Chapter 27 - Max
Before I know it, the month is up. I wake up on the morning of the last contracted day of our agreement and turn around in bed to see Naomi sleeping. I brush a strand of hair off her face. She groans, shifting over towards me and laying her cheek on my chest. I wrap my arm around her and sigh, staring at the ceiling.
I’m not ready for this to be over.
I’m not ready to wake up on my own, or to tell the world that Naomi and I aren’t together anymore. Over the past couple weeks, this has felt very, very real.
Too real.
It feels normal to call her my fiancée. It feels normal to hold her hand in public, and to kiss her temple. Going out on dates isn’t an act—I really do like getting to know her. I love spending time with her. I love waking up to her in bed beside me.
She takes a deep breath and opens her eyes, looking up at me and smiling.
“Morning,” she says.
“Morning, beautiful.”
I kiss her forehead, and she snuggles into me.
“You okay?” She asks, looking up at me again. She runs her fingers back and forth across my chest.
“Yeah, why?” I answer. How did she know I was upset?
“You seem tense.”
I swallow. “Today’s the last day of the contract,” I answer. She leans her cheek against my chest again and her fingers stop moving.
“Oh,” she says. “That went by quickly. I hadn’t realized it had been a month already.”
“Will you… I want… would you consider renewing the contract for another month?”
She stiffens, and then turns to look at me. Her eyes are wide and she swallows, rolling over onto her back and slipping her hand into mine.
“Yes,” she replies slowly. “But I just… It feels wrong to take your money.”
“I think it’s best if we stick to the contract. I know you were worried about things getting messy, but the easiest way is to just go forward with it. It’ll get messier if we don’t stick with the terms. Both of us, I mean. No matter what is going on between us. Trust me,” I say. “The money isn’t a big deal.”
“Maybe not to you,” she says with a strangled voice. “But to me and my mom it is.”
My chest squeezes. Damn it.
“I know, I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that—”
“It’s okay. I get it. I’ll take your money,” she says, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and standing up. My eyes drift down to her bare ass and a blade of heat passes through me.
I know she’s upset, but I can’t help how my body reacts to the sight of her. She rubs her arms with her hands, shivering. Then, she shrugs into a bathrobe, still not turning to look at me.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Uh-oh.
“Naomi?”
“I’m fine, Max,” she says. “I need to get to work.”
“I don’t understand, I thought that you’d be happy to be getting more money. I don’t—”
“It’s not just about money, Max,” she says, finally looking me in the eye. “But I’ll take your money. I don’t really have the luxury of saying no.” She sighs, grabbing a towel from the chair and draping it over her arm. Her cheeks are flushed and her hair is messy, but her eyes are bright when she looks at me.
“This is just a really confusing situation. I don’t know what’s real and what isn’t.”
I stand up out of bed, walking to her and wrapping my arms around her. I pull her close, running my thumb over her pout and tilting her chin up.
“I’m not pretending.”
“So why go on with this stupid contract? I mean, it’s not stupid. And we’re not actually engaged, and of course I need the money, I just…”
She takes a deep breath.
“I don’t know. I don’t know anything.”
I chuckle, pulling her closer to me. “Naomi,” I say gently. She lifts her eyes up to me and a bolt of lightening passes through my chest. “This is real,” I say. It comes out as a whisper. My heartbeat is roaring in my ears and I can hardly hear myself speak.
Her mouth drops open and she nods, her eyes filling with tears.
“It is?”
“Isn’t it?”
She starts laughing, shaking her head and pulling away from me. “We are the worst at communicating,” she laughs. “How about you just give me a shitload of money and I’ll keep pretending to be your fiancée and we can keep dating—or whatever—and then we can revisit this in another month.”
A grin spreads over my lips and I nod. “Deal.”
By the time we’re both ready for work, the awkwardness has passed. I kiss her goodbye on the sidewalk in front of my building.
“I’m taking my mom to her treatment tonight, so I’ll be home a bit late,” she says. Her mom has ended up staying at her apartment full-time, and I’m enjoying Naomi staying at my place. At first, we justified it as keeping up appearances of being engaged, but I think both of us just wanted to spend the time together.
I nod. “Sounds good.” I kiss her again. “See you tonight.”
“Love you,” she says as she starts to turn away, and then her eyes widen. “I mean. God. Sorry. I don’t… I didn’t… Shit.” She shakes her head, staring at the sidewalk next to my foot. “This is what I mean by things being confusing! How am I supposed to pretend to be in love with you all the time in public? And then we act like we’re together in private and I just don’t know what I’m supposed to say, and—”
She only stops talking when I crush my lips against hers. I can feel her pulse hammering as hard as mine is. She wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me feverishly until we pull away, panting. I rest my forehead against hers, swaying gently from side to side.
“I told you, Naomi. This is real.” I kiss the tip of her nose. “I think… I love you too.”
“Oh,” she says, and then she bites her lip and smiles. “Okay. So I’ll see you tonight?”
“See you tonight.”
I watch her walk away before getting into my car. I can’t keep the smile from my face until I get to the office and see my father waiting for me. He’s sitting in my office, his fingers tented in front of his chest as he waits for me.
I drop my briefcase on my desk and nod to him. “Hello,” I say. “To what do I owe the honor? I didn’t know you were in town. How’s the acquisition going?”
“The acquisition is on track, and the board has approved you as the new director of the international division.” He says curtly.
I sit down, waving my assistant away as she pokes her head through the door. She closes it softly and I turn my attention back to my dad.
“So that’s a good thing,” I respond. It almost sounds like a question. The way my father’s face looks, it doesn’t seem like a good thing at all.
He sighs, pulling a folder out of his briefcase and placing it on my desk.
“It would be a good thing, except for that.”
“What’s this?” I flip the folder open.
“Your little fiancée isn’t who she says she is.”
My stomach drops like a rock, and once again my pulse is thundering in my ears. This time, it’s not from happiness, though. I feel like I might throw up.
I look at my father. His lips are set in a thin, grim line, and his eyebrows are drawn together. He takes a deep breath and shakes his head.
“I’m sorry, son,” he says. “I could tell you liked her.”