Marrying A Snapping Turtle

Woman of Fire

When Ida sneaked back into the bedroom, she found Kensley still asleep in bed. With a quick sigh of relief, she tiptoed into the bathroom to take a shower.

The moment he heard the sound of muffled water hitting the tiles, Kensley opened his eyes. His head slowly turned to the light underneath the bathroom door. His brows furrowed and he resumed browsing clips of the surveillance footage from yesterday. He followed various cameras as the images of Ida happily eating lunch changed to one where she paused in the hallway of an open room then rushed to her atelier and locked herself in there for the rest of the afternoon. He recalled how she barely touched dinner last night.

Kensley’s eyes narrowed. It was time he had a talk with the staff but before that, his wife needed to be fed.

***

When Ida came out of the bathroom, Kensley was already out of bed. Her stomach grumbled and she decided to get something to eat. As she walked down the stairs, she was greeted with the smell of breakfast. Following her nose, she found Kensley at the dining table with a cup of coffee in hand. He looked up at her with a smile.

“G’morning, darling.”

A corner of her lips twitched. She could never get used to his terms of endearment; it always felt like it wasn’t meant for her. Taking her seat at the table, the door swung open and the maids brought in piling plates of steaming food. Ida couldn’t help but lick her lips as she looked at the fluffy scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit salad, toast, and a variety of pastries. She was used to a light breakfast most of the time or skipping it altogether because she was rushing out the door but she woke up early today and had plenty of time to tuck in.

“Don’t stand on ceremony,” Kensley said, scooping a generous portion of the scrambled eggs and placing it on her plate, “You have a long day ahead of you so eat up.”

Ida murmured a thanks and started to eat.

Kensley’s eyes grew a couple of degrees colder as he noticed the change in Ida’s attitude. Her normal snarky self was gone leaving a complacent shell behind, but he didn’t have the confidence to confront her just yet. He was methodical, he had to gather information first and then decide the next course of action. He picked up a couple of slices of bacon and plopped it on her plate. Then took a small bowl of fruit and pushed it towards her.

Ida ate quietly as Kensley served her. The staff beamed in the background at the warm scene, none the wiser to the thoughts swirling through their masters’ heads.

***

“That’s a wrap! Well done! Since you guys finished ahead of schedule and saved me money, I’m going to treat you all to dinner! Bring a guest of your choice!”

The director beamed as everyone on set erupted into ruckus cheers. Kensley’s smiling face dimmed into that of indifference once the cameras stopped rolling and he stepped off the set.

His co-star, Mandy Feller, hurried after him.

“Kensley! Wait up!”

Kensley turned, a small frown already forming but Mandy chose to ignore it. She turned on her charm and subtly leaned towards him, puffing her milky white chest out.

“I wanted to thank you for the opportunity to work with —”

“No need,” he cut her off, “if you want to thank anyone, thank the director for casting you. If nothing else, I’ll be leaving first.”

Mandy gaped at the cold man and ground her teeth, hissing under her breath, “I’ve never been so humiliated! Just you wait, I’m going to tame you one way or another.”

“Tame who?”

Mandy jumped and swirled around to find the director looking at her. His eyes dropped down to her slightly exposed breasts and she quickly fixed the front of her costume. Flashing a professional smile she exclaimed, “You heard wrong, director.”

The director only smiled knowingly and clicked his tongue. “If you’re trying to hook Kensley, just stop while you’re ahead. That man has a girl in his heart.”

Mandy sneered, “Impossible.”

The man shrugged. “Trust me, I’ve been through four divorces. I know a whipped man when I see one. One of the biggest clues is that he NEVER kissed or touched a woman inappropriately in his acting career. If anyone tries to change the script on him, he’d rather pay for breach of contract than act the part out. Hell, rumor has it, he buried a couple of directors and screenwriters who attempted to mess with him.”

He glanced at Mandy who had a ‘so what’ look on her face; he sighed and summarized, “So it’s more likely than not that he is either married or has a hidden lover.”

Mandy rolled her eyes, flipping her flaming red hair behind her. “Do you take me for an i***t? If Kensley got married it would be all over the news.”

“Not necessarily,” a fellow actor walked up to join the conversation. He winked at Mandy and nodded politely to the director. “It’s more common for private weddings these days especially if the partner is not in the industry. Kensley is from a prestigious family; he probably married some girl from old money.”

The director raised a brow but didn’t add to the speculation.

Mandy gnawed on her lower lip, her sharp green eyes drew to slits as she considered the possibility. After a second of contemplation, she huffed. “So what if that were true? The divorce rate in our industry is insanely high. I don’t believe Kensley is any different from other men.”

She strutted off leaving the leering men in her wake. She didn’t expect to marry Kensley, she just wanted his love even if it were fleeting. She wanted him as a trophy; to be the first actress to bring this untouchable Adonis to his knees and she was willing to play dirty to get him.

***

Kensley walked out of the changing room and felt a chill, like a woman trailing her disgusting nail down his spine. He shuddered and his lips drew to a thin line.

Mandy Feller, a flaming s*x goddess in the industry, has been following him for years. She had been around, conquesting males with fiery passion but like a fire, each relationship dwindled to smoldering ashes within months leaving the hapless man clinging to her heels. Kensley was next on her list and she seemed to take his constant refusal as a challenge. When he originally signed on for the movie, they had cast another woman as the female lead, but a day before filming, the actress had a terrible accident and Mandy got the role. Kensley wasn’t a fool and suspected foul play but he wasn’t the kind to care. If she stayed in her lane, he would continue to turn a blind eye; but if she were to ever cross the line, he wouldn’t mind burying her.

“Sir, are you attending the dinner tonight?”

Kensley looked at his assistant. “No.”

“But sir, you can take your wife.”

Kensley snorted softly. Ida had been adamant about staying out of the limelight. He knew her answer before asking. If that were the case, then he would rather not go.

“I’ll tell the director something came up,” his assistant sighed.

Kensley nodded and made his way to his car. Now that he was done filming, he had a week off to spend with his wife and he owed her a honeymoon.