The Secret Fiancée

8continuation

She sighs, the stars in her eyes shimmering with admiration for a man I’m reluctant to meet. Bob Lewis’s background check wasn’t quite as clean as Raya’s, and I’m not sure what to make of the man. “I knew right there and then that I wanted to follow in my father’s footsteps. I just didn’t know how hard it would be to fill his shoes.”

I cup her cheek gently and lean in the press a soft kiss to her forehead. “If anyone can do it, it’s you, Raya. I have no doubt.”

The way she looks at me makes my heart race, and we both smile. “What about you? What did you want to be when you were younger?”

I rock back on my heels, enjoying the way her gaze roams down my body as I do so. She inhales sharply when she sees how hard I still am, my pants doing nothing to hide my erection. Her cheeks turn so beautifully rosy, and I smirk, loving that look in her eyes.

“I’m not sure, you know? I always wanted to be an engineer, just like my grandfather. Unlike my older brothers, I don’t have all that many memories with my parents. My hero was my grandfather.”

My chest tightens at the memory of him, and I lower my gaze, my eyes brushing over the watch he gave me just a few days before I lost him. “He was incredible, and growing up, I wanted to be just like him. I’d sit next to him as he designed and built toys for each of my siblings and me, and he never tired of answering my questions. He’d let me help, and to this day, it’s the knowledge he imparted that I still rely on most. I miss him each and every day, and every once in a while, I find myself talking to him out loud as I’m designing something, wondering what he’d do or what advise he’d give me. I do it even though I know he isn’t there to hear me.”

I wonder what he’d think of Raya. He’d often joke with me, telling me he already had someone in mind for me to marry someday. Even when I was little, I’d known I wouldn’t choose my own partner, and I never should’ve tried. If I hadn’t, Grandpa might still be here with me.

Raya reaches for me and brushes the back of her hand over my cheek, her touch soothing. “He’d be so proud to see you today, Lex. I’m a little reluctant to admit it, but you’re kind of a role model to me too. That’s why it was so embarrassing for me when I realized who you were, because I really should’ve recognized you straight away, and it’s so silly that I didn’t. I’ve followed your career for some time now, and I’ve always loved how freely you share your knowledge, even when you know you’ll lose your competitive advantage because of it. Each time you publish a paper, I read it immediately. Some of your research helped me with something I’m working on, and you just… you have no idea how much of an impact you make.”

Her words humble me, and I’m not quite sure what to say. “It’s something my grandfather taught me,” I end up muttering. “Technological advances mustn’t be hoarded; they must be shared for the betterment of society as a whole. Grandpa believed that competition leads to further innovation, and I firmly agree with him.”

“He sounds incredible,” she says, her tone reverent.

“He was,” I agree, pulling her in for a hug. I haven’t been able to talk about my parents or my grandfather in years, and she has no idea how difficult it is for me to do so now. I’m not even sure how she was able to make me open up like that, when no one else can.

Raya rises to her tiptoes and hugs me tightly, and it hits me then — when was the last time anyone hugged me like that? I draw a shaky breath as I tangle my hand in her hair and tilt my face, needing more.

“Raya,” I whisper, pulling back a little to look at her. She reads me with ease and leans in to kiss me. This kiss is different to the ones that came before it. It’s filled with consolation and incredible sweetness that I can’t quite get enough of.

“My turn,” she whispers against my lips, before leaning in for another kiss. “Choose Dare, Lex.”

I smile in between kisses, surprisingly happy to obey my future wife.