Too enticing to resist

CHAPTER FIVE

ALISON POV

“I accepted the deal and we agreed to meet at the coffee shop today,he said he would have the keys and the necessary documents I needed to sign to get my coffee shop back”. Chloe was in shock as Alison told her about the deal she made with Ryan, Chloe who was busy kneading the dough on the worktable, stopped her work and stared at Alison in awe.

Chloe worked at a bakery downtown for a jerk called Sam who runs the bakery,he is a caveman who sees women as nothing but work slaves,he overworks his staffs and underpays them but Chloe had no choice but to stay as she didn't have a qualified degree to get a job elsewhere.

“So let me get this straight,one of Manhattan most elite bachelor came to ask for your hand in marriage in exchange for giving you your coffee shop to you’ she slapped my hand “you lucky b***h,you hit the jackpot,how gorgeous was he when you saw his face on a scale of one to ten”. Chloe was being dramatic about the whole situation.

Alison rolled my eyes before responding “ I don't know a five” even though she knew deep down he was more like a nine “and I was asked to be a pretend wife not his legitimate wife,I don't even know anything about this man and what I have gotten myself into,what if he is a psychotic rich daddy boy or worse a serial killer Chloe”.

“Let's not be quick to judge him yet,as you said you have no idea who he is but if I am being honest Alison,this is the best offer you would get from anyone,it is a chance to get started your dream job and it let's not pretend Ryan Pierce is bad to look at”. Chloe said raising both her eyebrows to tease me.

Alison’s eyes darted to my watch and she realized she was late “ Oh s**t,I have to go Chloe otherwise I would be late for the meeting,I would update you on how the meeting went as soon as I get home ”. Alison carried her bag in a hurry and made a move to leave but Chloe called me back.

“I love you Al but please do not pull an Alison move and disrupt everything”. What was that supposed to mean, was she really that bad at socializing with people.

“ What do you mean, I am a sweetheart,even Alan can testify to that”. Alan, Chloe's co-worker who was busy with a mixer gave a thumbs up to back me up and continued with his work.

“But you can be a little judgemental and Manhattan's Playboy doesn't have the best record as regards women so please do not get all hostile on him okay” Alison nodded her head but it seems that wasn't enough to convince her “I need you to say it” Chloe interjected.

“Fine,I would not do anything stupid to ruin my chances at happiness” Chloe gave Alison a smile as she ran out of the Bakery and halted a cab to my destination.

She got to the coffee shop and as she rightly predicted, she was late. Ryan was waiting by the door with his driver typing something on his phone with a frown on his face

As soon as Alison got down from the car she knew she was going to get a earful if she didn't admit to her mistake “ I know I am late,sorry I got caught in traffic”.

Ryan still aggressively typing on his phone didn't spare her a glance before saying “ Really, Alfred and I just got here not too long ago and the road was smooth all though our drive. Alfred backed up his boss ‘’ indeed it was Miss” so much for trying to lie her way off.

“Well since you just arrived then I have no reason to feel sorry, shall we go in?”

He tossed the key to her and she caught it quickly before it fell. She glared at him for tossing the keys to her without warning but Ryan wasn't moved by the angry look on her face, instead he said “ I would like you to do the honors,since it would soon be yours officially”.

Alison opened the door to the coffee shop and the dusty room greeted her,it wasn't in the best of state,the wall were a bit patchy with old paints falling off and the floor was quite dusty. Let's not get into the cobwebs. She realized they made a big mistake setting up a meeting here but it was too late to say something about it.

She felt a large presence behind her and knew without any doubt that Ryan entered inside. He looked around then said “Some adjustment and cleaning just need to be made and you have yourself a coffee shop,this is a nice area,so I would say you invested right”.

“Yeah, unfortunately we cannot have a proper discussion here so we may need to find another spot”.

“We can just talk in the car since I have to be in a meeting in thirty minutes time”.

“Sure I don't mind”.Alison minded,she didn't want to be in an enclosed space with Ryan,he had a reputation for being a player and she didn't want him using those tactics on her but she had to sign the documents and they needed to establish some ground rules if they are going to make their marriage work.

Alison walked towards the car and Alfred opened the door for her, she made her way inside and so did Ryan who perfume immediately hit her nose,he smelled wonderful he had a strong masculine scent with a little bit of rosy aftermath,the combination was nice.

Ryan passed the document to her and this time she was extremely careful reading each line word for word,she brought out a pen from her bag and signed each document. As she passed the document back to Ryan something important occurred to her.

“How can you be so sure I would fulfil my end of the bargain,I mean the coffee shop is mine,I could just decide not to marry you again”.

Ryan smirked and faced her before responding “ I have enough lawyers for that,just one phone call and your coffee shop is gone,so these documents are just physical format to establish our deal in paper”.

“Okay,I wasn't intending on doing something like that anyways so you can be rest assured our deal remains the same.Now to some ground rules, I know you have a reputation for being a womanizer but that needs to stop,it would not look good if we got married and two months later you are on the tabloid and news for being unfaithful,that is my first request.

“Fair enough but you should know that I won't stop clubbing just because I am married,most of my business deals go down there,so tit for tat” Ryan responded

“Fair enough.” Alison replied.

“We also need to respect each other's boundaries when we get married. I have my space and you have yours”.

He held his chest and feigned a hurt sound. “You don't want to share a room with me,I am hurt” his voice laced with sarcasm

She rolled my eyes at this, then continued

“Lastly and most importantly, no s*x”.

“Not even kiss……..”

“No” she stopped him mid sentence.

“Why do I have a feeling you would be the one to break the no s*x rule” Ryan asked boldly.

“Because you are a narcissistic jerk who thinks the whole world revolves around you” Alison covered my mouth knowing I had gone too far

Turns out Chloe was right, she really does pull an Alison move sometimes.