Terms, Temptation and The final deal
400 Words
It was almost time to close the restaurant, the lights faded, and only the sound of the coffee machine filled the silence. Lily sat three feet from Ethan, arms folded, “thinking” trying not to look at the envelope on the table between them.
She should have walked away. She should have laughed in his face and rejected but she, told him he was insane. Because she couldn’t stop thinking of the money… or of him.
Ethan leaned back, eyes unreadable. “Let’s talk terms.”
Lily was confused. “Terms? You make it sound like it's a job interview.”
“It is,” he said calmly. “You’ll act as my wife. Appear at family dinners. Attend business galas. Smile when necessary. In return, you’ll be paid.”
Her eyes stared at the envelope. The temptation of the need for money burned like fire. “And what about… us?”
His lips curved faintly. “What about us?”
“You expect me to be your wife. Don’t you think people will notice if we…” Her words faltered, heat rising to her cheeks. “…if we’re not close?”
Ethan came forward, his voice low, intimate. “Are you asking if we’ll need to touch? Kiss? Share a bed?”
Her pulse stuttered. “I’m asking if you are planning on making this more complicated.”
He paused for a second , he gazed at her lips, the silence growing until she shifted uneasily. Then he said, softly, “Complicated can be convincing.”
Lily’s breath paused for seconds. He has not moved, has not touched her yet, but his suggestion made her skin tingle.
“This is absolutely crazy,” she said to herself, though her voice wasn't low enough.
“Maybe,” Ethan said. “But you cannot deny, you're curious and in need of money.”
Her face betrayed her showing he was right. She hated that he was right — that some wild, reckless part of her wanted to know what it would feel like to let him close.
He slid the contract papers toward her. “Read them. Decide. But know this, Lily — if you agree, you’ll be mine. In public. And maybe… in ways neither of us expects.”
The atmosphere between them felt different. Lily took the envelope trembling, not from fear but from something else entirely.
Desire.
- Writer
