31. Grayson
1141 Words
GRAYSON
Shock. Excitement. Annoyance. Something. Anything but the look of polite indifference on her face.
“Adeline.” I repeated, to get some form of reaction from her. Still nothing. She leaned back, closer to her friend, Jay. I twisted my hands into fists.
“I heard you the first time…” She eased and crossed her arms around her chest defensively. My eyes twitched in response, she was supposed to be with me, her husband. It was fake, yes, but whatever it was she did, reflected back on me and at that moment, it looked like she was ready to fuel another scandalous story.
“You invited him.” I spat. It wasn’t a question. It was an accusation. One I had no doubt was the truth.
She had the audacity to shield the man from my path. “And if I did?” She did the crossed arm thing, like the extra layer of limbs was some sort of protection.
The music was a disturbance, overshadowing her voice. From afar, it would seem like a couple with an intruder. I was the intruder.
My finger twitched to do what needed to be done. “You do realize you’re married.” I eyed the unwanted guest, a wolf in sheep clothing, an interested man hoping to get his moment with her. That was never going to happen, not if I had something to do about it.
“On paper.” His ear irritating voice chipped in. She told him. There was no other explanation. I wasn’t sure whether to be disappointed or pissed. She had no right to. The less people that knew about it, the easier it would be to look convincing, it wasn’t that hard to put together with a functioning brain.
I let my gaze slip to him, lazy and warning. One more word, one more interference.
“Paper or not. We have guests watching. I believe you can manage to keep your eyes off other men for at least a night.” I grunted.
Her friend, Jay’s eyes shifted to her immediately, their gaze met like they knew something I didn’t. As if. Adeline began to speak but before she could say anything else, I yanked her away by the wrist. Enough of the back and forth bullshit. I would not be made to look like a fool. The scream of her opportunistic friend followed us for the first few steps and just like everything inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, I ignored him and quickened my pace.
“Hey! Let go of me!” She whispered yelled. At least she remembered why she was truly at the auction. I ignored her pleas and led her to the first room in my path.
“You will not,” I growled, twisting her against the wall so she faced me. With more calm in my voice, “you will not embarrass me at such an important event.” I watched her, met her gaze. She flinched, but didn’t pull away. She couldn’t. I had her hands pinned tightly over her head.
“I never was. I was just talking to a friend.” She fired back, her face the picture of defiance, her chest heaved up and down with a little more force than necessary for breathing.
“How did he get an invite?” I demanded, leaving very little room for any argument from her sharp tongue.
She leaned against the wall. Despite being trapped by one hand and both her arms pressed against the wall by my other hand, she was unfazed. It was infuriating to say the least.
“I don’t know. You tell me.” She met my gaze head on. I forced air through my teeth, slammed both eyes shut to gather my thinning thread of patience. What was it with this woman and being difficult?!
“Your friend is at an event reserved for only the best of the best, do you really think I’m that stupid?”
“Maybe you are.” She scoffed. “If you weren’t, you would consider the fact that I had no idea about said auction party until you invited me. So what could I have possibly done to get him into the auction in less than three hours, Mr Archer? But hey! Maybe I used some of the gold I dug from you to bribe someone in charge.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm, the worse variant of the English language to exist.
I paused. She was right. I mean it was possible to bribe to get an invite, it’s what most Hollywood stars who didn’t make the cut usually resorted to. But if she hadn’t, who did? There was no one at that party that could possibly know him enough to want to invite him to such an exclusive event.
Her breath whooshed right out of her, deliberate, forced, too controlled. Raspberry and vanilla invaded my senses, thrusted into my nostrils and straight to my brain till all I could breath was her scent.
“What? You suddenly ran out of commands?” She snarked. I pursed my lips, her eyes dipped. Shallow breathes escaped her lips. Her eyes remained stuck, never lifted to meet my eyes.
I leaned closer, close enough till her scent enveloped me. I teased the curve of her ear, letting my lips leave feathery touches across its length.
“I do have one more.” I whispered. Her eyes fluttered close. I’m sure she was going to hate herself for it later, but for now, I was going to take it as a sign.
The bite in her voice was non existent when she spoke. “What?” She croaked, sucking in a harsh breath when I grazed the edge of her jaw.
I smirked down at her, her eyes had gone so dark, it was almost believable that she actually wanted me to. “Don’t fight it.” I rasped. f**k! What the hell was I doing?
She sucked in another harsh breath, her eyes lifted to mine as I edged closer. She didn’t stop me.
“If this is to work, we must appear madly in love.” I whispered, barely an inch from her lips. She was hardly breathing. I couldn’t even tell if I was breathing or not. Her breath fanned my cheeks, but no words left her lips. Her eyes dipped again and heat flooded my veins. f**k it. I was going to remind her why she should look at no other man but the man she came to the party with. Not because I cared, but because she should.
“Mr Archer.” Alicia’s voice was timid and very unwelcomed. Adeline shoved me away in an instant, her eyes wide with surprise. I was going to freaking kill her.
- Writer
