Contract Kisses Only

Chapter 5:Count Your Blessings

​Evie’s POV

​Back in my tiny studio apartment, the glamour of The Ivory Room felt like a dream. The radiator was clanking, a steady, rhythmic sound that usually helped me study, but tonight it felt like a countdown.

​I scrubbed the silver eyeliner off my face, watching the metallic flakes swirl down the drain and did my low budget skincare routine which by the grace of everything that's holy was able to keep my skin flawless because I needed at least one thing to go my way for once and my face was how I was currently paying my bills which I was great full for. Without the makeup and the designer coat, I looked like what I was: a tired student trying to keep her head above water. Working my butt off and always tired.

​My phone buzzed on the counter. A notification from my bank.

​Transfer Received: $15,000.00 from VANE, L.

​I stared at the number. The zeros were beautiful. They were more than beautiful; they were a safety net. That was my tuition. That was my rent for the rest of the year.

​I should have felt relieved. I should have been celebrating. But instead, my mind went straight back to the feeling of Leo’s hands on my waist.

​"He’s just a client," I told my reflection in the cracked bathroom mirror. "A client who is currently drowning and needs you to be his life raft. Don't let him pull you under with him."

​I went to my desk and opened my 'Vane Research' file. I’d spent the last few hours digging deeper into the family than I had before the meeting. I saw the photos of Julian and Sienna—the 'Perfect Couple.' They looked like they belonged on a pedestal. Julian looked like a man who never made a mistake, never spilled water on himself, and never laughed at a joke he shouldn't.

​Then I looked at the few photos of Leo where he wasn't posing. In the background of one of Julian’s gala shots, I saw Leo. He wasn't looking at the camera. He was looking at his family with a look of such profound, quiet longing that it made my heart ache for a split second.

​I knew that look. I’d seen it in the mirror every time a foster family told me they were "moving in a different direction."

​"Great," I sighed, dropping my head onto my hands. "He’s not just handsome and a good kisser. He’s lonely."Oh man",I can't do lonely,I tell myself.I know that feeling very well it became a part of my soul since I could even remember no matter how hard I worked or studied it is always a shadow that sleeps next to me every night in my empty bed and apartment a shadow I can't seem to shake no matter how hard I try.

​That was the most dangerous realization of all. I could handle a narcissist. I could handle a brat. But a man who was just trying to be seen? That was a vulnerability I wasn't sure my contract covered.I couldn't stop thinking about him as I did my night routine I thought of him while I showered. I thought of him while I was brushing my teeth and I thought of him as I was reviewing my study plan.And I didn't like it one bit and I'm very determined on keeping everything professional at all costs.I was getting paid for this there is no room for feelings or getting attached I tell myself.

​I shut the laptop and crawled into bed, pulling the thin duvet up to my chin. The Salt City wind howled outside, but all I could hear was the echo of my own heartbeat and the ghost of a kiss that had changed the terms of the deal before the ink was even dry.

​"Strictly business," I whispered into the dark. "Strictly business, Evie. You can do this."

​But as I drifted off to sleep, my last thought wasn't about the $15,000. It was about whether Leo would still taste like lemons when we reached the mountains.I hope he does echo in my mind,what the hell am I even thinking about i scold myself before drifting off to sleep.