Why Him?

CHAPTER 10

Kiara POV

I sneaked out when I was sure that all people inside the house were already asleep. I couldn’t tell my dad that I was going out to meet Gideon tonight. He would kill me if he knew about this. Dad already warned me to focus on Nolan only. It seems like he’d even already set a date for our wedding. I have to move fast.

I waited inside my car across from the bar as we had agreed earlier on the phone. I waited for almost an hour, but there was no sign of him showing up. I hoped that he didn’t bail on me. He’s my golden ticket to run away from this arranged marriage.

After waiting for more than thirty minutes and he’d still didn’t show up, I then decided to give him a call. I was in the middle of fishing my phone out of my bag when suddenly someone knocked on my car window.

“Holy Jesus, you scared the s**t out of me!” I snapped at him after I saw Gideon outside my car. My heart raced as I saw him again. His face was cold, and he looked a bit angry. I guessed he wasn’t in his flirty mood, unlike the other night.

“Kiara, open the door.” He then said from outside. I quickly opened the door then he walked towards the other side of the car and got into the passenger seat next to me.

“Hi there, Gideon. We meet again.” I said awkwardly at him. He c****d an eyebrow at me.

“Why you didn’t tell me that you were a virgin?” he asked me with a cold tone. So this is what bothers him. I am not sure how to react to that. It seems like he was pissed to discover that fact. Should I pretend to be sad or mad at him?

Oh right, I should play as the victim here. “I didn’t know we were going to be that far. We were only kissing at first.” I replied defensively at him. He then let out a defeated sigh at me. “Exactly! You should stop me before it happens.” He yelled at me. “Enlighten me how to stop when your lips and your hands were all over me?” I asked him back sarcastically. “I don’t know? You can slap me?” he randomly suggests. I rolled back my eyes at him. “To be honest, I can’t even remember what happened after we kissed.” He then admitted.

I made a happy dance inside. That’s great news. He didn’t remember. He didn’t know that I drugged him with sleeping pills. Okay, so this is the time to pull out my card.

I then faked a tear in front of him. “How could you?..” I then hit his chest to make my acting more convincing. “How could you do this to me?” I wailed at him.

He grabbed both of my hands to stop me and enveloped me in his arms. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to. f**k. If I knew this would happen, I wouldn’t bring you back to my uncle’s place that night in the first place.” He said, kissing the top of my head. I admit that it hurt a bit. I broke away from his hug and looked back at him in the eyes.

“Did you regret meeting me last night?” I sniffed, and he quickly shook his head. “No, no… Of course not! You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. And I had a great time with you.” He cupped my face. It seems like he wasn’t lying. The way he looked at me made me feel adored. “Then what should we do now? If my dad finds out, he would ask me to marry another man that I didn’t love.” I told him.

He looked away because I knew that he also had no idea how to handle this mess. “Let me talk to your dad, then. We could tell him that we were in a relationship until you find a new man that you love.” He suddenly offered. I was utterly surprised that he would went this far for me. This is exactly what I need. A man to cancel the wedding until I could find the new one.

“Are you sure about this?” I asked him back in disbelief, squeezing his hand. “Hey…it’s okay. It’s the least I could do.” He gently caressed my cheek. “Now, I want you to smile. You look ugly when you cried.” He said, making me chuckle. “No, I am not! I am still pretty no matter what.” I replied, wiping the tears from my face.

He shrugged both of his shoulders, then took back my hand in his. “Come with me.” He said, getting of the car. “Where are you taking me?” I asked as he handed me the helmet.

“It’s a surprise. It will spoil the fun if I tell you now,” he said, then helping me to hop into his bike. “Ready?” he asked after I circled my arms around his waist. Thank God I decided to tie my hair today in a ponytail.

This is the second time I let my guard down around him. But strangely, it always felt safe when it was Gideon.

I tightened my arms around him as he added more speed. It seems like he’s taking me a bit far from the city. God. I hope he didn’t kidnap me.

He stopped the bike after one hour of driving. It was a bit up in the mountain.

“Be careful…” he said, taking my hand as he led me even further. I let out a small gasp as I took the beautiful view in front of me. The lamp from the street and building of New York is now twinkling like a star from above where we at.

“Wow, what is this place?” I asked him in amazement as I ran my hand up and down in my arms to make me feel warm. It’s a bit chilly up here, and I am only wearing a thin T-shirt. He took off his jacket and put them on me.

“Here, put this on. It’s freezing up here at night.” He said before he sat on the ground. I joined him, taking the empty space on his left side. “I’ve always liked the view from up here. It’s very quiet and peaceful.” He said, eyes looking at the twinkling light. He’s right, though. Sometimes living in a busy city could drive you mad. The sound of bugs from the trees filled the background. It reminded me of the old time when my dad took me out camping by the lake.

“So tell me, what’s your favorite food?” He suddenly asked. I turned my head towards him. “My dad’s lasagna,” I answered without a doubt. I am not lying, but my dad is a great cook. It’s all my grandma’s recipe. I rubbed both of my hands to make them warm.

His lips curved a smile at me. He noticed that I was still cold, so he moved closer towards me and then hugged me from behind, becoming my human blanket. I can’t protest because I actually didn’t mind him doing it. Being close to him always felt nice. I just hoped he didn’t notice that my heart was slowly picking up its pace. “How about your favorite movie?” he then asked again. “The Notebook…I guessed? Why did you ask so much?” I suddenly got curious. He rested his chin on my left shoulder.

“Well, since we’re going to do this. I think we should know more about each other.” He said, running his thumb over my hand. I turned to look at him. “It’s impossible to know a person in just one night, Mr. Barlowe.” I said in amusement. His eyes stared intently into mine.

“That might be true, but I felt like I knew you for a long time already.” I didn’t realize before how close our face were to each other. I could now feel his hot breath fanning my cheek.

“You seriously expect me to fall for that cheesy line?” I replied in amusement. “It’s true… We’ve been talking to each other for two days. That’s way longer than I normally did with another woman.” He teased.

I playfully slapped his arm. “You seriously had some commitment issue.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe I just haven’t found the right person yet. I’ve been fooling around with women to make myself less lonely.” He admitted. I frowned at him. It’s hard to believe a man like him could feel lonely. “You don’t have any friends?” I asked him back.

“It’s only me and Uncle Damian. It’s not that I don’t want to make friends, but I can’t. My situation is a little bit… complicated.” he said, his eyes were sad. “Well, we could be friends if you like.” I quickly offered.

“I thought you hated me already for sleeping with you.” He said, raising an eyebrow at me. Now I am starting to feel bad for tricking him like this. “Well, we both want it to happen last night. So I guess it’s not fair to put all the blame on you.” I replied to him.

“I am a lucky bastard.” He said, making me laugh. We were both laughing, and it felt so liberating. Ever since the nasty broke up with Nolan, I haven’t been this happy again.

“Hey, can you do me a favor?” Gideon asked me again.

“What is it?” I replied to him, meeting his eyes. “I want you to slap me.” I back away for a bit, startled by his odd request.

“Why should I?” I asked him back in confusion. “Because I wanted to kiss you so bad right now.” I swallowed a lump in my throat. I’ve been thinking about the same thing ever since we talked in the car. “And I know I shouldn’t do that because that would make me more of an asshole to you after taking your—“ I didn’t let him finish his sentence as I pressed our lips together.