"I'm sorry, you want us to what?" Barb said.

Gwen had gone straight back to the hotel, knocked on her mother's door, and dragged her over to her father's room. Barb and David sat in the pair of wingback chairs in the corner while Gwen stood in front of them, the contract laid on the coffee table.

"We're clearly just not understanding, Barb," David said. His own confusion revealed itself in the way his eyebrows kept climbing up his forehead and then dropping back down.

Gwen had felt so good, so energized, after that talk with Catherine. But now the frustration started coming back.

"Okay, let me try the quick version. Aiden's grandmother, Judith, hates me and thinks I'm a gold digger out to take Aiden for his money. One of the big reasons she hates me is you two, and the way you act around each other. It comes down to this. If you don't agree to help me with this, Aiden will be forced out of Carbide Solutions and he'll lose everything he's been working towards his whole life."

David leaned forward and tapped the contract. "And if we agree to this... deal, she won't cast him out and all that? You two will live happily ever after?"

"That's the dream," Gwen said.

Barb looked between father and daughter. Then she stood and started pacing, rubbing at her face. Gwen kept hearing the way the legs of her slacks whisked as they rubbed together.

She stopped pacing and rounded on them. "I'm pretty sure this isn't April 1st. So if it's a joke, it's in poor taste, Gwenny. Is this your idea, David? Your way of trying to make this as unpleasant for me as possible?"

"Of course not!" David said, also standing, "What could possibly possess me to delay divorcing you even longer than you've already managed to?"

"And what's that supposed to mean? My demands are reasonable. Agree to them and it's all through. You're the one holding this up!" Barb said, redness flushing up her neck and into her face.

Gwen grabbed the contract and then slapped it down onto the table. The loud crack got their attention, and they stopped their bickering.

"It's not a joke! This is real. You could go ask Judith yourselves, but I'd prefer to spare you from that ordeal. I know I can't make you do this. And I'll totally understand if you don't. But this is important, and I'm asking for your help. So will you sign? Will you do what she's asking?"

Barb and David looked at each other, checking for any sign that it was actually some sort of elaborate, multi-stage joke. They found no indication of that in each other's eyes.

Barb stepped forward. "Fine, I believe you. But are you sure Judith is serious? What kind of a person does this sort of thing? What kind of person proposes this sort of thing? I just can't believe that she would!"

Here, Gwen became a touch bashful, feeling some heat in her own cheeks and looking down at her feet. "Actually, this time it was my idea..."

"Your idea! Gwenny, what is happening with you?" Barb said.

"Hold it," David broke in, "What do you mean, 'this time'?"

"Nothing," Gwen said.

"Gwendolyn," David said, "I know you think I'm starting to get old and bumbling, but I'm probably only half as stupid as you think I am. You did say 'this time.' When was the last time?"

"It's..." Gwen said, spreading her hands, "It's not the first time I've signed a contract with Aiden's family. That's how I know she's serious."

"What was the last contract for?" Barb said, both parents abandoning their argument to form a united front.

Faced with such opposition, Gwen couldn't resist. With what I'm asking them to do, they deserve the truth. Though just because they deserved it didn't mean she relished having to tell them.

But she did, outlining the whole New York girlfriend contract debacle. Finishing, she sank into one of the chairs vacated by her parents.

Barb sat down at the foot of David's bed, her face blank as she tried to absorb this. David's hands tightened into fists as he sides before he forced them to relax again.

"So that whole thing was a lie, then? Even that story about finding that ring from the Titanic?"

"Yes, it was a lie..." Gwen said, all the guilt and frustration she'd pent up in the months of keeping all those secrets doing their best to crush her into the floor.

David shook his head. "I told that story to my friends at the office..."

"I'm sorry," Gwen said, "But it was a secret. I wasn't allowed to tell anyone. Legally."

Barb sighed heavily, also shaking her head. It was amazing how they could team up like that when Gwen was involved. "And what about after the contract ended? Why didn't you tell us then?"

"Because I knew you'd both be disappointed in me, and I didn't want that."

The anger melted from Barb's face. She and David looked at each other.

"I'm sorry," Gwen said, beginning to tremble. That they weren't yelling at her, reaming her out for keeping that secret and lying to them, just made her feel even worse. She wished they'd just do it, just get it over with. Why were they taking so long?

"Gwen, your mother and I could never be disappointed in you. No matter what you do, we love you. That's one of the things it means to be parents. Good parents, at least," David said.

Barb went to Gwen, smoothing her daughter's bangs off her forehead so she could plant a kiss there. Gwen closed her eyes at the feeling. Barb had done that every night while Gwen was growing up.

"Your father and I need to talk about a few things, Gwen. Why don't you go wait in the hall? We'll let you know when to come back in."

"Okay..." Gwen said, choking up. It had been so much harder to tell them about all that than she thought it would be. And their reaction... Well, she just didn't know how to process that.

So she waited out in the hall, leaning next to the door. A maid came by, pushing her trolley loaded with towels and cleaning supplies and single servings of instant coffee. She gave Gwen a look, but said nothing.

It felt like she waited for a solid hour, but she knew it was probably only around ten minutes before David opened the door and poked his head out.

"Come back in, sweetie."

Inside, Barb handed the contract over. "It's all signed. We just want you and Aiden to be happy, Gwenny."

"Oh my God! Are you sure? You guys don't have to do this, you know," Gwen said, taking the contract and holding it against her chest.

"We can't say it will be easy," David said, "But if you think it's worth trying, then we do, too. I mean, what's another year?"

"Another year after Gwen and Aiden get married. How can you work in an office and not read the fine print, David?" Barb said, crossing her arms tightly.

David's eye twitched, but rather than bite back he gave them both a tight-lipped smile.

Gwen also smiled, but then the expression faltered. She realized that her life had just become even more complicated than it already was.

***

GWEN! Aiden thought when he heard a knock at the door. Which, as he stood up from the desk located on the first floor of their suite, made no sense. Gwen wouldn't knock because she had a key.

He tried shuffling the mess of papers on the desk into something more orderly. They consisted variously of quarterly reports, projections, analyst opinions, that sort of thing. And today Aiden couldn't bring himself to care about them.

His eyes kept sliding over the figures while his mind continued wondering if he should go find Gwen. She'd been gone a while. Just over two hours now. And he'd begun to worry.

"Coming!" he said when the knocking resumed.

Before reaching the door, he stopped by the closet, which was helpfully equipped with a full length mirror. He buttoned his shirt back up and tightened his tie back into place.

He also noted the dark hairs stubbling his face and neck, and the wrinkles in the corners of his eyes. I look old, he thought. All this stuff with Judith was aging him, tiring him out.

His family had that sort of effect on people, it seemed.

The knocks came again. They were polite somehow, yet insistent. As though the person on the other side carefully measured each strike, and put thought into when next to do so.

Peering through the peephole, Aiden didn't recognize the person on the other side. It was a man. Blond. Anglo features.

"Yes?" Aiden said, pulling the door open and leaning against the frame.

"Hi," he said, holding his hand out, "I'm Ben Somersby. From the London Reuters office. I believe that you've been expecting me."

Aiden held back a startled flinch. "Yes. I have been..." he said, shaking his hand. The interview, he thought, how could I have forgotten about the interview?

Either Aiden had betrayed more than he thought, or this Ben was good at reading people. "Slipped your mind, has it?"

"Less slipped and more forcibly evicted. I am sorry about that," Aiden said. His PR agent had told him several times about what a good idea this was. How it would help the company. How Carbide Solutions owned a large interest in this particular media outlet and that it was guaranteed to come out favorable. On an intellectual level, Aiden understood.

On an emotional level, he hated reporters and journalists. All that paparazzi nonsense back in New York had left him biased against that entire industry.

Though Ben Somersby here seemed nice enough, and not just some other sleaze out to make a name for himself through the tabloids. Which made Aiden instantly suspicious. It was always the person you gave that free pass to who used it to get behind your back with the proverbial knife.

Besides, there was something else he didn't like about the man. Though he couldn't really put a name to it.

"Understandable. I spoke with your lovely fiancé earlier. I take it she didn't mention me?" Ben said.

"She's been otherwise occupied," Aiden said, "It probably slipped her mind, too." Meanwhile, Aiden couldn't stop himself from asking why Gwen hadn't told him.

"Of course. No problem. It's just the sooner we get the interview done, well, the sooner it's complete, if you get me. Speaking of, I'm ready whenever the two of you are."

Aiden wondered if the man had worked on his accent at all. It was too proper. Too posh. As though he put it on for the express purpose of impressing Americans. Specifically, American women.

His first urge was to send Ben away, to put it off. However, he knew that you never got ahead at anything by continually delaying it. The things you didn't want to do were often also the things that you should do. And sooner rather than later.

"How about now?" Aiden said, finally shifting his body out of the doorway to invite Ben inside.

"Now works," Ben said. He started to enter, but hesitated. "Your fiancé, is she here? I'm to interview the both of you, you see."

"She stepped out. I'm expecting her back any time now," Aiden said, "Come inside and wait, if you like."

Ben followed Aiden in, who led them to that sunken spot in the floor with its couch and matching wingback chairs. Ben immediately sank into one of the chairs, while Aiden sat on the couch. Please, Aiden thought, have a seat.

He hoped the interview wouldn't take long. He glanced at the door, adding another hope to his wish list that Gwen would arrive sooner rather than later.

However, it appeared that Ben hadn't been hired for his good looks and charming accent. The journalist didn't waste an opportunity. He took out a small, black recorder and set it on the coffee table, then pulled out a small notepad with a stubby pen stuck in through the ring bindings.

"You're a Harvard man, is that right?" Ben said.

"It is," Aiden replied.

"Business major with a minor in ethical philosophy. Do I still have your number?"

"You do." And that irked Aiden. He kept trying to remind himself that this was Ben's job, researching people. He was just doing his job. Still, he didn't like not being on equal footing. "And what about you? Oxford? University College?"

"I read English at Cambridge, actually."

"And now you're a journalist." Normally Aiden had no problem with the humanities. Unlike most other business majors, he did see the value in that sort of education. Right at that moment, however, he couldn't keep the patronizing tone from his voice.

Ben stopped scribbling on his notepad. "Well, I tried my hand at writing the next modern classic. Drama and meaning and introspection, all that. But as it turns out, people are more interested in little wizard children and fascist futures."

Ben smiled, but Aiden saw through the expression. He'd caught the way the journalist had glanced at him when he referred to fascists, the tone of voice he'd used.

"I've always heard publishing isn't for the faint of heart," Aiden replied.

And then Aiden found himself in a staring match. The two men sat across from each other, neither daring to blink. Ben began tapping his pen a-rhythmically against the notepad. The disharmony of the sound grated at Aiden, but he didn't flinch.

Then the electric lock in the door clicked back, followed by said door swinging open.

"Aiden! Mom and dad agreed to... Oh, Ben, hi..." Gwen said. She'd been waving the contract triumphantly, but as soon as she saw the English reporter, she let it drop to her side.

"Gwen! Lovely to see you," Ben said, standing up to greet her, "Aiden and I have been waiting for you to come back so that we can have our interview." He smiled.

"Oh?" Gwen said. She smiled back.

Aiden noticed. He noticed the way her eyes widened slightly, the way she paid rapt attention. And not that he usually paid attention to such things, but he also noticed that in addition to his posh and charming nature, Ben was a handsome man.

His stomach twinged. Yes, they definitely needed to get this interview over with as quickly as possible and get this man back on a plane.

"That sounds great!" Gwen said.

"I'm glad you think so," Ben said. "Is all going well? I know how much trouble parents can cause."

"You have no idea," Gwen replied.

"Oh, on the contrary. Until you've been to a Somersby family Christmas, you haven't seen dysfunction."

The twinge in Aiden's stomach upgraded into a pang. He started squeezing the couch cushion with an unkind level of force. He remembered the way Gwen always used to look at that black and white poster of Big Ben she had tacked to the board above her desk, the way she used to daydream about going to see it.

And the British Ben they had standing here was rather tall.

"I'd still bet I have you beat," Gwen said.

"We can wager on it, then. But for now, perhaps to the interview?"

"Oh, yeah. Actually, I think we're going to have to reschedule... sorry," Gwen said.

"Not a problem at all!" Ben said.

So what was all that about the sooner you start the sooner you finish? Aiden thought.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I really need to discuss something important with my fiancé," Gwen said.

"I understand completely. Here, take my card. Just give me a ring when you two are set." He then shook Gwen's hand, clasping both of his around hers, and excused himself.

Aiden didn't know whether to be relieved he was gone or irritated that he'd be coming back sometime soon. "I'm surprised he didn't say 'Cheers' on his way out."

Gwen came and sat on the couch beside him. "Is that a touch of jealousy I'm detecting?"

He blanched. "No, never. I have total faith in you. It's just that he's..."

"A super suave James Bond type with a sexy accent and soulful eyes?"

"Not helping," Aiden said.

"You didn't let me finish. That doesn't matter to me, because I have you. And besides, he interrupted my good news!"

"You did seem quite happy when you came in. Strangely happy, as a matter of fact."

Gwen dropped the contract on his lap, the edges of the papers fluttering. "They agreed to it. My parents agreed to the whole thing. This is going to work. I had this whole epiphany thing and had to get that sorted out, too."

"Oh, really?" Aiden said, picking up the contract and leafing through it. He saw her parents' signatures on the correct lines. All they needed to do now was return it to Judith and they could get this absurd show on the road.

Aiden didn't know how to feel about it. They were still playing Judith's game, and she intended to win. Quitting might not have been the most ideal thing he could have done, but it would have set them free of her clutches for good.

"It's going to work out. Do you know why?" Gwen said, noticing his apprehension.

"Hmm?" Aiden said, still flipping through the pages without really reading them, too lost in his own thoughts.

Gwen pulled the contract from his hands and laid it on the table. Then she swung her leg over his thighs and sat down on his lap, her arms around his shoulders and her big, soft eyes staring right into his.

"Because I love you." She kissed him. Her lips were so soft on his, so warm and full. The kiss changed from chaste to hungry in a flash, her lips parting and their tongues getting involved.

Aiden put his hands on her thighs and let them run up the denim of her jeans until he cupped her bottom.

"I love you, too," he said, looking up into her smoldering eyes.

"Show me," Gwen said, "Touch me. I need you to touch me."

His pangs of jealousy quickly faded, sent into full retreat by even more primal feelings.

He could feel the urgency of her need.

***

GWEN WASTED NO TIME with coy teasing. She had so much energy pent up inside of her. So much frustration needing to be worked out.

Her inner thighs burned with desire, her hips grinding her body against his. Gwen yanked one end of his tie through the knot, then pulled it out of his collar and cast it behind her, not caring where it landed.

Her fingers, trembling in anticipation, undid his buttons one by one. Aiden made this task more difficult by continually pulling her down against him so that he could kiss her throat, or pull her blouse aside so that he could run his lips along her bare shoulder.

His hands trembled, too. They felt hot against the small of her back when he pushed them up under her blouse. And she gasped in delight when he found her bra strap and undid it with a single practiced flick.

They both helped him struggle out of his button-down, and then she pulled his undershirt off so that she could run her palms over his hot, smooth skin. She ran her fingertip down his chest, down to the little depressions between his abs, not stopping until it hit the shiny (and cold) belt buckle below his navel.

"This is a little unfair," Aiden said, "You're still fully clothed. I'm shirtless and you already want to get started on my belt?"

She rubbed her body against his again, relishing the way he groaned at her touch. "Feel free to even the score."

A low growling sound issued from Aiden's throat to match the predatory, animal look in his eyes. The noise resonated in Gwen's chest, and her insides flushed with heat and quivered.

Aiden didn't bother with any silly, slow unbuttoning. He grabbed her blouse in both hands and ripped it open. The little white buttons pinged off around the room.

With one sweeping motion he brought the blouse down and off her arms. He reached to pull her slack bra straps down but she stopped him, hugging herself tightly about the chest.

Hunger, desire, and frustration flared in his eyes, and she replied with a wicked smile.

Ever so slowly, she hooked her fingers into the straps and drew them down her arms, revealing her body to him inch by aching inch.

When the straps reached her wrists Aiden snatched them and threw the bra away. He ran his warm hands up her bare stomach and cupped her breasts, giving them an appreciative squeeze that made her suck in her breath.

He put his lips to them, licking and sucking until he left her tender flesh stiffened, puckered, and flushed with heat. When he took his mouth away, he breathed on them gently, his breath cool on her. A chill shot down her back, and goosebumps pebbled her torso.

"What are you doing to me?" she said, her voice husky.

"Touching you," he replied before running his hot mouth up between her breasts, then up her throat, and not stopping until his lips found hers.

She managed to unbuckle his belt, but he brushed her grasp away before she could do anymore.

Before she could complain about that, Aiden popped the button out of her jeans and slipped the zipper down. Then his fingers found their way down the waistband of her panties. And then they slid down lower.

"Oh..." Gwen said.

Aiden knew just how to touch her. How she wanted to be touched. How she needed to be touched.

She gave up control of her body to him, let him do what he wished to her, allowed him to become the captain of her pleasure.

But soon she desired more than his touch, despite how he could make her feel. Soon, she could wait no longer to be with him.

"I need you," she told him. And he needed her, too. She could feel the strength of his need. The hardness and urgency of it.

They made short work of taking off their remaining clothing. And they almost didn't have the presence of mind to get some protection, the heartbeats-long pause almost too much to endure.

But soon Aiden sat beneath her on the couch again. Every patch of skin on her burst into gooseflesh again as she sank down onto him. The little groan he gave as they joined together only heightened the initial burst of pleasure for her.

They moved slowly at first, their bodies throbbing and stretching and flushing with heat and more as they again grew used to one another's touch.

And Gwen loved his touch. She loved the way he gave his hands free reign to touch, stroke, and squeeze her where they wanted. When they kissed, she sucked his bottom lip in between her teeth and let it out slowly.

Then they both concentrated on that friction and heat between them, and the way it increased as their movements became less controlled, faster and harder. She concentrated on the feeling of their two bodies joining together into one.

Gwen didn't recall when she finally and completely lost control. She existed in an ever present now of bliss and pleasure, and she could only feel Aiden's strong arms holding her body against his while she called his name again and again.

And then he shifted her so that she lay beneath him, both of them now slick with sweat and panting from the exertion.

Aiden didn't let up or slow down, though. He kept up the pace. He kept it up until Gwen reached the peak of another incredible climax and until he, too, could no longer maintain control and gave himself to her fully.

It was all he could do after to not collapse onto her, supporting himself on shaking elbows. She ran her fingers through his hair and pulled him down so that his hot breaths washed over her bare shoulder. He kissed her, running his lips over her collarbone.

Gwen didn't even know how he managed to hold himself up. Her own body felt used up. Muscles she didn't even know she had burned and ached, and every fiber of her demanded that she let her eyes slip shut so that she might fall away from the world for a while and recover from this latest physical exertion.

She smiled, thinking about how he always left her so totally fulfilled and relaxed. And her smile only grew when she saw the ring on her finger and she realized that this was going to be the rest of her life.

"Never leave me, okay?" she whispered.

"Never," Aiden agreed.

Her breath caught when they finally parted, and she missed him despite him still being so close. She missed the completeness of being with him.

"Do you have enough energy for a shower? Or do I have to carry you?" Aiden said.

"A shower sounds nice..."

She then took a moment to survey the scene. Clothes everywhere. Underwear lying about, expensive suit pieces lying in heaps. The remains of her blouse. She remembered the sound of one of the buttons pinging off a nearby lamp.

She also saw the contract sitting on the coffee table. It had been a triumph to get everyone to sign it. However, a tingle of apprehension chose that moment to slither its way up her spine.

It was one thing to sign it. Soon enough, she and Aiden would have to live it.

And then there was that other thing. The other deal she'd made with Judith. Thinking about it tightened her throat, as well as ruining a perfectly sexy moment when Aiden stood up naked from the couch and she got a good look at his toned butt.

At this point, all she could do was believe that it would all work out in the end. That it had been the right thing, as that woman Catherine had put it, to go for it no matter the cost.