The Contract Marriage

Chapter Three:The Morning After

I woke up the next morning with one thought.

I had embarrassed myself in front of Damien Blackwood.

I pulled the blanket over my face.

"Why did I say that?"

Only the important ones.

Who said that?

Me.

Why?

I had absolutely no idea.

I groaned and rolled out of bed.

My phone was already buzzing on the nightstand.

Laura.

Of course.

I picked it up.

"Hello?"

"You survived."

I frowned.

"Good morning to you too."

"Did you get arrested?"

"No."

"Fired?"

"Not yet."

"Then why do you sound like someone died?"

I walked into the kitchen.

"Because I made a complete fool of myself last night."

There was a pause.

"What happened?"

I opened the refrigerator.

"Nothing."

"Aria."

"Nothing happened."

"You're lying."

I sighed.

"I spilled champagne on Damien Blackwood."

Silence.

Then Laura screamed.

"You did WHAT?"

I pulled the phone away from my ear.

"Keep your voice down."

"How do you accidentally pour champagne on one of the richest men in the country?"

"I didn't do it on purpose."

"Did he yell at you?"

"No."

"Did he fire you?"

"I'm not his employee."

"Did he kiss you?"

I nearly dropped the phone.

"What?"

"I'm asking important questions."

"No, he did not kiss me."

"Did he at least look handsome?"

"Laura."

"That's a yes."

I rolled my eyes.

"He's just a man."

"You're saying that because you're trying to convince yourself."

"I'm not."

"You remember his name."

"Everyone knows his name."

"You remember his face."

"I have eyes."

"You remember what he was wearing."

"I—"

I stopped.

She laughed.

"Exactly."

"Goodbye."

I ended the call before she could say anything else.

I placed my phone on the counter and reached for a glass of water.

Damien Blackwood.

I didn't know why the thought of him bothered me.

Maybe because I'd never been good at embarrassing myself.

Maybe because he'd looked at me differently after I spoke.

Or maybe because, for one brief second, I thought I saw him smile.

I shook my head.

It didn't matter.

I had more important things to worry about.

Rent.

Bills.

Work.

And the fact that my mother's medication was getting more expensive every month.

I stared at the small stack of bills on the kitchen counter.

Romance was the last thing I needed.

Especially with a billionaire.

By noon, I was at work.

Not at the hotel this time.

I worked part-time at a small café near downtown, and after the gala, the familiar smell of coffee and pastries felt strangely comforting.

I tied my apron around my waist and walked behind the counter.

"You're late."

I looked at my manager.

"I'm three minutes early."

"Three minutes is still late."

I smiled.

"Good afternoon to you too."

She handed me a tray of cups.

"Table six."

I took it.

My day settled into its usual rhythm.

Coffee.

Customers.

Orders.

More coffee.

It was peaceful.

Normal.

Exactly what I wanted.

Until two women at the table near the window started talking about the Blackwood gala.

"I heard Damien Blackwood was there last night."

"He always attends."

"I heard he was looking for a wife."

I nearly dropped the cup in my hand.

I froze.

The women continued talking.

"My cousin works at Blackwood Enterprises. Apparently his father is pressuring him to settle down."

"Why?"

"Something about the company."

I forced myself to move again.

A wife.

I don't know why the word caught my attention.

Maybe because I'd spent years promising myself I'd never become one.

I placed the coffee on the table and walked away.

Ridiculous.

I wasn't interested in Damien Blackwood.

I wasn't interested in his money.

I wasn't interested in his family.

And I definitely wasn't interested in whatever rumors people were spreading about his love life.

I had my own problems.

I didn't need his.

That evening, I returned home and found my mother sitting quietly in the living room.

She looked tired.

"Mom?"

She looked up.

"You're home."

"Yeah."

I placed my bag on the chair.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine."

She always said that.

Fine.

Even when she wasn't.

I sat beside her.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then her eyes moved to my hand.

"You aren't wearing a ring."

I laughed softly.

"Mom."

"I'm just asking."

"I don't have a boyfriend."

She smiled.

"Good."

I looked at her.

"Good?"

"You don't need to rush into anything."

"I wasn't planning to."

She reached for my hand.

"Your father..."

She stopped.

I felt my chest tighten.

She rarely mentioned him.

"What about him?"

Her fingers tightened around mine.

"Nothing."

"Mom."

She looked away.

"I just don't want you to make the same mistakes I did."

I stared at her.

"What mistake?"

She didn't answer.

Instead, she stood.

"I'm tired. I'm going to bed."

"Mom."

She walked away.

I watched her disappear down the hallway.

Something about her expression bothered me.

There were things she wasn't telling me.

Things she'd never told me.

And somehow, I had a feeling my father's disappearance wasn't as simple as I'd always believed.

Across the city, Damien Blackwood sat alone in his office.

A file lay open on his desk.

Aria Bennett.

He had spent the entire afternoon reading it.

Her education.

Her work history.

Her family.

Her financial situation.

Her mother's name.

And one fact stood out.

Her father had disappeared twenty years ago.

There was almost nothing about what happened afterward.

Damien frowned.

"Interesting."

Daniel stood across from the desk.

"There's very little information about him."

"Find more."

"Sir?"

"Everything."

Daniel nodded.

"I'll look into it."

Damien closed the file.

He didn't know why he felt compelled to understand every detail about a woman he'd met once.

But he trusted his instincts.

And his instincts were telling him that Aria Bennett was exactly the person he needed.

The problem was convincing her.

He glanced at her photograph again.

She looked nothing like the women his father had suggested.

She wasn't interested in wealth.

She hadn't tried to impress him.

She hadn't even seemed impressed by him.

That was precisely what made her useful.

And perhaps dangerous.

Damien leaned back in his chair.

"Prepare everything."

Daniel looked at him.

"Everything for what?"

Damien's eyes remained on Aria's photograph.

"The proposal."

He had no idea that the woman he planned to approach would soon become the biggest complication of his life.