!” Nick said cheerfully.

“But seriously, Aria,” Stacey chimed. “If you don’t feel like you’re ready—”

“No, no! It’s not that I’m not ready,” I jumped in a little too quickly.

“There you go. A little hint of my advice going the other way and you were so quick to stop me. You obviously want to do this and you love each other. I don’t see why—”

“You’re right,” I said, finally accepting even to myself that the answer had been “yes” since the moment Zayden first asked the question. “But I’m only twenty,” I added, just for argument’s sake.

“And you have the intelligence and maturity of a fifty year old. To the point of boredom, some might say,” Stacey said. Upon meeting my reproachful look she hastily added, “Some might say, not me. In any case, stop looking for excuses. If you want to marry the guy, marry the fucking guy. It’s literally that simple.”

With a final misplaced frown, I surrendered. Even though I was pretty surprised by their eagerness to have me jump to get married to Zayden, deep inside, I had hopes that they would approve without a protest. Now that I was sure, with the blessings of two of my best friends, the only thing keeping Zayden and me from being engaged was his divorce…and his ability to plan a real proposal of course.

---

Classes had lately become impossible to sit through, not because of certain inherent displeasing qualities in the classes themselves, but because of the state of mind I had been in. It was like a cheesy yet exciting romantic comedy was constantly playing in my head, featuring Zayden and I as the classic hero and heroine, destined to find each other against all odds and the harsh realities of life. My daydreams usually ended with him getting down on one knee at some exotic locale only suitable for the movies of the highest budgets featuring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Either that or some scenario where he made a public declaration of his love to me as I am about to go away forever – at an airport or a wedding – or I go crying, running into his arms.

As dramatic as it all sounded, thinking about the various ways in which our love story would find it’s worthy climax made it slightly easier to get through classes and count down to the time to go to work. Under the pretenses of doing my job, I could stare joyfully at Zayden for the rest of my day. Now that he had loudly professed his love to me in front of everybody at the bank, I was free to stare at him all day, answer his calls as his girlfriend, or flirt with him every time he came over to my desk. It still annoyed Mrs. Brian endlessly – as experienced by her constant disapproving sounds – but now that she knew Zayden took this seriously, she tried her best to keep her unsolicited opinions to herself. All in all, work had suddenly become my favorite place to go.

“Is everything alright, Aria?” I heard the professor, Mr. Weber, say, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Uh…yes. Sorry, I am a little out of it today. Didn’t get much sleep last night, was working on your paper.”

“Of course you were!” he exclaimed happily. “Wouldn’t expect anything less of you. And don’t worry, we are all a little out of it sometimes. Plus, you’re the top graded student in this class.”

I heard some grunts around the room, but couldn’t help but feel really flattered and guilty at the same time. The guilt made me try hard to focus on the Public Finance lecture – but my mind kept trying to take me back to that day Mr. Weber had brought in Zayden as a guest speaker – what an incredibly dramatic ordeal it had been.

No, stop. Pay attention. He was saying something about mortgages and government loans. I looked at the time; it was half way through class. One more quick lab later and I could run to work…I muffled a giggle, trying to pass it off as a cough, at the thought of being that person who actively looked forward to going to work.

Mr. Weber was discussing tax breaks and housing bubbles when there was a knock on the classroom door.

My heart leapt. I must have been imagining it this time. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened them again, Zayden was still standing by the door of my classroom, looking directly at me, with an enormous grin on his face.

“Oh hello, Mr. Sinclair!” Mr. Weber exclaimed delightedly. “What a wonderfully pleasant surprise! You should have mentioned you were paying us a visit! I would have made arrangements. Did you just want to sit in on my lecture? Or were you looking for something else?”

“Actually,” Zayden said, taking small strides into the classroom. “I was hoping I could talk to one of your students.”

“Oh, for some kind of a market research or something?” Mr. Weber asked curiously, as my heart started thumping so fast I could hear it beating. When I tried to move my legs they seemed to have given in to complete paralysis. I had no idea what was happening, but I felt like I knew where this was going…it had to be…but here? In front of my whole class? Would he really?

“I have a particular student in mind, Mr. Weber. And no, it’s not for research or survey. It’s…personal.”

The whole classroom went entirely silent and Mr. Weber looked confused. Zayden walked towards me. I wasn’t sure whether I was imagining it because the whole scenario was rather cinematic, but it felt like somebody had paused the live Zayden and set him in slow-motion. He was walking insanely slow, not helping the situation of my heartbeat at all.

When he reached me, he fell down on one knee, rendering me completely incapable of feeling anything other than my own thumping heart which seemed to have picked up a pace three times its usual. Shit, shit, shit. This was it.

Tears began welling up in my eyes as I became aware of the entire class staring at us, making no attempts to hide what they were looking at. The class had never been as silent as it was now, to Dr. Weber’s immense frustration I didn’t doubt. At the thought of Dr. Weber, I flicked a quick sideways glance to see his reaction and he appeared to be embracing a coronary, while his face assumed an expression of utter confusion.

My momentary lapse in concentration from what was going on in front of me with Zayden literally down on one knee in the middle of a class was broken when I heard him say my name like he had never said it before.

“Aria,” I heard him say. I had to bring my attention back to his piercing blue eyes, staring into my own with so much intensity it felt like he could see right through me.

“Hey, what are you—”

“I love you, Aria Roberts,” he cut me off to the sound of gasps encapsulating the whole room. I could sense the whispers of my classmates on my skin, but somehow I couldn’t register any of the words they were speaking. It was as though a movie was playing a few rooms down the hall and we were privy to snippets of it traveling through the distance.

I love you, too. Those were the words meant to come out of my mouth. Or they would have if I had been at all capable of opening them or producing a sound. It was like words were now captured somewhere deep in my lungs, imprisoned forever.

“I love you and I never thought I would say these words to a woman and mean it,” Zayden said, his eyes still firmly on my own. “When you first came into my life – or into my bank I should say,” he said with a grin. “I saw the most beautiful woman I had ever laid my eyes on. But I couldn’t have anticipated the whirlwind that became my life after. I have seen many beautiful girls. But Aria, Aria, Aria,” he repeated in slow rhythms matching my heartbeats. “You really did a number on me. It only took a few conversations with you for me to realize that your beauty was only your least impressive quality. Your mind, Aria, your brilliance, your confidence, the very way you walk and talk like the world marches to your drums until it starts doing exactly that! I have never met anyone like it. Twenty years old and you have more maturity than my mother does. I don’t think there is anyone quite like you, Aria. There is one and only one Aria Roberts and I am the luckiest man in the world just for having your love. Make me luckier than the luckiest man in the world Aria,” he said and reached into his pocket.

My eyes were probably swollen to twice their size by now, as I felt my whole face get drenched in my own tears, while an insufferably painful grin was plastered to my face that I couldn’t get rid of no matter how hard I tried. Zayden had said all those wonderful things about me. In my college. In front of my whole class. And my professor. The most sought-after man was down on his knee, telling me - little, useless Aria Roberts with a little apartment and a little life – that I made him the luckiest man in the whole world.

While everyone was watching.

When he pulled the ring out of his pocket, I gasped loud enough for the whole school to hear when I realized that it was, in fact an enormous piece of diamond on a ring. I felt heavy just from imagining the weight of it around my finger. All the time. For the rest of my life. Another gasp. Too much was happening too fast and it was crazier than my wildest fantasies. None of my daydreams where Zayden proposed to me came close to living up to this very moment where the man I loved was about to ask me to be his forever.

But before I said anything…before this got real and we were together forever and I would be his and he would be mine, legally, emotionally physically…I had to make sure.

With all the might I could muster, I forced myself to produce a sound at last, “Zayden, but the divor—”

He cut me off with a kiss squarely across my lips, to a spontaneous applause from the whole room. Through the corner of my eyes I could even see a confused Dr. Weber joining his hands together in continuous motions.

“Aria,” Zayden said, breaking off in almost a whisper. “It’s taken care of. The papers arrived. Just answer me now and stop torturing me. Aria Roberts, will you please marry me?”

I took the deepest breath of my entire life and said the most wonderful single word to have come out of my mouth: “Yes.”

 

Chapter 4

Zayden

I went into the bank feeling good. The curious gazes of all my employees upon my arrival did not bother me at all; rather it gave me a sense of pride: they were looking at me because they knew. They knew that I had managed to get the most amazing woman in the world to agree to marry me. Whether they were jealous or judgmental or just plain curious, none of their whispers and gasps bothered me in the slightest. In fact, it was probably their lucky day because I was suddenly in the mood to issue an office wide bonus. Grinning wildly, I approached Aria’s desk.

“Hi,” she said, beaming.

Instead of responding to her greeting, I leaned in and kissed her in front of the whole office. Aria broke off first, perhaps feeling uncomfortable by my show of affection in the workplace. But the smile on her face continued to be radiant.

“My office, fifteen minutes,” I said. Then I added loudly, “I love you.”

Aria’s face went completely red as she mumbled something that sounded like, “I love you too.”

Exactly fifteen minutes later, my fiancée was sitting across from me in my office, her huge ring flashing the bond that now tied us together.

“I don’t want to wait, Aria,” I said simply.

“What do you mean?” She looked confused. “I already said yes, I don’t know if you remember. I mean, maybe I remember it incorrectly too. It was all happening so fast it’s hard to hold on to the memory exactly as it transpired. That doesn’t of course, explain the ring,” she added cheerfully, surveying her hand. “This is too big, Zayden. I hope you didn’t pay a fortune it’s not worth it.”

“Don’t you dare ever tell me you’re not worth something again. You deserve the very best of everything in the world and I’ll make sure you have all of it. But I can’t wait, Aria, to get married to you. To make you mine irreversibly forever.”

She grinned. She was obviously in a playful mood. “I’m not too sure about the irreversible part. People get divorced all the time—”

“Don’t ever say that again, either,” I snapped.

“I was,” Aria said, screwing up her mouth. “You know I was joking.”

“Me too. Just wanted to make sure you knew it was permanent.”

“Permanent isn’t a long enough time to be with you,” she said and winked.

I needed to get to the point.

“Three weeks. I want to get married in three weeks. Does that sound okay?” I asked gently. I didn’t want to make her feel inundated in case she needed more time. At the same time, I also couldn’t bear to think of not being married to her any longer.

She opened her mouth wide in shock. “Three weeks? But…planning…and invites…I don’t even have an idea of what to do about my wedding dress.”

I reached over and covered her hands with my own, flashing a reassuring smile. “Aria,” I said lovingly. “It’ll all be taken care of. I already booked Fiona Davis to be your wedding planner and she will be contacting you shortly about all your needs. Fiona usually has a waiting list of about two years. She is the most sought-after wedding planner in the country.”

She gasped. “Stacey knows all about her. She will kill me.”

“We will book Fiona for your friends’ wedding too then, but since they don’t plan to have the ceremony for another year, we can surely worry about that later.”

“Wait,” she said suspiciously. “How do you know when they plan to get married?”

“Your friend Stacey may or may not have gone with me to purchase your ring.”

She gasped loudly, looking amused. “You aren’t telling me she approved of this magnificent gazillion dollar ring are you?”

“Yes, but it’s no big deal.”

“Whatever you say,” she said, grinning.

“Fiona will be in touch with you shortly. She has already booked the Plaza for three weeks from tomorrow. They are usually pre-booked years in advance but between my influence and Fiona’s, getting that date was a piece of cake.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Aria said holding up her hand and looking utterly confused. “The Plaza. That’s where all the celebrities get married. It is also in New York. Did you actually think this through?”

“Oh, right,” I said with a content smirk. “I forgot to mention, we are getting married in New York.”

The effect of those words on Aria was exactly what I had hoped. She gasped so loudly a few people came and poked their head in to see if everything was okay. Her eyes started drowning in tears of happiness once we were alone again.

“You said you had never been to New York.” I shrugged. “Obviously we had to change that. And what better opportunity to do so than during the most special day of both of our lives?”

“But Zayden,” she spoke in stutters. “All my family and friends and everyone I know are here and they can’t exactly afford to take a trip to—”

“I will take care of everything. You have to learn to stop worrying about money. I want you to have the wedding of your dreams. Pick out the best wedding gown, the best décor; pick out an invitation embellished in gold and platinum if you wish. I will pay for absolutely everything. We will put all your friends and family up in five star hotels. Everything you need will be taken care of. Don’t worry about how or when; just decide what you want and it’s yours. You might as well start getting used to it because this is not just about the wedding either. That’s basically how things will go from now on for the rest of your life.”

She was crying into her hands now, unable to process all of this. It made me feel a little weary because I did not like seeing her in tears, not even those of joy. Her tears were more precious to me than anything money could ever buy and they were not worth wasting.

I stood up from my chair and went over to take Aria into my arms. She was so small and fit so perfectly against my chest.

“Aria, I love you so much. More than you will ever realize. More than the world will ever have accurate measures to quantify. When I decided I wanted to marry you, I also decided that from that moment on, nothing in the world mattered as much as your happiness. If you really think about it, I’m being selfish by giving you the wedding of your dreams. I can only be happy when you are happy. So in the end, I am doing this for me. Okay?”

I hugged her tighter, intending to never let me go.

“I love you so much too, Zay,” she mumbled into my chest. “I can’t wait to be your wife…”

We sat like that in each other’s embrace for the longest time, with the whole office watching through my office windows. When we finally broke apart, I remembered the other thing I had to discuss with her.

“One more thing,” I said, wiping the last of her tears from her face. “There is absolutely no reason for you and me to be apart for another second from now on. I hired some movers. They will be at your apartment tomorrow to get all your things. You don’t worry about a single thing. They will pack all your things and carry everything to my place. Is that okay?”

I felt like it was important to phrase everything as a question. Aria would not be okay with being told what to do, which was one of the many reasons I loved her so much.

“Of course,” she said to my utter relief. “I can’t wait to move in with you either. The thought of being apart from you is tormenting sometimes. I’ll miss my roommates of course, but I’ll have one last night with them tonight.”

“They will be happy for you,” I said, stroking her hair.

“I’m sure you have a good command on exactly how they will feel, given that they have been sneakily planning things with you behind my back,” she said with a smirk.

“It’s because they love you. How can they not? How can anyone not?” I leaned over to plant a kiss on her lips. “You are so damn loveable.”

“So are you,” she said, kissing me back. “Thanks so much for arranging everything with the move. And for Fiona, the Plaza and everything else. I can’t believe I get to marry you in three weeks.”

“You can have the rest of the day off,” I said, looking at the time. “I have some business to tend to and you have to go talk to your roommates and plan for your move. You can come in to work whenever you feel like it for the next three weeks or not at all if you don’t want to. You won’t be stationed at the teller’s booth—”

“No!” she gasped again. “No, Zayden. I haven’t earned a promotion. You know how I feel about making my own way to the top.”

“Well, that complicates matters. Considering you will soon be part owner of the company. I mean if you prefer to run half of this office while sitting where the tellers do, that’s up to you, but I would suggest that it’s not the best business move.”

“I didn’t earn this,” she whispered again.

“Yes you did. I have seen your mind, Aria, and fallen in love with it. Remember when I asked you if you would work for me long before I even realized I was in love with you? Even when I had no plans but to seduce you, I was already blown away by your brilliance and your ideas. My company needs young ambitious assets just like you and this would be the fact of the matter regardless of whether or not we were getting married in three weeks.”

“But that’s not how everyone else will see it,” she protested. “They will all just think it’s some kind of nepotism or something.”

“Well, give me a list of everyone who thinks that way and I will fire every last one of them.”

She sighed. “That won’t be necessary. Fine, no more teller duties. Where do I sit then?”

“I am having them build you a new office right across from mine. So let me know what you want in that space. Meanwhile, you can just take that desk over there. I don’t think – well I hope – that you won’t be engaging in much other work than planning your dream wedding for the next three weeks so that shouldn’t be a problem. By the time we are married your office should also be ready and you will have your own space to come up with brilliant ideas that I don’t doubt will bring my company heaps of money.”

“You give me too much credit, Zayden.”

It was my turn to sigh. “The fact that you think that is also one of your greatest qualities. God, if you could only see yourself the way I see you. We will talk again after you have assumed your new role in the company for a few months. You’ll see what I’m talking about.”

She shrugged. “If you say so. I’m going to head out now. I have a wedding to plan,” she said joyfully and almost hopped out of my office, leaving me grinning with admiration.

 

Chapter 5

Aria

By the time I got home, I still couldn’t process everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, starting all the way from when Zayden proposed to me in class. A wedding in three weeks! As much as that thought freaked me out, it also excited me. Three weeks from tomorrow, I was going to become Mrs. Sinclair after our wedding in the city of my dreams. It was as though someone had taken a chapter from one of my favorite romance novels and sprinkled it all over my life. Giddy from the marvel of it all, I headed straight to Nick and Stacey’s room. I leaned over to their closed door to make sure that I wasn’t interrupting an intimate moment, but when I heard them argue about video games, I knocked excitedly.

“Come on in, Aria. We already know you’re engaged. In case that’s what the excitement with your loud knocks indicated,” Nick said.

“I’m getting married,” I said, turning the doorknob.

“Didn’t I just say we know that?” Nick looked confusedly at Stacey. “Am I inaudible Stace? Did I lose my power of speech?”

“In three weeks,” I added hastily. “I’m getting married in three weeks. In New York City. Code red.”

After a couple of gasps and hanging mouths, Stacey quickly assumed the role of my best friend. “I’ll get started on the cookies. You guys set shop in the living room. Yes, this is code red.”

---

An hour later the three of us were spiraled across the living room, stuffing our faces with Stacey’s amazing chocolate chip cookies.

“But, Fiona Davis!” Stacey exclaimed for the fifteenth time. “How did he? How is that even possible? I know he is some hotshot billionaire but even then. Fiona is booked for years. Years! Not months, years. And from my understanding she doesn’t even adjust her schedule for A list celebrities. I can’t believe Zayden pulled that off!”

“Well, I am not sure if I am supposed to tell you guys yet,” I said, beaming. “But he also booked her for your wedding next year.”

Stacey gasped the loudest I had ever heard her, as her eyes started to tear up. “What? How? Fiona Davis, for Nick and my wedding? That’s not…this is not real life. I’m going to go back to bed and be disappointed when I wake up to realize this was one awesome dream.”

“I’m serious, Stace,” I said, hugging her tight. “Fiona Davis will be planning your wedding.”

“No she will not.” Stacey broke our hug and frowned. “It’s not just about her schedule you know. I can’t exactly afford her. Neither can Nick,” she added when he cleared his throat.

“It’s already paid for,” I announced. “Zayden said he is grateful for you for helping with our relationship – first with convincing me it was a good idea to go out with him, then with helping with the ring – that it’s the least he could do. And for loving me or something.”

“Yeah, cause that last part is real hard to do,” Stacey quipped and rolled her eyes. “So we definitely need to be rewarded for it.”

“Shut up, Stace.” I giggled. “But seriously, Zayden is happy to do this so please just accept it, okay? This way we both get to have our dream weddings.”

After another few protests, Stacy finally came around. “Okay,” she said. “Fine. We will accept, but what can we do for him in return, though? I don’t have anything!”

“Cookies,” I said brightly. “I bet you a million dollars – shit I shouldn’t use such exaggerations anymore, should I? – okay, okay, I just bet you some love that Zayden has never had chocolate chip cookies that are perfect as yours. Make him an enormous batch as a thank you and I will take it with me when I move there tomorrow—”

“When you what?” Nick chimed in, looking rather disappointed. “Tomorrow?”

Shit. That was not how I was planning to break the news about my sudden departure at all. They were supposed to have been a few beers in, first of all.

“Okay guys, I know I talked about moving out soon but even I had no idea it would be this soon. But given that I am getting married in three weeks, it only makes sense that I live with him for a little bit before becoming his wife, you know?” I couldn’t hide the annoying grin from my face as I said this.

“Aria.” Stacey shook her head. “We love you and you know that. We would keep you with us forever if we could. You don’t have to pretend that this is something you’re doing out of necessity. You can’t wait to start living with Zayden, it’s all over your face. And the important part is I am fucking ecstatic for you…”

I mock frowned. “So you’re not going to miss me? Why aren’t you more upset by this?”

“You’re an idiot.” She rolled her eyes. “Of course I am heartbroken. We are,” she added, as Nick sat in the corner. “This is bittersweet. I couldn’t be happier for you Aria. You have met the man of your dreams who makes you ridiculously happy and would literally do anything in the world for you. Heck, he is going out of his way for your friends he barely knows, even! And you’re so in love it’s hilarious and adorable. So what I am getting at, I guess, is when should we start helping you pack?”

Those words brought unexpected tears to my eyes and before I knew it, Stacey and I were both bawling our eyes out and hugging each other.

“Wow, I sure feel the love,” Nick said sarcastically, so I went over and hugged him too.

These were seriously the two best people I had ever met in my life. The last few years living with them had been something out of a sitcom on T.V. I couldn’t believe that the time had come for me to move on. It was almost as though we were adults now. I was ready for that.

“It’s the end of an era,” Nick said, holding Stacey’s hand while we hugged.

Better words had not been invented to describe this situation.

Hours later, as we packed away my life, I was still explaining the mechanics of the wedding to them.

“So we will all fly over to New York that Friday and the wedding is on Sunday. Zayden is paying for our tickets, business class—”

Stacey gasped again. I was starting to get used to that as the background noise to my life.

“No!”

“Yes,” I said cheerfully. “I’ve never been in business class either. But I hear there is champagne. We will find out sooner or later. And that is just the beginning of it. He is putting us all up in fancy five-star hotels right in mid-town where all the action is supposed to happen. All my life I have dreamed of going to Times Square and now I will be staying so close to it while I prepare for my wedding at The Plaza. It’s insane is what it is.”

“Oh god, Aria, this is going to be like one of those weddings in the movies where you just have to think for a second if anyone in the world can afford such a thing. Now you can!”

“No, I can’t. Zayden can though and he wants to so why should I complain? Although, he did force a pretty heavy promotion on me so who knows, soon enough, maybe I would be able to afford such things myself?”

Stacey covered her face and fell flat on my bed. “I can’t anymore, Aria. Too much big news. Congratulations on the promotion. Although I should have seen that one coming a long time ago. You’re brilliant and Zayden knows this, so he would have offered you the promotion even if you guys were never romantically involved.”

“That’s what he said too.” I frowned, being unable to fathom why everyone thought I was so smart. I should just be grateful for the opportunity, but it was difficult to believe that I had made it this far on talent alone.

“Give yourself more credit, Aria! You’re the best student in our year. The only time you got an A minus you crawled into bed and cried for two days straight. If it wasn’t Zayden, some other big shot at some other bank would be eager to take you.”

“Fine, fine,” I said reluctantly. “I earned the promotion or whatever. I still need to graduate from college, you know?”

“Yeah, how do you plan to do that with the demands of your new job and planning your wedding?”

“Well, I am taking all my final exams early – so later this week – for this semester and then I will be done with my junior year. I’m going to try and do my senior year online. The Dean has been understanding and willing to help me with it. She was worried if she didn’t try to work with me I would go elsewhere where and my diploma wouldn’t have their name on it.”

“Nobody has ever fought so hard to keep my name.” Nick snickered. “Yet you don’t think you’re intelligent enough to have earned that promotion. I think you need some therapy, Aria.”

“I think you guys need to shut up,” I said jokingly. “But anyways, I’ll have my degree and my job – and my soon to be husband, of course – so I am happy. I don’t really have to go in to work or start my new position until the wedding, which helps. Now that I have arranged to take my finals early—”

“When did you even manage to do that?” Stacey looked at me in awe. “Didn’t you just find out about all this earlier this afternoon?”

“I called the Dean on my way home.” I waved my hand to suggest it was no big deal. “You know how I like to be on top of things.”

“You are like from some other planet, my goodness. Any other girl – me for sure and Nick too and he is not even a girl – would be so consumed in the excitement of all of this that at least for a day school would be relegated to the back of our minds.”

“Well, school is important.” I grinned. So many wonderful things were happening and I had no idea why Nick and Stacey were insistent on showering me with so complements. Perhaps it had something to do with me moving away, but it sure as hell made me feel wonderful.

“So in summary,” Nick said, looking at a legal pad. “You are getting married in New York in three weeks, you are taking your finals next week and you start your new position at work after the weeding. And you’re moving out tomorrow?”

“Nick, have you been taking notes?” I burst out laughing. It was classic Nick.

He flashed me a confused look. “Shouldn’t I have been? As your – wait, what will I be doing in your wedding? Stacey is maid-of-honor. I can’t exactly be a bridesmaid. Wait, Aria, I am in your wedding right?” He looked horrified by the possibility that he might not be.

“You are the brides-dude-of-honor. I made up that title for you. You will be standing next to my bridesmaids with honor but you don’t have to put on a dress, a suit will do.” I smirked.

“Awesome, then as your brides-dude-of-honor, I have to make sure we document everything so there is no lag in any part of your wedding. And I also volunteer to be the errands guy. I love running errands,” he said with a straight face, making Stacey and I burst into a fresh pair of giggles.

“Pizza’s here,” I said when the doorbell rang.

It was as perfect as the last night with my two favorite people in the world could ever be.

 

Chapter 6

Zayden

I walked into the living room to find Aria fiddling with her boxes. A strange sense of accomplishment filled over me as I watched her unpack in her new home. My home. Our home. The thought of all the wonderful memories we were going to make here for the rest of our lives filled me with profound happiness. I couldn’t believe all of this was happening, that Aria was here, now and real, and willing to be mine.

Slowly, I walked towards her, which must have startled her because she jumped. She broke into the most wonderful smile. “Hi, there,” she said. “I was starting to think I would never see you. Which is odd, considering it was your idea that I move in here right away.”

“Sorry, I was taking care of some business. I came here as fast as I could though. The thought of you unpacking all alone at home was not making me happy,” I said and sat down on the couch. “Come here,” I told her and welcomed her with my arms.

As she walked towards me, I tried to take a mental picture of the scene so I could keep this perfect moment savored in my memory forever.

She sat next to me and put her head on my chest, looking tired but content.

“How was your last evening with your friends?” I asked gently. “Were they upset? Are you?”

“It was bittersweet,” she said without removing her head from my chest to look at me. “We were happy together. And drunk at some point. They sent you a little present. It’s over at the kitchen counter. How do you feel about chocolate chip cookies?”

“I don’t feel strongly about them.” I shrugged.

“Well, that is about to change then. Stacey makes the best chocolate chip cookies in the world. And she sent you an enormous batch to thank you for everything.”

“I take it you told her about my plans with Fiona for their wedding?” I said amusedly.

“Was I not supposed to?” She looked up at me. “I’m sorry.”

“No, no, no! Don’t apologize. I am glad you told them. I was merely amused that you guys seem to have a system of sharing news as fast as possible. Which is why I am quite surprised your friend Stacey didn’t tell you about the ring.”

She giggled. “We know to keep it tight when it really matters. They were so thrilled, Zayden. Stacey couldn’t stop crying. She can’t believe you’re real sometimes.”

“Is that so? If I weren’t real,” I said and moved my hand across her body to slide a few fingers underneath her panties, making her shudder. “How come I just made you do that?”

Aria moved away. “As much as I would like that train of thought to continue,” she said and grinned. “I have a lot of unpacking to do so no room for distractions.”

“That game huh? Whatever, I have some important matters to discuss with you anyway.”

“Is everything alright?” She looked immediately alarmed and for some unknown reason, it made her appear more adorable. She was such an insanely genuine person.

“Yes, everything is alright. Pretty fucking perfect, actually. I just wanted to talk to you about your mother’s hospital bills—”

“Oh right. I suppose since we are getting married, the contract is no longer valid. Don’t worry about paying for the last two months; I don’t want it to be a conflict of interest. With my new promotion, I am sure I could handle those payments myself. And since we have been paying all the other amounts on time, the hospital should allow me some extra time. I will probably incur some interest but that hardly matters in the grander scheme of things.”

“Aria,” I said with an urge to laugh. “What on earth do you think you are talking about?”

She raised her eyebrows. “My mother’s hospital bills. I am guessing that’s where you were going with bringing up that subject?”

“Quite on the contrary. Have you not realized by now that I will gladly turn over my entire fortune for you? My money is your money. What I wanted to discuss,” I said, planting a kiss on her mouth, unable to help it. “Is that I paid off the rest of her bill. Since I am marrying her daughter, it’s the least I could do. She is giving me far more than I have given her. You were right on one account of course; the contract is no longer valid. You are going to be my wife now. We don’t need some stupid contract.”

“Well, I have actually been thinking about that,” Aria said softly and slowly, as though weighing her words in her mind. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, Zayden. You know I love you a lot, more than words can ever describe. If you don’t then you’re just stupid and shouldn’t be allowed to run such a huge empire.” She giggled. “I love you with all my heart and want us to be together forever. But life is strange and sometimes things happen. In the case that we ever find ourselves in a situation that is unpleasant as far as our union goes—”

“What are you trying to say, Aria?” I felt myself stiffen. I didn’t like hearing those words.

“Well, I guess what I am really trying to say is that the last thing in the world that I want is to feel like I am in some way taking advantage of you. As you know, I have nothing but some annoying amounts of debt. You have quite a lot. In the case that we were to,” she choked up trying to formulate that idea. “In the case that we ever, you know, split up for any reason, I want you to feel like your assets and everything you own are secure and yours. Which is why I think a prenuptial contract is important. To protect you.”

“Are you joking?” I stared at her closely to make sure that she was being serious.

Her words at once annoyed me greatly but also made me admire her even more. Any other woman would be thrilled that I hadn’t brought up a prenup or tried to convince me to ignore it if I had brought it up. Aria would be the only person to care so much about protecting me because she didn’t want me for my money. She wanted me for me.

The part that annoyed me was that she thought that such an arrangement would even be necessary. That was absolutely preposterous. I saw no situation in any part of our future where divorce would ever even cross my mind and I highly doubted that she did too. So she must think somehow that I might change my mind about how much I loved her down the line…she simply did not get that what I felt for her was beyond everyday romance, beyond my concern for my own life…

“I am not joking, Zayden. I want you to feel secure. It is important to me that you know that I am marrying you for the right reasons. I appreciate the promotion I got at work and it will certainly help me grow into my own going forward. As such, even though we are nullifying our contract, I am going to pay you back for the money you paid towards my mother’s hospital bills, just like we had planned. I want us to be equals in this relationship, I couldn’t stress that more. In fact, down the line I expect to pay for half the costs we incur during this wedding. I know you don’t need the money, but it’s really a matter of principal at the end of the day. Do you understand what I am getting at?”

“I do,” I said and pulled her back towards me. “I know exactly what you are getting at and this is precisely why I am in love with you. We are getting married which means there is really no distinction between my money and your money, my home and your home. Everything is ours from now on, together. That is what family is all about. We will be sharing our lives with each other, every bit of it. But okay, if it makes you feel better you can slowly pay me back for whatever you wish, so you feel like we are equals. If the scales are tipped at all, they are in that you are cleverer and far more intelligent than I will ever be, so you have the upper hand in a sense.”

She giggled and let out an adorable little snort. “You guys must all stop this ridiculous praise of my intelligence. It’s starting to get way too funny. I am twenty years old and I don’t even have an undergraduate degree yet.”

“Exactly my point,” I said cheerfully. “But anyways, moving on. You can go over checks and balances and ‘pay back’ whatever you think you need to. We have a whole lifetime for you to do this as it happens. I am firmly intent upon this so if you put up further arguments, we will just be wasting precious time that could be spent fucking. I will not ever agree to a prenup. The whole idea behind it suggests that there is even the slightest bit of possibility that you and I might not be together forever. I would rather die the most painful death than allow myself to even entertain such an idea. I have been married before and it was a complete disaster, as you know very well. Given that I had made up my mind that nothing would convince me to partake in a union again. Then you came along. Believe me when I say this, Aria, I would never have proposed to you if I had even for a second thought that there was a possibility that we wouldn’t last forever.”

She hugged me tighter, kissing my chest. “How did you get to become such a sweet and loving person? God I am so lucky.”

I shrugged. “It’s the effect you have on me. Most people – my own mother included – would laugh at the idea that someone used those words to describe me.”

“Well your mother sounds kind of awful anyway,” she said.

“Yeah, you will have the opportunity to experience it firsthand soon enough. Apparently it is the norm to invite your parents to your wedding or something.” I rolled my eyes.

She laughed. “I am sure she isn’t so terrible. She did give birth to the most amazing man in the world after all.”

“You are too sweet,” I said and kissed her forehead. “But seriously, my mother can be a nightmare, so if I were you I would be careful. She is going to try and make you feel as though you aren’t good enough for me. She obviously won’t have any idea what the fuck she is talking about, so if I were you I would ignore everything she says.”

“I’m sure I could get her to like me,” she said confidently.

“You know what?” I thought about that for a second. “You actually might just accomplish that, Aria. It is rather difficult not to fall in love with you, as I speak from very personal experience.”

The doorbell rang. “Were we expecting company?” Aria asked.

“Oh yeah, that’s kind of a surprise. I’ll be right back,” I said and walked to the door to welcome Fiona Davis.

“Sorry our house is a bit of a mess, my fiancée just moved in today and we are still figuring out where to put everything.”

“No worries at all, Zayden,” Fiona said, kissing me on the cheek. “Now where is the lovely bride?”

“Right in the living room, come on in.”

I escorted her to where Aria was, who looked rather alarmed at the sight of a beautiful blonde woman standing in front of her.

“Your sister. Please tell me she is your sister,” Aria said with her eyebrows raised. “I mean hello, sorry I didn’t mean to be rude.”

Fiona giggled as I looked at them in amusement. “Oh darling, aren’t you absolutely adorable?” She looked at Zayden. “Wow, well done Sinclair. I can’t wait to work with her.”

“What is going on?” Aria asked suspiciously and then her face lit up in realization. “You’re Fiona.”

She got up nervously and then sat back down, apparently unsure how to react to a celebrity wedding planner standing in her living room.

“That is what they call me.” Fiona giggled. “But you can call me anything you like. From this moment on, I’m here to do your bidding.”

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.” Aria was hyperventilating and it was entertaining to watch. I felt a sense of pride at being able to do this for her. “Is it okay if – can I – may I call my best friend and maid-of-honor to come here? It will make her day. I can’t believe this.”

“Of course, dear,” Fiona said, pulling out a binder from her pocketbook. “I hear I will be assisting this lady’s wedding too later in the year. So it only seems logical that we spend as much time together as possible.”

“You haven’t changed one bit since college.” I rolled my eyes. The woman was so good at her job and so enthusiastic about everything to do with it.

“You guys went to college together?” Aria gasped. “What other celebrities did you go to college with?”

 “A couple here and there. Now let’s get down to business. We have a rather extravagant wedding to plan here.”

“First things first,” Fiona said, pursuing her binder. “Do you have a theme in mind, Aria? It’s a specialty of the Plaza; they can transform the venue to look like your wildest imagination.”

“A Hogwarts themed wedding would be rather nice,” Aria said after pondering for a few moments. “But I suppose that isn’t the most romantic. Hmm…”

Fiona, who was giving Aria a very understanding look, gleamed with pleasure. “You know, you would be surprised. I have actually planned two Hogwarts themed weddings so far and the clients were extremely satisfied. Technology is so advanced these days we were able to make the venue appear enchanted.”

“I don’t actually want a Hogwarts themed wedding.” Aria giggled. “Although I sure did when I was fourteen. I suspect I might have grown out of it somewhat.”

“Thank god.” Fiona sighed in relief. “I have to admit, I always found the concept rather amateurish. But if you’re into books and reading, I am sure we can find something you would relate to.”

“How about a regular wedding, but since you said you can make venues seem enchanted, we have a bit of an enchanted forest thing going on with a décor? I don’t want to say princess-themed, because that also sounds rather amateur. It would be nice to have the look of a fairy-tale decoration wise though.”

“That is actually a very good idea,” Fiona said, unclipping some papers from her binders. “Here are some pictures of similar things I have done, we can pick one of those or we can create a whole new concept from scratch. Now we don’t have a whole lot of time, so I hope you can take some time off work. Since we have a lot to do and the venue is in New York, it’s not going to be very easy to coordinate if you’re working all the time.”

“She has the next three weeks off,” I said cheerfully. “I am her boss and I say so. No Aria,” I said when she looked like she was about to protest. “You can make up the days later if you must, I don’t really care either way, but knowing you, you would probably want that. But for now, just focus on making this thing as perfect as you can.”

Aria opened her mouth and closed it again. “Okay, I guess so.”

“I have some bakers from Elegant Bakery flying in from New York tomorrow,” Fiona said, still not taking her eyes off her binder. “So get ready for a tasting.”

“Actually,” Aria said, looking almost apologetic. “I was thinking…my best friend – the maid-of-honor – is the best confectioner I know and she really wants to…I mean if it’s okay with you.” She looked at Fiona nervously, who let out another giggle.

“She is too cute,” Fiona said. “What do you mean if it’s okay with me? This is your wedding. Everything happens as you desire. I will cancel the meeting with the bakers. Tell the maid-of-honor she can design your cake. A personal touch. I rather like it.” Fiona smiled.

“We can tell her together in a bit. She is on her way here.” Aria smiled nervously. “Sorry I just texted her, I couldn’t resist.”

“Okay, you guys plan this out. I have a meeting in an hour that I need to be in the office for. Don’t worry about unpacking, Aria, I’ll get someone to do it for you later,” I said. I walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek. “Are you happy?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“I couldn’t be happier,” she said radiantly.

“I love you,” I said and kissed her. “Now work on planning the wedding of your dreams.”

 

Chapter 7

Aria

It was my wedding day! It was also Christmas day, but that happened every year. But it was my wedding day on Christmas day! I squealed the moment I woke up in the most comfortable hotel bed I had ever slept in. After much consideration, Fiona and I had reached the conclusion that we would keep the wedding ceremony itself really small and personal. It was literally just going to be Zayden’s mom, my mom, Nick and Stacey, and we were holding off on the big party at the Plaza with the enchanted forest theme for the reception. It made more sense to me because I wanted our wedding to be personal and the thought of a whole audience hearing my vows to Zayden made me feel uncomfortable. Very few people in the world deserved to hear that so I had decided that was how it was going to be.

The private wedding ceremony would take place in Central Park and the Plaza would be reserved for the reception. This was a last minute decision I made after visiting Central Park two days ago. The place took my breath away. New York in general managed to do that. You see things and places on T.V. and magazines and get mesmerized. Somehow you never expect that reality would look better than your fantasies. Yet that was New York. Everything about it was better than any camera could realistically capture. Times Square actually glowed at every step and there were tiny flakes of glitter spread across the sidewalks. People in the most extravagant and colorful – and sometimes rather inappropriate – clothing zoomed around the place as though they were characters from a movie rather than real people. Happy tourists chattered alongside every corner and I could see fellow first-time New York visitors have the same reaction to the extravaganza as I did and I felt a crazy sense of solidarity. I had managed to purchase almost everything sold at one of the myriads of gift shops and currently owned an “I <3 NY” shirt in every shape and size possible.

What truly took my breath away, however, was the serenity of Central Park. The fact that it managed to keep its sense of nature and natural beauty in the midst of a city so loud and happening was shocking and awe-inspiring. It was quiet and beautiful and as far as I was concerned, the most romantic place in the whole world. So naturally, I had decided that my wedding ceremony would take place there.

I rolled around the enormous bed in delight at the thought of what was to come for the rest of the day. Zayden had taken a different room, in favor of being somewhat traditional and separating the bride and the groom the night before the wedding. That didn’t stop me from being sorely tempted to walking over to his hotel room in just a robe and nothing else and sliding it off. We had been abstaining from sex for the past week so that our wedding night would be truly exceptional, but it had been so much harder than I had expected, considering we slept in the same bed every night.

And Zayden had the body of a Greek God.

But it was okay. It was all okay because we were going to get married today. Nothing would ever be able to keep us apart from each other ever again. I looked at my enormous ring once more and took a very deep breath. This was really, truly happening. By the end of this evening, I would become Mrs. Zayden Sinclair. I squealed like a little girl once more and then got up to take a shower. Stacey, Fiona and my hairdresser would be here in half an hour.

---

“Okay we have five hours to get you ready,” Fiona said in a business-like voice when she arrived. “You are going to get ready for the ceremony and subsequent reception so Fabio here will do your hair and make-up so it lasts the next twelve hours,” she said pointing to a slender and flamboyant man she had brought along. “Is your dress ready?” She eyed the room looking alarmed. “I don’t see it anywhere.”

“I hung it up in the living room of the penthouse. I won’t be wearing it until all of this is done, so I wanted to keep it safe.” I smiled.

The truth was that the wedding dress made me very nervous and not just because it was the most expensive thing I had ever purchased – and it was, it had tiny bits of actual diamond studded across the hem – but because it reminded me of everything that was going to happen today. I wasn’t sure I would be able to handle the joy and excitement it brought me.

“Good thinking,” Fiona said curtly.

She was a rather interesting woman. Everything was business to her, even the tasting of the variety of cake Stacey baked for us one afternoon. We were literally just chilling and having some beers at my old apartment while Stacey tried out different combinations for colors and recipe and décor. It wasn’t very different from the usual evening we used to spend goofing around at the apartment, except the part where this time Stacey was baking my wedding cake. Fiona somehow managed to make it formal and businesslike by constantly taking notes after every tasting, flipping her binder non-stop and refusing to partake in the beer drinking. She did bring her own champagne so the last part must have been just a matter of preference.

That said, I had taken quite a liking to her and felt excited by the notion that she would be joining us again next year for Stacey’s wedding. There was something about her that reminded me of myself. Perhaps it was her sheer dedication to her work. She was much older than I was and I felt like I had been learning a whole lot from her about running a business as a woman.

I watched her direct Fabio in admiration before getting seated for my hair and makeup.

Stacey came half-way into my make-up and exclaimed, “Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas!” we all exclaimed back.

“But more importantly,” she said, sitting down next to me. “Happy wedding day to the best best-friend in the whole world!”

“That would be you.” I smiled, which made Fabio give me a stern look. I was supposed to be sitting still. “Can I have one moment, Fabio? I want to look at my maid-of-honor.”

“If you must,” he said reluctantly.

“Stacey, you look amazing!” I exclaimed upon turning around to look at her. She was wearing a bright purple dress of her own choosing – I didn’t believe in subjecting my maid-of-honor to a hideous dress of my choice – and her hair was tied up in a neat bun.

“Nothing compared to the bride of course, you’re going to be turning heads in all of Central Park today, mark my words.”

I beamed delightedly. “We will be,” I said, reaching out both my hands to grab hers. “I can’t believe this is happening, Stace. I am actually getting married today!”

She joined my squealing, which made me feel a whole lot better about me acting like a little girl all morning.

“Now let Fabio finish getting you ready so you can go get married.”

---

When Stacey, Nick and I arrived at Central Park – we had a separate limo sent to us than Zayden’s – nobody was there except an old lady with bright blonde hair dressed in a designer red outfit.

“You must be Zayden’s mother,” I said brightly approaching her. I realized it was the lady I had met at his house that one morning.

“You must be his newest play toy,” she said with a fake smile. “Good for you, hun. Make sure he gets to play well, since you’ll be getting quite a lot of monetary advantage in this situation.”

“That is incredibly rude,” I said with a smile still plastered to my face. “And under any other circumstances I would have responded with an equal - if not more – sass, and believe me I may look small but I am capable of a lot. However, it is my wedding day and you are the mother of the most important person in my life, so I will be nice. Look, Mrs. Sinclair, I understand you have your own little pre-conceived notions about who I am and what I want from your son. And you know what, in a way it’s oddly endearing. It means you care about him in your own little weird way. But make no mistake, I care about him too and I will not have anybody questioning my intentions. Of course, I can’t expect you to change your mind based on my words alone – anyone can claim anything, after all, as you witnessed from the whole disaster with Gina, a woman I believe you did in fact approve of for your son. All I ask of you is you reserve some judgment until you get to know me. After a month or two, if you still feel like I am using your son for money and don’t actually care about him, feel free to hate me.”

“Bold. I like that. I should have known Zayden wouldn’t be marrying some wussy,” Mrs. Sinclair said with an awkward – but what I suspected to be genuine – smile. “And pretty too. Very pretty,” she said those words with a sternness that almost felt like an insult. “Well, I guess I can reserve judgment after all.”

“Thank you,” I said, trying to sound softer. Somehow her approval of my boldness made me soften towards her a little. She was an old woman and the thing that mattered most was that she cared about Zayden. “I, on the other hand, don’t need to reserve any judgment,” I said smilingly. “You seem to care about Zayden which wins my approval of you.”

“I don’t recall asking for your approval,” she said in a stern voice, but seemed somewhat amused.

“You didn’t have to.” I grinned. “Now if you excuse me, I have to go get married to your son.”

I turned away, realizing a little too late that the effect couldn’t have been as grand as I had hoped considering that Zayden had yet to even arrive. I simply sat down on one of the benches by the tree where we were holding the ceremony and admired the breath-taking view. Getting married on Christmas Day was a stroke of pure genius, for New York City looked like it had been embellished with the joy that I was feeling.

All the trees in Central Park were covered in Christmas Lights, and the buildings on the edge of the horizon appeared to be glowing in celebration of my big day. Everything was bright and shiny. The crisp winter air of December didn’t even bother me – despite wearing a sleeveless dress – because the happiness of the moment was enough to keep me warm from within.

When Zayden’s limo pulled in and he got out of it, I was sure my heart stopped for a few moments. He looked just like a movie star in his tuxedo and I took a deep breath, unable to believe that this was the man I would soon marry. The look on his face mirrored my awe and I could swear I saw the hint of tears in his eyes. He wasn’t supposed to see me yet, but since we were getting married in a park there was nowhere to hide.

My mother walked me down the aisle, something I was very happy about. She had, after all, been both my mom and dad for me the last few years and she deserved this honor. I hadn’t even thought to look for my dad to invite him to this wedding. He had decided to run away and with that lost all my respect. But mom looked radiant and proud as she took my hand and walked with me right until I stood face to face with Zayden. Nick and Stacey were next to me while Ned stood cheerfully behind Zayden.

The minister began the ceremony and half-way through asked if we had written our own vows.

“Yes,” we both said. And I went first, because I didn’t think I would be capable of speaking after I heard what Zayden has to say.

“Today I am fortunate enough to be entering a union with the love of my life and I doubt there is a single person on this planet that is as happy as I am. I love you Zayden Sinclair and even though I ignored your advances at first, somehow I feel like I knew this since the moment we first met. You have the wits and charms to win over the heart of any woman in the world, yet you chose me and fell for me, making me feel like the luckiest woman in the world. You are as kind as you are handsome, something not many people get to see because they haven’t spent as much time with you to know you like I do. You practically saved my family and never asked anything in return. You go out of your way to do little things for me, which in turn are things of great value. The amount of time you spent going over my homework with me. And submitting my paper to that journal. Things you had absolutely no reason to do, except that you thought somehow they would make me happy, and you were right. I have learned so much from you, Zayden, just from a few months of our time together. I yearn for our days ahead when I will only learn and grow more from your incredible company and our love, both personally and professionally. You have made me feel like the luckiest woman on this planet and I want to return your love by making you feel like the luckiest man every single day, every single hour, every single minute for the rest of our lives. I love you, Zayden Sinclair, and on our wedding day, I vow to always love you just as much as I do right now, and a little bit more with every passing day, as we build a life together and grow old together. And live happily ever after.”

Zayden beamed delightfully, as Stacey and my mom began to sob into their handkerchiefs. Even Zayden’s mom looked reluctantly moved. I found myself tear up as well, from the sheer power of the words I had spoken. Because they were true and because we were in love and because this was the most beautiful thing that had ever happened to me.

By the time Zayden spoke his vows, his voice was trembling.

“Aria, Aria, Aria. I feel like there is very little words can say that can describe just how ecstatic I am to be here with you today, ready to make you mine forever. I think I have spoken enough of why you are so extraordinary – which no one can argue that you are one in a million – and of our past and how you made me fall in love with you so hopelessly. Today, I want to speak of our future. Oh the beautiful, magnificent future we are going to build together, Aria. I wish I could show you the things we are going to be doing together, extraordinary things, both in terms of business and our personal lives. I can’t wait to build my perfect family with my perfect partner. We will have as many kids as you want and can have. They will all take after their mom and be adorable little feisty trouble-makers. We will buy a house in every State – and country – you desire so you are never bored of a place again. Your mind is too grand to be stationed at a single town. You are capable of so much Aria. I look forward to being your business partner almost as much as I look forward to being a husband – which is still not nearly close enough, cause God I have never looked forward to anything in my life as much as I look forward to being your husband – and I know you will take my life to its highest points and my business too. You will get everything your enormous heart desires, before you even ask for it, before you even realize you want it. I will take care of all your needs and always love you with everything I have, more every day than the last. Even when we are old and wrinkly and blind. No matter what. In sickness and in health. You are right, Aria, this right here is exactly what fairy tales are made of. You are right. This is our happily ever after.”

Everyone burst into applause, as I started bawling as hard as Stacey and my mom. Even Nick was tearing up and Zayden’s mom’s eyes seemed rather twinkly. I was so overcome with emotion that for a moment, I had even forgotten where I was, until I saw that hundreds of onlookers were gazing at our wedding. Strangers dressed in bright and colorful Christmas outfits were clapping from meters away and tearing up and it was just like all my favorite weddings from my favorite movies had coalesced into one fantastical ceremony. Except the ceremony was mine and I was the heroine and in about three seconds I would be married to the love of my life.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the minister said at last. “You may now kiss the bride.”

Zayden and I wasted no time in embracing each other as tightly as we could and kissing deeply, lovingly with all our might, as the crowd continued to cheer from every corner into the visible distance. It was done, it had happened, it was over. I was now and will always be the wife of Zayden Sinclair.

 

Chapter 8

Zayden

The wedding ceremony had gone perfectly and I was rather thrilled that Aria wanted to keep that part small. It made it easier to let my emotions run wild. Her vows were still sending shivers down my spine. It felt so surreal to be loved so deeply and earnestly. It was hard to believe that a girl so small could harbor that much love. And for me!

---

We were at the reception at the Plaza and it was as grand as could be. Hundreds of guests – all of my colleagues and business partners and all of Aria’s friends from college and her extended family had arrived – were admiring the fantastic decoration Fiona had put together. The hall really did look like an enchanted forest, mixed with Christmas lights. I wasn’t sure I had ever seen anything quite so beautiful before. Except my wife of course.

I looked at her standing across the room and talking to my mother. It had only taken a few hours for them to start getting along. Of course, I should have thought that it would from the get go. Aria wasn’t exactly an amateur at charming someone. She had done such a fantastic job with me. My mother was hardly tougher than I was. I felt a great sense of pleasure watching them chatter delightfully, as I grabbed a glass of champagne.

The D.J. was playing all of Aria’s favorite romantic songs and I realized it was time for our first dance together. I motioned to the D.J. with a nod of my head and he understood.

“Ladies and gentleman,” the young looking guy said. “The bride and groom will now have their first dance as a newly married couple.”

The song “You and Me” by Lifehouse began to play as Aria and I slowly began walking towards each other, with everyone watching in awe.

When I held her, she put her chin against my shoulder, standing on her tip-toe in the most endearing way. We began moving together to a song that seemed to perfectly describe our moment as it was happening.

“I love you, Mrs. Sinclair,” I whispered softly against her ear and then kissed her temple.

“I love you too, Mr. Roberts,” she said with a slight giggle.

“Yeah right, so you hope.”

“How about this? We can both hyphenate. Roberts-Sinclair?”

“I really should have listened to you about that prenup, huh?” I joked, knowing that if that was what she wanted, she would have it. My name wasn’t nearly as important to me as she was. I had vowed to dedicate my life to making her happy and that was exactly what I was going to do.

“Okay, we can be Mr. and Mrs. Roberts-Sinclair,” I said after teasing her for a little bit longer. “Does that make you happy?”

“So, so happy,” she said and hugged me tighter. “Thank you, Mr. Roberts-Sinclair.”

We continued to dance into the evening, as the Christmas lights took over the wedding lights and everything was joyful and perfect. The music slowly took the form of Christmas music, as everyone danced delightedly, a little buzzed from all the champagne and wine, celebrating this extra special occasion. Soon enough, I found myself dancing with my mother, then Aria’s mother and then both of them at the same time.

After some wine in their system, the two ladies found it surprisingly easy to get along, even bonding over the music of their times, which I specifically requested the DJ to play.

I danced with Stacey as Aria waltzed away happily with Nick, who seemed to have gotten emotional after seeing one of his best friends enjoy the best night of her life. He treated her much like an older brother. Aria didn’t have any siblings and it was nice to know she had made her own family through the course of her life. Stacey, who had gotten humorously drunk, was saying some really random and funny things as we danced together.

“You know, Aria and I once went skinny dipping in our neighbor’s pool when we were fourteen,” she said giggling, while continuing to sip her champagne. “And I don’t think I am supposed to tell you this, so keep it to yourself. I hope I can trust you now that we are friends.”

“We are?” I inquired. It was nice knowing that I would now have close friends. People that looked out for you and enjoyed your company without any particular occasion to do so. It had been a long, long time since I had experienced friendship in that manner and I was looking forward to this new phase of my life.

“You know, for a brilliant billionaire, you aren’t very smart,” Stacey said pointedly. “You got Fiona Davis to plan Nick and my wedding, without us so much as asking, and more importantly you just married our best friend. And you still have to ask if we are friends? Maybe Aria didn’t make the best decision marrying you after all.” She shook her head.

“Since we are friends,” I said jovially. “I feel comfortable saying that if you repeat those words ever again, I will stab you with a dagger.”

“Do you even own a dagger?” She looked at me quizzically. “Because I do. Let me know if you ever need to borrow it. It will give much more weight to your threats, Mr. Sinclair.”

“Sure, I will gladly borrow it so that I can threaten you with it next time you call me that. For someone who calls us friends, you seem to have an awfully difficult time referring to me by anything but Mr. Sinclair.”

“Fine, Mr. Roberts-Sinclair then.” She giggled some more.

“Seriously, how do you girls find time to exchange news at such rapid speed? It has barely been half an hour since Aria and I made a decision to go with that hyphenated last name and I can swear on my favorite car that the two of you haven’t even been a foot within each other since, considering everyone has been dancing the whole time.”

“We have our ways.” Stacey said and shrugged as the Christmas carol ended. “You will get used to it soon enough. Now dance with your wife, I think the party is about to come to an end.”

The final song was a perfect representation of the wedding and Christmas, as Mariah Carey sang “All I Want for Christmas is You,” just as Nick and I switched partners and Aria was back in my eager arms.

“Your friend is quite funny,” I said, starting to move with her. “And rather intoxicated I believe.”

“She should be. I would never forgive her for being sober at my wedding. I don’t plan to be sober at hers!”

“You guys have the strangest friendship,” I said, screwing my nose. “Although, I suppose you develop a very special kind of bond after skinny dipping at a neighbor’s pool when you’re fourteen. Wow, now that I think of it, that was only six years ago.”

“I am pretty sure you weren’t supposed to tell me you knew about this,” Aria said scornfully. “If you want to be friends with Stacey, you better learn how to keep her secrets.”

“That sounds like way too much work,” I joked. “I think I am fine without the friendship. I’m joking,” I added when she looked at me with almost murderous rage. “I really like your friends.”

“Good,” she said sharply and went back to placing her chin on my shoulders. “Now on to some important things. You know what all I want for Christmas is?” She looked at me with a naughty glint in her eyes.

“Me?” I suggested. “That is what the song says anyway.”

“I want to secretly disappear from our wedding reception and make our way into your hotel room. Then I want you to rip my wedding dress – and by that I mean carefully remove it from my body because if there is a single actual rip on it, I will have to kill you – and make love to me until we are both so tired we can no longer perform basic human functions such as breathing.”

I got so hard that I had to employ all the strength I could muster to not fuck her right there with all of our friends and family watching.

“I’ll go first, through the back door,” I said quickly. “If someone asks, I am going to the bathroom. You should use the front door so we don’t raise any eyebrows. Just say you need some air. It’s pretty busy in here, people should understand.”

She burst out laughing. “We don’t have to plan so hard, baby,” she said. I couldn’t remember her ever having used that term of endearment before, and somehow it had the effect of making me harder than before. All I wanted for Christmas was to fuck her as my wife for the first time. “I am sure people will understand that as newlyweds we cannot wait to take each other’s clothes off. Of course, we don’t have to tell them for the sake of not embarrassing them, and ourselves but it is kind of understood. There is no need to play 007 here.”

“Alright,” I said, breaking off as the song ended. “The thought of my mother knowing what we are off to do makes me uncomfortable. The thought of your mother too, but since she has already heard more than she should have, she happens to be the least of my concern. I think my way is safer. I agreed to change my name, now you must agree to this little request. And hurry because I don’t want to fuck you in the limo and make Ned uncomfortable. So the sooner we get to the hotel the better.”

“I’ll see you in five minutes, Mr. Roberts-Sinclair,” she said and kissed me hard on the mouth before turning her heel and walking away.

 

Chapter 9

Aria

As the champagne had started to wear off by the time we reached Zayden’s hotel room, I started to feel rather nervous and I couldn’t figure out why. We had done this repeatedly countless times. There was nothing different about this time, was there?

Except there was.

We were married this time and it made a whole world of difference. I sat down in the bed with my legs crossed, a meaningless feat since my wedding dress covered up to my ankles. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was trying to accomplish here.

When Zayden got back inside with two fresh classes of champagne in his hands, the look in his eyes was radically different from that during the wedding ceremony. He looked hungry, ravenous and excited. My feelings matched the look in his eyes as I longed to get out of this twenty thousand dollar dress and devour him.

“Hey,” he said, sitting next to me and handing me one of the glasses. “You should drink this.”

“I don’t need to,” I said, taking it from his hand and placing it on the bedside table.

“Well it might help,” Zayden said, devouring his own glass in one giant gulp.

As soon as he was done, it was like a heat wave had suddenly attacked our hotel room. He dragged me by my hands and took me into our private hot tub. Then he placed his lips on mine firmly and his mouth urged me to open my own. His tongue met my longing mouth and explored every inch of it as I grasped on to him like this was the last moment of us ever being alive. My hand found its way to the cusp of his pants and I gasped by how hard I had made him. Soon enough we were so wrapped up in each other that I couldn’t quite tell where his body began and mine ended. We made out while standing by the hot tub– just like teenagers who couldn’t get their hands off each other – for almost half an hour, desperately and passionately before he broke off first.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, panting.

“We need to get you out of that elaborate wedding dress. I could rip it off your body, of course, but not long ago I was threatened with my life if I did that. Plus we should get into this hot tub. The water must be fantastic right now.”

I stood up and turned around. “Gently. It’s all yours.”

He approached my back and ran his fingers through the bare skin, visible in my sleeveless gown. He leaned down and kissed every inch of the skin, running his warm tongue against my cool, willing bodice. After continuing the torture for a while, Zayden slowly unzipped the back of my dress and unhooked my bra almost simultaneously. His tongue ran down the back of my spine, as his hands slowly worked towards sliding the dress of my body. Before long, I stood in front of him with only my white lacy wedding panties on, while he undressed himself.

Throwing me into the warm tub, he began to kiss my neck, sending all kinds of shudders down my spine. He worked his way from my neck, licking and sucking, down towards my breast, as the water made my mind numb. His mouth found room for my throbbing nipples and his hand cupped me through my panties.

He stopped.

“Not yet, Aria. You are not allowed to come yet,” he said sternly. He lifted me up and sat me on the edge of the hot tub and covered his face around my panties. “You smell just like my wife.”

“That might be because I am,” I said in a raspy voice. It was difficult to be clever when my whole body was screaming to be fucked.

“Uh-huh,” Zayden moaned, apparently not even hearing me.

He ran his tongue over me through my panties and then something took over him. He ripped them with his teeth and dove into me, his mouth completely encapsulating my pussy. I heard him moan, “Oh Aria” against me, as he sucked and licked harder and harder on my clit, making me forget the whole entire world around me. He continued sucking and licking for the longest time, stopping every time I would nearly climax.

He finally said the words I was hoping to hear, “Come for me. Make it hard, Aria. I want to taste every bit of you coming in my mouth for the first time as my wife.”

He slid his tongue deep inside me, moving it in and out while the top of his lips still rubbed against my clit. It must have been seconds before I exploded violently into his mouth, trembling from the sheer intensity of the sensation. I was shaking for over a full minute, but Zayden did not stop his exploration and continued to work his way inside me. He thrust his tongue as fast as he could so that within minutes I felt another surge of eruption bubble inside me and grabbed every inch of his hair as a second orgasm followed the first one with equal intensity.

---

I didn’t know how we made it back into the room and onto big plushy bed. We were entangled in each other once more and I wasn’t sure I could take it any longer.

Finally, he looked at me completely naked. His cock was pointing at me in anticipation and he said, “As much as I would like for your mouth to devour my cock right now, I don’t think I can take another minute of this torture and I will probably come within seconds, delaying our opportunity to fuck as a married couple right away. So,” he said and held me tight by my arms, pushing me flat against the bed. “I am just going to,” he said every word with great emphasis. “Fuck you,” he finished, sliding himself right through me while his mouth found its way to my neck.

The feeling of him inside me – my husband, who I had just married – was so overwhelming; I almost had another orgasm on the spot. But I wanted to match his climax, so I did everything in my power to stop my body from reacting to its natural tendency. Instead I moved with him as he fucked me, every thrust harder and deeper than the last, hitting me in all the right places. I fucked him back with all my might until both of us couldn’t take it any longer and we both exploded with what I was certain was the most intense climax either of us had ever experienced.

“I love you, Mrs. Roberts-Sinclair,” my husband said to me a few minutes later, after we made love as a married couple for the first time in what was to become a lifetime.

“I love you too, Mr. Roberts-Sinclair,” I said, the happiest I had ever been in my life, before passing out into the arms that had become the most comfortable place for me in the world.

 

BILLIONAIRE IN HIDING

The Complete Series

By Claire Adams

 

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

 

Copyright © 2016 Claire Adams

 

 

Chapter 1

 

Garrett

 

“I don’t know what you did and I don’t care. While you are here, you are just any other drifter who’s looking for a job before moving onto the next location. I won’t treat you any different.”

“Yes, sir.”

“What’s your name, son?” the older man asked me.

“Malcolm — I mean, Garrett Reynolds,” I replied. Instantly, I knew the mistake I had made. Luckily, I also knew that this man in front of me was the only one who knew that I wasn’t who I pretended to be; his job was to take me in and keep me safe.

I was scared, I readily admitted that. I was in a strange city — hell, a strange state even. I was dressed in clothes that I would never have worn in my day-to-day life and the only thing keeping me alive was a government organization that wanted to trade my testimony for the conviction of a drug smuggler.

My life was very clearly in danger and I was grateful to be at the ranch with the silly cowboy clothes on. If working as a ranch hand and living in the middle of nowhere was what I had to do to stay safe, I was going to do it.

“It’s hard, but you can’t make that mistake again. Whoever you were before doesn’t exist right now. You are Garrett Reynolds; don’t forget that.”

He was stern with me and I appreciated the reminder. It was going to take practice for me to learn this new person that I was supposed to be. In my normal life, I was charismatic and social. I loved hanging out with my friends, partying, and traveling. But all of those things were gone now. Instead of traveling and having fun, I was relegated to lowly, ranch hand duties and I was going to have to like it.

The agent had given me two choices in where I could relocate to. Either take the ranch hand position in Montana or head up to Alaska and try my hand at fishing. Because I knew myself to get violently sick on a boat, there really was no choice for me: I had to go with the ranch.

“I know, sir; I won’t let it happen again.”

“I’m Sid Miller; it’s nice to meet you, young man,” Sid said as he reached his hand out and shook mine. “I promise you’ll be safe here until they come back for you.”

I trusted Sid, which was strange for someone I had just met and considering the circumstances in which I had arrived at his ranch. But Sid Miller struck me as the kind of man who always kept his word and wouldn’t do anything to let my secret out.

He was probably in his mid to late fifties with a big, gray mustache and weathered skin. He wore cowboy boots, jeans, and a button up shirt that were probably part of his daily wardrobe from the looks of the wear and tear on the clothing. Sid also had a well-worn cowboy hat that seemed to fit him as if it were custom made. There was no doubt that he wore cowboy gear better than me.

I struggled with the boots the most. They felt like I was wearing ladies high-heeled shoes. As I took each step, I put my heel to the ground and then felt off balance as the front of my foot hit the ground in odd timing. I would have to practice walking in them so I didn’t look like a total idiot as I started my job.

My new identity was Garrett Reynolds and I was supposed to be familiar with horses and farming. The problem was, I wasn’t familiar with either of those things. It was going to be the best acting job of my life if I could actually convince people that I belonged on that ranch.

“Sid, thanks for everything.”

“Okay, that’s enough of the pleasantries. These will be your quarters; I suspect they are far below what you’re used to, but you’ll be safe. Depending on how long you stay here, and how hard you work, I’ll move you up in position just like anyone else around here.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“For now, you’re a ranch hand. You’ll work with the younger boys who are here for the summer. This bunkhouse will be where you sleep and that building across the way is where the ranch hands eat.”

The ranch felt a little like a summer camp I had went to as a teenager. The bunkhouse was filled with several sets of bunk beds and small lockers at the foot of each bed. The lockers had padlocks on them, which I assumed was to keep personal belongings safe. Although I only had on small bag of personal items with me, and none of them were all that personal.

When I left my home in Los Angeles, I wasn’t allowed to take any photos or items that could be used to identify me. So, I grabbed my journals and a few other small items that were important.

Normally, if I went on a long vacation I would have my sister or one of her friends housesit my house, but it was too dangerous considering the current situation. Instead, I just paid for the highest level of security and I’d have to hope everything was still there when I got home.

“Yes, sir,” I replied. “I truly am grateful for the safety you’re providing.”

“Do you know when the trial will be?”

I looked at him in surprise. I didn’t know that Sid had been told anything about the trial that I had to testify in or the dangerous men who were threatening my life. As I followed him up to the main house, we talked briefly about the realities of my situation.

“Maybe a month, or maybe two years, I’m not sure how long the process takes.”

“I’ve had men here as long as six months, not much longer than that. So hopefully that gives you an idea.”

“Thank you,” I said gratefully.

Back home, I had left a thriving business in the hands of my Corporate Vice President, Casey Zane. It was a tough job and would require him to work harder than he was used to. I had confidence in Casey though; he had only been with me a year, but he had proven his abilities. Luckily, we had a top-notch team of leaders to support him in my absence as well.

The worst thing that could happen would be that my private jet business would go bust while I was away. And after having my life threatened and having one of my co-workers murdered, bankruptcy didn’t seem like the end of the world.

I had fought the idea of going into witness protection, though. I really didn’t like the idea of leaving my employees exposed to the evil character who wanted me dead. But the truth was that none of them knew about Frank Gordano and his drug smuggling business like I did. The only other person who worked for me that had known him was dead. So as much as I didn’t want to go into protective custody, it was much better than being dead.

“I’m going to introduce you to my wife. She’s the one that feeds you men and she’ll help with any questions you might have.”

“Does she know?”

“She knows that we take in witnesses, but she prefers not to know which of you are in the program and which are genuinely just here to work. It’s easier for her that way.”

“Yes, I understand.”

The large farmhouse looked much bigger as we approached it. There was a sweeping, wraparound deck and a white porch swing. It looked as if it was right out of a storybook, and when Sid’s wife walked up to the front door and let us in, I thought we were certainly in some sort of make-believe land.

I had a girlfriend once that made me watch made-for-television movies with her. As I stood on the porch of Sid’s perfect home, in the middle of his perfect, Montana ranch, I felt like I was right, smackdab in the middle of a made-for-television movie.

“This beautiful woman is Meredith Miller, but you lot usually just call her Mrs. Miller.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” I said with extended hand.

Meredith pushed my hand aside and gave me a warm hug. She was beautiful, warm, and clearly cared about the men who came to work at their ranch. I knew instantly I was going to enjoy my time at Miller Ranch.

Hard work had never scared me. I hadn’t become a success by being afraid of hard work. My aviation company was one of the top, private jet companies in the world. I had more than one thousand planes in the air and twice that many employees. Sure, testifying in this case had put me in a precarious position, but I couldn’t have forced my employees to do it. What kind of CEO would I have been if I hadn’t been willing to keep them safe and testify myself? Plus, any of the employees who had had contact with Frank Gordano weren’t even aware of what he was transporting on our planes. I was really the only person who know the whole story.

Meredith was tall, thin, and had beautiful, caramel-colored skin. It was obvious that she didn’t just sit in the house all day while Sid managed the ranch. As she pulled away from our embrace, she looked into my eyes and for a moment I felt like she could see right through me. I didn’t think she needed me to tell her that I was there under protection; something told me that she knew it right away by looking at me.

“What’s your name, young man?” she asked.

“Garrett,” I replied with a smile. Partially because I was proud of myself for remembering the right name to say and partially in response to the beautiful grin on Meredith’s face.

Just being near her and talking to her had calmed my nerves a bit already. She had a gentle way about her and I could see why Sid had married her. Someday I hoped to find a woman that I could love like they seemed to love each other.

I watched as Sid put his arm around Meredith and pulled her toward him to give her a quick kiss. She laughed and smiled like a schoolgirl. Life would be so great if I ever found a woman I could make smile like that with just my touch.

Women and I had never really mixed all that well. Sure, I liked women and I spent lots of time with them. I had them in my bed, at my parties, out for dates. But I never seemed to be able to find a woman that felt like a true match for me. When I envisioned my life with a partner and wife, I wanted someone who was truly my equal. That didn’t mean I was looking for someone who owned a billion-dollar business or anything like that; I just needed a woman who felt like she could hold her own around me.

But all of that was on hold for the time being. I wasn’t going to be dating anyone and I certainly wouldn’t be finding a lifelong partner on a ranch full of men. I had to hope that my time on the ranch wouldn’t last longer than a few weeks. I could use it as a vacation, time to relax and reflect on my life a bit. If it dragged out longer than a few weeks, I was likely to go stir crazy alone on the ranch with all the free time I was going to have.

“Have you ever been around horses?”

“No, ma’am,” I said and then quickly remembered that my new identity really had been around horses before.

I shot Sid a look and shrugged my shoulders at my mistake. It was going to take a lot more practice than I thought to remember this new man that I was supposed to be. I had a hard-enough time remembering the man I already was.

“That’s a pity; I think you’d do well there. My daughter, Sarah, will likely be home for a few months very soon. If you’d like, I’ll have her teach you about them and you could be in charge of their care with her.”

“Anything you’d like. I’m here to work, ma’am. I can do anything.”

“Have Walter start him in the horse house tomorrow,” Meredith said to her husband before leading us into the house. “Have a seat; let’s get some lemonade into you and chat for a minute.”

The idea of chatting had turned my blood cold. In my old life, I would have loved to sit down and talk with a nice couple like the Millers. But I could barely remember the name of my cover story, and certainly couldn’t remember any of the facts about this pretend person I was supposed to be.

I was going to need to distract her and quickly. One of my favorite conversation techniques was distraction. When a woman I had been dating for a few weeks started asking about more long term decisions I always distracted her with gifts and trips. It worked surprisingly well, at least for a little while, but eventually they came back to nagging about a commitment.

With a good woman, I had no problem being loyal. I wasn’t a cheater. I liked one woman and would date her exclusively. My issue always came when they started talking about moving in together, getting married, and having babies. I wasn’t ready for all of that. Not with them at least. I knew that someday I would be ready and hoped that I would magically know that it was the right woman. But up until that point in my life, I certainly had not been ready.

“Is this your daughter?” I asked as I looked at the picture on the wall.

“Yes, that’s Sarah.”

“Well I can see where she gets her good looks.”

“Careful, boy,” Sid jokingly replied.

“Why is she coming back home? She looks pretty successful in this photo.”

I watched as Mr. and Mrs. Miller looked at each other and it was clear neither of them wanted to discuss the situation. But at least we weren’t talking about me, for that, I was very grateful.

Their daughter was pretty, but didn’t look happy at all in the photo of her standing in an extremely large office. The background looked like New York City; I had been there many times throughout my own career. But I had enjoyed the climb to becoming a successful CEO; their daughter did not look happy to be on her climb to the top at all. Her face was grimaced and she leaned stiffly against a large desk. Sarah had brown hair that was swept up in a bun and a stiff body position, I could tell even from the photos she was stressed out.

“Politics,” Sid replied. “Everything is always about politics.” We all laughed.

I knew he was joking, but he really wasn’t all that far from the truth. Politics did seem to run the world. It had taken me several years of business to figure that out, but when I finally got my brain around it, I did much better in my business.

Whatever the reasoning for their daughter coming home, it had to be a pretty big deal. All of the people I knew who had large offices in New York had large salaries that went with them. If their daughter was coming home, I had to guess that she was either fired, pregnant, or sick. People just didn’t leave their large salaries to move back home with their parents.

“I’m pretty exhausted; would you all mind if I made my way back to my bunk and got some sleep before work tomorrow?”

“Oh, sure, dear; I’m sure you’re tired. We are happy to have you here and I’ll see you in the morning. Breakfast is served at half after four.”

My face had to have gone as pale as a ghost at those words because both Sid and Mrs. Miller cracked a smile at my reaction. This little trip to a Montana ranch was clearly going to be much more difficult than I had expected. But then again, how was I really to know what to expect?

It had only been 72 hours since I’d agreed to testify against Frank Gordano. I was new to the whole witness protection world and had mistakenly thought I would get to hide out in a luxury cabin at the ends of the earth until the trial came. Actually, I guessed that I wouldn’t be totally comfortable wherever they sent me, but I just hadn’t thought that lack of comfort was going to include a lack of sleep.

Agent Walker, who had been my escort to the house had been surprisingly vague about what it was that I was going to be doing while on the ranch. He had given me my cowboy clothes and laughed at my inability to put them on right. He had put me at ease about how long I’d be at the ranch and even made me think that a good day’s work would be good for me because otherwise I’d be bored.

I didn’t mind work. I honestly did think that working during the day would keep my mind off of everything that was going on. And if I had to start my day at that ungodly hour of the morning, at least I would be done early and would get the afternoons to myself. I hoped to get some books to read and maybe even work on writing my own book. I had wanted to do that for years. Perhaps this was going to be the perfect opportunity to really start writing my dream book.

“Is there an alarm in the bunkhouse?” I asked.

If they wanted me to get up that early, I was certainly going to need some strong alarm clock to pry open my eyelids. I was normally a fairly early riser, but to me, that was getting up at six and heading to the gym. I liked to get a good run in and use the weights before heading to the office. This was going to be a bit of an adjustment for my internal clock to deal with.

“You won’t need one. I’ll see you in the morning,” Mrs. Miller said as she smiled and hugged me one last time and walked me out.

Sid also had a huge smile on his face and I couldn’t help but wonder why it was so funny that I was afraid of getting up that early. Had they worked on a ranch so long that they actually thought that was a normal hour for human beings to be awake?

They clearly didn’t understand just how much I valued my sleep. I was pretty damn sure there was no way I could climb out of my bed in the morning without a swift kick in the ass. But I had to trust her; we were an hour away from the nearest town and I didn’t have the means to get anywhere. Part of the simplicity of being placed at the ranch was that it was so far away from everyone that it made me much harder to find. I needed to avoid going into towns or being seen by anyone else outside of the ranch.

“Thank you again,” I said as I turned back toward the Millers.

Their generosity and home made me feel safe for the first time in the last week. I was happy to be out of Los Angeles and even happier as I climbed up into the empty bunk bed that had my things on it. Sleep had eluded me since I had first been pulled in for questioning regarding the murder of one of my employees and their involvement with Frank Gordano. My stomach had turned into a knot at the thought of my friend and employee losing his life and fear had overcome me.

Thomas Randal had been a pilot for me since my first year in business. He had grown with me and had been the one to introduce Frank Gordano and me, getting us into business together. Thomas and I knew that Frank was bad news; we had talked about it at length on several occasions. Neither of us thought he would go so far as to murder one of us though; that was the shocking part to me. We had been good business partners for several years and I couldn’t think of a reason that Frank would have ordered Thomas’ murder.

Sure, I knew Frank Gordano was a dangerous man; I knew he was capable of murder. But we were good business associates. Everything he requested, we did for him. Our planes flew him internationally several times a month and we returned home with the cargo of drugs and guns that he had purchased. We took our payment and never spoke a word of our interactions to anyone. There were only two people in the company that knew what Gordano was transporting: Thomas and I.

The other people who had any interaction with Frank had also been well paid. We had been careful not to bring anyone fully into the business end of things, so there was no reason for any of my other employees to be in danger. It still baffled me as to what on earth had happened on the plane that day that ended up getting my friend Thomas murdered. Thomas was a smart man, and much more street-smart than I was.

Thomas had told me it was time to get out of business with Frank Gordano and I had agreed with him. The problem we were having was that Frank made a lot of money because of his trips and our service was essential to him. When I even hinted at not working with him anymore, Frank had threatened to blow up one of my planes. He tried to play it off as a joke, but I knew better.

My suspicion was that Thomas had tried to break the relationship off with Frank that day on the plane. It was the only thing that made sense to me because I couldn’t think of another reason to murder Thomas. Even from the criminal perspective of Frank Gordano, murdering Thomas didn’t really make sense. He murdered the man who had been flying him where he wanted to go. He murdered the one person who was giving him exactly what he was asking for. It scared me. The nonsensical nature of the murder scared the hell out of me.

I had barely laid my head on the small pillow when I felt my body drifting away to sleep. It wasn’t even dark out yet and none of the other men were in the bunkhouse; I assumed they were probably still out working or maybe at dinner or relaxing. But it didn’t really matter to me. I was safe, and for the first time in several days, so I was going to sleep. I took in a deep breath at the realization I was about to have to work harder physically than I had ever worked in my life. But I was confident I could keep up.

After working out with a trainer twice a week, my body was chiseled and strong. I had never wanted to be one of those CEOs who got a big belly and looked like they were two steps away from a heart attack. No, I worked hard to keep myself in shape and I had a feeling that was going to come in handy as I worked on the ranch.