Betrayed But Reclaimed by Her Boss.

Chapter 13

Nathaniel

Without thinking, I pushed the door open; her familiar gentle floral scent filled the room, tendrils of hair falling from her low loosely tied ponytail. Her eyes bulged out from fright; she held on to her arm tenderly.

I drew her to me instinctively; my eyes fell on her arm, and I held it to see if she had injured herself.

“Are you hurt? I asked.

“Nathaniel, I’m fine.” She tried to pull away from me, but I held on to her firmly. How scared she must have been during the attack? ! I pulled her into my arms, my arms wrapped around her, feeling stupid for pushing her away.

Julius was right; I was rash in my decision to push her away. My relationship with Aria is not as simple as I would like to believe; even during the days she was a mere personal assistant, she was important to me. Adrian knows it too.

The last thing I wanted was to have her replace me in the face of danger or have Adrian see a point of vulnerability.

She wriggled in my arms, looking up at me with those soft hazel eyes of hers. They hold some hurt from our earlier talk.

“You are drunk,” she muttered. She could smell the alcohol on me. Drunk? Maybe.

Her cheeks appeared flushed and red, and her ear tips stood out pink. My eyes fell to her lips; they were soft, plump, and tensed. She chewed on them, her eyes anxious.

My hands reached her face, my thumb tracing her line and clearing stray hair tendrils. I’ve done this a few times, but in front of cameras to push the story I wanted to feed the media, but it feels different this time around.

She was pulling me towards her: her worried eyes, her floral scents, her plump rosy lips.

I felt an itch, an itch to kiss her.

“Don’t leave,” I say.

She appeared hesitant; her tongue slathered some wetness over her lips. She chewed before she muttered, "conflicted." “Nathan…” The way she calls my name, like air caressing the petals of a flower.

I couldn’t hold back anymore, I pulled her into me and kissed her with every fire she elicited in me. It burned madly. I have never felt this way before.

Why was it consuming? She reciprocated, her lips grazing sides with mine.

My hands found her waist, and I pulled her harder into me, every slope into her curve my hands wanted to have a feel. She pulled away forcefully; she was breathless.

Her eyes appeared wide with shock. “This is not right," she whispered to herself. “Erm… you are drunk, Mr. Anfield. This is not right; you’ll hate it if you go further than this.”

I already missed the feel of her lips on mine. I walked closer to her, her eyes timid, unable to match mine. “Fine, I’m drunk, but what of you, Aria? Will you regret it as well if you go further?"

She swallowed. “Yes, I hope the sane Nathaniel doesn't recall this. I only kissed you back because you are adorable. He is a nightmare; I’m certain he’ll hate me the next morning,” She said before hurrying out.

***

The next morning after a sleepless night of showering for the tenth time, I dragged my ass from my bed to make myself some tasteless coffee. Aria was always the one making me a cup.

As I descended the stairs, I noticed Julius was rummaging through the fridge.

“Why the f-ck are you here early?”

“Early? It’s almost noon. You were not exactly drunk yesterday.”

“Something else was keeping me up.” I referred to the b***r Aria caused and left me to handle through the night.

He scoffed, “Something or someone.”

“How do you know?”

“I’m sure you reached out to one of your flings. I’ve never been wrong. Aria is gone, and you are back to your old dirty ways.”

I scoffed at him and took the cup of coffee he already prepared for himself. He glared at me for like two seconds and made himself another cup.

“You are saying it like we were in a real relationship.”

“I mean, it was pretty convincing.”

A smile found a way on the sides of my lips as a recollection of last night popped into my head. "Adorable," I chuckled.

Once I raised my head to sip from the mug, I saw Julius staring at me oddly. “Did you hit your head somewhere?"

“Call Aria; tell her it’s about our contractual agreement.”

He stared at me like I have grown two horns.

“Are you indecisive about her? Yesterday you were eager to discard her. You told her she’s no longer needed.”

“I changed my mind.”

“You like her.”

“I’m attracted to her.” I corrected; it is impossible for me to be in love. Love was too much commitment.

“Attraction and love are two different things, Nathaniel. You are really an a-shole; she cares for you.”

“We’d date for real this time, but for a month.” He wanted to rip out my hair for sure.

“A new condition regarding your bail is out, and we found the location of the fraud transaction. I think it’s best you let Aria go; you are attracted to her, but you sure lose your brains if she gets hurt, and I think it’s about to get dangerous.”

“The ball will be in her court.”

Aria

I sat in a daze, sipping my cup of tea. My fingers brushed the edge of my lips; I dropped my head in subtle embarrassment. I’m never going to face him again and after last tiit’s much better.

“You have been lost in thought since you came back. Are you okay? Did something happen?” Jessica asked concernedly, passing me a sandwich.

I blinked. I was actively absentminded; I can’t let her know what happened. The kiss—she'll never let me hear the end of it. “Nothing happened. I’m just a bit exhausted.”

“You are flustered; something definitely happened. You met your boss last night.”

“I did not.”

“You liar. You are all red.”

I sighed into my palms. “Nothing can really go under your radar.”

She blinked and leaned closer. “Did you two have s*x?”

“No!” I sighed. "Gosh, that man. Ugh, I need to stay far away from him.”

“What happened?”

“Well… he kissed me.”

She went back to her seat. “Just a kiss.”

“You wanted something more. You don’t like him.”

“You do, and you two looked good together. I thought he had finally come to his senses. He is a bit toxic; with such a man, you swim the murky waters with him but not too much to let him drown you.”

I shuddered at the thought. “I prefer us apart. I’m foolishly in love, Jessica; I mean, look at me with Caleb or Dave. That bastard, I would never recover if I fell in love with Nathaniel. I choose peace.” I downed my coffee.

Suddenly my phone buzzed; it was an email. I opened it, and I saw it: a renegotiation of our contract. The sum was doubled. I gasped after reading it and pushed my phone away in shock.

Jessica took it. “What is it all about?" She bulged her eyes. “With this amount of money, you never have to work again.”

I let my head fall in my hands, different thoughts running through my head. “Nathaniel wants us to get married. His parents already found it. Our relationship is fake, so why is he going through with it?"

“He just ended your relationship, then he kissed you…”

He also asked me to stay last night… was he clearheaded?

“So unpredictable,” Jess muttered.

“I will find out.” I need to find Julius; I can’t meet with Nathaniel now.