The Agreement (An Indecent Proposal) (13 page)

No, he hadn’t just said it!

I laughed, but the sound came out
all weak and strangled. Truth was, I had never met anyone like him and his
self-assurance. The fact that he was so sure I’d accept all his wishes and
demands frightened me.

“We’ll see about that,” I said, surprised by how defensive I
sounded.

“Absolutely,” Chase replied, his tone
still cold. “But just so you know, I’m not a man to beg. I’m a man to take.
I’ll make sure you know what you’re missing out on until you come begging me
for it…again.”

My breath hitched in my throat and
my heart began to hammer in my ears.

He’s only looking for a fun ride.

I shook my head, plucking at the
fringes of my pillow.

Most men I had met thought they were only a training session
away from an Armani model, which had always amused me. I could deal with an
overinflated ego that was based on no merits at all. What I couldn’t deal with
was a guy who
actually had it all in the looks
department. Chase wasn’t just all sexy, raunchy maleness. He had known which
buttons to press to make me come so hard I couldn’t wait to do it again. Chase
was pure uncorrupted perfection designed to corrupt my soul. One night with him
and he might turn me from a tame cat into a tigress, and that I couldn’t
afford.

“Don’t be so sure about that.
Maybe you should have taken up my offer when you had your chance.” The words
came out before I could stop them.

“I agree, because then we wouldn’t
be having this conversation. You’d be lying beneath me, panting my name.” He
sounded amused. “I don’t want to brag, but I bet you’ll be doing a lot of that
once we get started.”

Chase had made himself pretty
clear
on that point. Only, on our first meeting, when
he had put all the cards on the table, I hadn’t realized he
had made it with the intention of pursuing a physical relationship with me
later. I hadn’t even realized that he was the kind to carry his promises
through.

There’ll be plenty of time for that in one year.

I still couldn’t wrap my mind
around that one.

For a second we both fell silent.
I bit my lip again as my brain fought hard to come up with a good excuse to end
the conversation.

“Whatever you do, babe”—I
cringed at his choice of words—“I expect to see you at the wedding
ceremony.”

“I didn’t think you were serious
on that part. That’s in four days.”

“Did I mention we’re getting
married in NYC and we’ll be staying?”

I frowned. “Already? But you said
your job—”

“The sooner we move, the better,”
he said, cutting me off. “Don’t miss your flight.”

Oh, God.

“Why didn’t you say that earlier?”
I whispered, and rolled my eyes. “I need to go, Chase,” I said weakly. “There’s
a lot to do.”

“I’ll come over tonight and help you pack.”

Hell no!

I’d had enough of his complex mood swings, ranging from cold
to sweet to angry and intensely sexual. I could deal with complex. But
unpredictable was a whole other world.

“No need. Jude’s here.”

“The more the merrier,” Chase said. “I’ll bring dinner and a
bottle of wine.”

Why hadn’t I come up with a better
excuse? Like having a date or yoga class?

“I don’t drink.”

“Are you sure? Because as far as I
remember, and please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, you seemed to like
it a lot at the restaurant.”

I had
known
he’d bring that up eventually. Brushing imaginary dust from
the pillow, I said, “That was a one-off, okay? I was stressed.”

“One-off, huh? Just like all the
other things, right?” Chase laughed. “We’ll have to find you a new way to
relieve stress, because obviously, you have a denial mechanism going on there,
Laurie. I have a few things in mind that we could try together. It’s all rather
Tantric.”

There it was again.

Only this time I knew I hadn’t been imagining things from
his hoarse voice. My cheeks caught fire at his insinuation. And more so when my
brain began to come up with its own interpretation of all the things Chase and
I could try out together.

A sense of longing settled between my legs, pulsating to
life.

Before he could answer, I peeled my cell phone off my ear
and switched it off, then threw it on the bed in exasperation.

I rubbed my throbbing temples.

This whole marriage thing was
going to be a disaster, and Chase might end up being a huge pain in the ass. I
just knew it. Or else why did he have to be so irritably and annoyingly pushy
and insist on an agreement that benefited mostly him?

But only mostly!

If only I could switch off the
annoying voice in the back of my mind that gushed about how hot Chase was and
how much I wanted to feel him inside of me.
That I should celebrate a
new, sexual stage in my life and everything that came with
it, because I might just like it more than I wanted him to
know.

I wasn’t afraid of a little
intimacy. I wasn’t afraid of getting married. Or even moving to NYC. But living
together in the same apartment, seeing Chase day after day? Staying married for
one year, not being able to dodge him and his sexy body?

Horrendous.

Imagine all the self-control needed.

However, I liked him. The thought of seeing him every day
for the next twelve months was ridiculously appealing.

I liked having him close.

With a sigh, I grabbed the pen, and before I could change my
mind, I signed the contract, then leaned back, excited.

Of course, I could only hope he’d keep his promise and not
insist that we share a bed. And what if Chase was untidy, leaving his
socks or underwear in the bathroom, and I’d begin to hate
him for it?

I shuddered.

But the prospect of dealing with
difficulties along the way had
never put me off. In fact, now that I had
seen how Chase ticked, I was convinced I could take on his self-assurance and
arrogance, maybe even change him—tame him. Someone had to…for his own
good.

And then there was me—I wanted to explore, to
experience things with him.

“Jude?” I opened the door and yelled down the hall.

“What?” came her voice.

“Guess what? I need you to help me pack. Apparently I’m
moving in with my future husband.”

How had I gotten myself into this mess?

That
question was all I could
think of as the weekend and Monday passed in a blur. For the thousandth
time,
I checked my phone. Chase hadn’t called.

Except for a simple text on Sunday, which informed me that
he had received the signed contract and that we’d meet in New York, I heard
nothing else
from him.

Nothing at all, which left a sore
feeling inside my heart that annoyed me.

I was not supposed to be
disappointed.

What was even more stupid was the
fact that, at some point, I had started to miss him. Crazy, not least because
I’d be seeing him in less than twelve hours. But the knowledge only ended up
increasing the unnerving sense of longing and anticipation.

The thing was, in spite of my
anger at Chase for turning everything around to suit him, and taking control of
the situation, I couldn’t stay mad at him. My anger evaporated the window the
moment Clint called to check in and enquire whether I was indeed getting
married.

God, how much I disliked him, the
controlling son of a bitch. It had taken every ounce of my willpower not to
tell my stepfather to shove his fake concern up his ass. Without him, I would
never have been in the kind of situation I had found myself in. I would have
inherited my mom’s belongings, not have to get married to get a bunch of stupid
letters.

At last, Casey called to confirm
that our dresses were ready (big thanks to her grandmother sensing we needed
them earlier), and Jude picked them up just in time.

They were now neatly packed in a
plastic bag, ready to be draped over our arms. In spite of Jude’s insistence, I
couldn’t even force myself to try my wedding gown on. I couldn’t even pull it
out and see if the customized copy was as beautiful as the original Vera Wang.

Chase did that to me.

All his requests, every reminder,
every thought about him, had me in turmoil. I was sure I was making a big
mistake, until Jude reminded me of the purpose of everything.

It was a sacrifice I had to make.
For myself. For my mom. To get those letters, because it was the only way for
me to have them.

Without them, I would have
run—far away, if only to escape Chase’s sexy charm and the things he
seemed to stir inside me. He had something no man possessed. It was the glint
in his eyes, the smoothness of his voice when he talked, and the genuine
concern in his tone, that made me feel like I was the only person on earth. As
much as I wanted to avoid him for the rest of my life, there was a part of me that
looked forward to it.

I wanted to spend more time with
Chase.

I wanted it all to be real.

I cringed at those words.

Stupid, stupid thoughts.

They were nothing but trouble,
with the sole purpose of confusing me. Like those unwanted and annoying emotions
I wanted to switch off but couldn’t.

I smiled to Jude, even though I
knew I could never reveal to her the extent of the feelings I was slowly
developing for Chase. I wasn’t even sure what they were. I wasn’t in love per
se. It was lust, longing, a need that only he could fulfill. And yes, I really
liked Chase, even though I had no clue what exactly it was that pulled me to
him, besides his good looks.

The demands he had at the last
minute not only took me by surprise—they shocked me. I had always assumed
that Chase would go along with my plans and expectations, not that he’d use the
opportunity to take control. It made me wonder if Jude’s words about me being
relationship material might just be correct, or why else would Chase be so
hellbent on dragging out the entire marriage thing, which could hurt us both
and end in more disappointment than I could handle?

At dawn on Monday, it was time to
move. My two suitcases were packed to the brim—enough stuff for the next
few weeks, or as long as I’d be staying in New York City. With a last glance at
my apartment building, I stepped into the waiting taxi. The sadness at leaving
my old life behind had made room for slight anticipation.

I couldn’t wait to see Chase
again.

A little later, I boarded the
plane to NYC—with Jude—because my fiancé had
decided to fly
ahead for a last-minute job and then meet me at the wedding venue.

His text message had read,
Got a job. See you there. xxx

Proverbially speaking, he was
killing two birds with one stone.

Made sense.

I would probably have done the
same thing because—fake fiancé or not—who in their right mind
wanted to see the future spouse surrounded by all the wedding stress? But the
knowledge didn’t quite manage to dissolve my jealousy at the prospect of Chase
kissing another woman for a scene; or shooting some magazine cover, his strong
arms wrapped around the half-naked body of an exotic
female model with
sky-high legs and
sun-kissed skin.

What had enraged me even more was
the fact that after our strange phone conversation on Friday, he couldn’t be
bothered to even wish me a pleasant flight. On Sunday, while I was in the
shower, he had simply dropped off my plane ticket, a hotel reservation, and a
brochure of the wedding venue, and then sent said text message.

The big day had now arrived.

Tucking my bridal gown under one
arm while clutching at my trolley and maneuvering my way through the
early-afternoon crowd at JFK airport in NYC, I could have screamed from
frustration. I had never seen
so many people crammed in one place. Luckily
for me, Jude was here to provide a welcome diversion.

“Think he’ll turn up?” she asked as soon as we had taken our
seat in a cab and had instructed the driver to take us to our hotel.

I grimaced and turned away
so
she wouldn’t catch my dark expression. “Honestly, I don’t know.”

“If he doesn’t, I’ll marry you.”
She squeezed my hand and pursed her lips to
send me an air kiss. The
driver regarded us in the rearview
mirror and I
laughed, imagining the dirty direction his thoughts had probably taken.

In the end, all men had one thing in common, and it wasn’t
the ability to stay committed or faithful.

Sex.

Three simple letters.

That was all Chase would ever want
from me, just like every other man I had ever gone out with. None of them had
scored and neither would Chase, or at least not without me mentally putting up
a good fight—like keeping the hell away from him, and—most
importantly—avoiding being alone with him at all costs. Even if he truly
wanted us to be exclusive throughout our marriage, jumping into bed with him
was out of the question, because—

I drew a sharp breath and blew it
out slowly as I remembered just how much I had wanted it—when I hadn’t
felt pressured. The moment Chase made his demands, the walls came down and I
felt pushed into a position I didn’t want to be in. I couldn’t just blame him.
It was the entire situation that scared the crap out of me. The whole marriage
thing in order to get those letters and feeling threatened by Clint was a
complete turn-off.

But as I sat in the taxi, my eyes
scanning over the amazing views that only NYC could offer, my mind began to
come
up with a list of reasons in favor of a physical relationship with
Chase. As much as I abhorred the fact that I was attracted to him, there was no
point in denying it.

But where there’s a physical
relationship, there’s also emotional entanglement. Seeing that I had already
developed feelings for Chase, I didn’t want them to deepen and take a dangerous
turn for my heart. I didn’t want to invest too much. I had no idea what the
future held in store for me, but whatever it was, feelings had a tendency to
make everything more complicated than it needed to be.

Some things just couldn’t happen
for our own good—regardless of whether Chase was amazing or not—and
Chase was, just too much for my liking.

“No fucking way,” Jude said,
pointing out the window and tugging at my shirt at the same time.

Realizing the car must have stopped at some point, I turned
to follow Jude’s line of vision and my jaw dropped.

Holy shit.

Was that even real?

The driver had pulled over in front of the most magnificent
hotel I had ever seen, and that included anything I had ever seen
in the movies. It was huge, decorated with a glass front
that sparkled in the midmorning sun. Luxurious, carved marble flowerpots had
been arranged on either side of a red carpet, and uniformed service personnel
wearing white gloves stood outside, completely motionless
, like in an
old black-and-
white movie.

“I thought you were broke,” Jude
whispered, pointing her head to the grand place, as I paid the driver and
exited the car.

“I am,” I said dryly. “This is all
Chase’s doing. He said he reserved a place for us.”

“You’re lucky he’s rich,” Jude
whispered.

“Don’t say that.” I scowled. “You
know that’s exactly what I
didn’t
want him to be.”

“Either he didn’t get the memo
that you’re broke, or it’s all paid for because he can, and he’ll expect his
reward afterward. Like tomorrow night.” Jude’s eyes gleamed as she glanced at
the huge water fountain. As though anyone could possibly misinterpret her badly
disguised insinuation, Jude turned her head to me and raised her brows
meaningfully.

My cheeks caught fire under her
scrutiny. She had no idea how close she had come to the truth. For once I was
happy she didn’t know about our agreement. Or how close Chase and I had already
come to having sex. Or his crazy demands.

“Well, which one do you think it
is, Hanson?” Jude asked, her eyes narrowed. “Is it all a gift, a
favor—something a friend with money would do for you with no strings? Or
will he insist on collecting his prize, reward, or whatever he’ll call it, when
he feels like it?”

“I honestly have no idea,” I
mumbled in the hope she’d just shut up. “Let’s hope it’s the first one, because
he can’t have anything else without first consulting me.”

Or he could just make me owe him.

Again.

“I bet it’s the latter.” Jude
grinned. “Whether he’s paid for it all or not, you’re lucky. He’s not only
rich, he wants you so bad, it’s obvious that he’s totally into you, ready to
sweep you off your feet, as soon you as you enter his bedroom.”

“I’m not sure about that.”

Did he want to sleep with me
because he liked me, or because I was some sort of prize—the one woman
who hadn’t immediately dropped her panties for him? That was the question I had
been asking myself for a while, and this new development had made me none the
wiser.

I could only guess that he sort of
liked me. I had no sexual experience, but Chase and I had a connection. There was
no denying that. I felt it when I touched him. I could see it in the way he
looked at me before his lips brushed mine. But would he go as far as paying so
that I owed him and had to repay him eventually? It was hard to believe, but I
would find out soon enough.

The real question was, was I
really ready to know the truth?

Shrugging, irritated, I diverted my attention to the man in
a black uniform who hurried over to help us with the luggage. I shot him a
thankful smile, both for his assistance and for unknowingly
rescuing me from Jude’s inquisition, and
followed him down the red
carpet, through a pair of massive glass doors, and into the hotel lobby. In
spite of its modern exterior, the interior design told a completely different
story. Gigantic glass chandeliers were mirrored in the polished cream marble
floors, which built a stunning contrast to the wine-red divans and abstract art
paintings. The place smelled of the upper class, both those born into old money
and those sleeping their way to the top. Dressed in blue jeans and a loose
asymmetrical top
, I had never felt so out of place as
Jude and I approached the reception desk to sign in.

The receptionist, a friendly guy
in his early forties, barely looked at us before handing us our room swipe
cards, together with a brochure on the hotel’s facilities.

“Please feel free to call us if
you need anything, ma’am.” He smiled, flashing unnaturally bright teeth. “It
will be our pleasure to provide you with the best service you could wish for.”

“Thanks,” I said,
and held
out my credit card with shaky fingers, praying that Chase had thought of
placing reservations for the cheapest rooms available.

“No need, miss.” The receptionist shook his head politely.
“It’s already paid for. Mr. Wright has already taken care of everything.”

My stomach flipped.

Somewhere to my right I thought I
heard Jude snorting, but I didn’t dare turn to regard her, knowing too well the
kind of look she’d probably throw me.

“Thanks,” I said again, only this time the words barely made
it past my lips.

Chase
knew
I
couldn’t afford staying in this kind of place and yet he hadn’t even thought
about checking in with me before making a reservation and—