I Signed A Marriage Contract With My Captain Boss To Survive

Chapter Three

Nora's POV

I doubled away from Nathan's office as fast as my legs could carry me. I didn’t even pause to catch my breath as I jumped into my car and drove straight to my apartment complex. The moment I got inside, I slammed the door shut and leaned against it, finally able to breathe properly. I slid down to the floor and just sat there, trying to process what I had just heard.

Nathan asked me to marry him.

The god of American soccer?

The ladies' man?

I pressed my palm to my forehead and burst out laughing. I laughed so hard that I started wheezing, and my head and stomach began to hurt. There had to be some kind of mistake. Pulling myself together, I stood up and bounced lazily towards the fridge for a glass of water. After drowning a long sip, it hit me that I hadn't packed up my things at the office. I could deal with that tomorrow. Right now, I just wanted to be sure that Nathan wasn't on crack. Dude was super pumped up about the upcoming tournament, which made sense. But marriage and babies? Hell no.

I took a long, well-deserved warm shower, then I settled down on my grey sofa with one of the stacks of horror-themed paperback novels I had purchased from a*****e about a year ago, but never got around to reading. Honestly, sitting there and finally relaxing like this made me realise just how close I was to burning out from my former job. I placed an order for a king-sized pizza.

After a few hours, close to evening, I was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell.

Turns out, I didn't have to worry about packing my things at the office. Nathan Rothwell stood on my doorstep with an amused expression and tucked in his hands a brown cardboard box.

I slammed the door back in his face instantly.

This was the first time he had come to my apartment…and he knew where I lived all this time? I leaned against the door, my hands pressing into the wood, hoping he would go away.

“Nora,” I heard him call out, his tone rough and impatient. “Open up.”

“No,” I shot back. “Go away,”

This was the first time I had ever talked with him on a casual level, and it felt great.

Still, I wasn’t about to let myself get carried away.

“I'll break this down.” He warned.

“I know you can afford to fix it, but that's beside the point,” I teased back, giggling silently.

“Are we really going to do this my way?” He asked. I sensed an underlying threat in the question. I rolled my eyes and opened the door for him. He stepped inside, his gaze sweeping around my apartment.

I shut the door behind him and led him into the living room without a word. Unlike most of my fellow females, my apartment was sparse and unladylike, with two green couches and a long grey-coloured sofa, with an open box of unfinished pizza that was placed on top of a small black coffee table. I had no television or sound systems, just a small desk where there was a lamp, and a framed picture of my parents and me. I removed the box of pizza as he sat down on the grey sofa, placing the brown box on the table. When I returned, his dark grey eyes watched my every move, until I finally took a seat on the couch across from him.

“Your apartment doesn’t really feel like you,” he said, still glancing around.

“I barely live here,” I replied softly, tucking my hair behind my ears. Which was the truth. I mostly stayed at Nathan’s penthouse.

“When did you move your things out?” He asked me, his eyes brooding and unreadable. Nathan’s personality always switched between flames and ice, and sometimes in between. Right now, he was being exceptionally calm.

“A week ago,” I answered him, fiddling with my fingers.

Without warning, he stood and walked off towards the kitchen. I hurried right after him.

“Nathan—” I said and stopped short. This was the first time I had ever called him by his first name, and I'll admit, it felt strange, and oddly nice. I shook the feeling off and continued, the panic clear in my voice. “The rest of my house is off-limits!”

“Why?” he asked, pretending to sound hurt while opening the door of the fridge. “You know every corner of my place.”

“That’s because I worked for you,” I shot back at him, clearly irritated.

I watched him grab a bottle of water, unscrew the cap, and take a long drink. His Adam’s apple bobbled as he swallowed in quick gulps, his eyes never leaving mine.

When he finished, he gave me a knowing smirk and stepped farther into the kitchen, clearly ignoring my protests. In the centre of the kitchen sat a small table with two chairs.

He glanced around, then looked at me.

“I prefer this setting.” He said, a small smile tugging at his lips. “Have a seat, Nora.”

He wasn't my boss anymore, so I didn't have to take his orders. So I crossed my arms in defiance and raised an eyebrow at him.

“Why are you here, Nathan?”

He leaned casually against the table and let out a low chuckle. “To ask you to marry me.”

That again. I burst out laughing. “Dude, you can't be serious,”

Nathan’s POV

“Dude?”

Her laughter caught me off guard, but it was soft. And calm. Like music to my ears.

Soft, calm and music? Seriously?

“I'm so sorry,” she said, finally calming down, after noticing that I wasn't laughing along. “I had thought it was a joke, a very funny joke. Or maybe you were high or something,”

“I'm serious,” I said, in a low tone.

She stared at me. “This has to be the worst marriage proposal in history,” she joked, then her expression shifted, becoming serious. “Wait…You mean like a contract thing? Or a forever thing?”

“It's a contract,” I confirmed with a small smile. Trying to lighten the mood, I teased her softly, “Do you want me to get down on one knee?”

Her cheeks turned bright red at that.“No..” Then she changed her mind quickly, raising her eyebrow to challenge me. “Yes, I would like to see you do that,”

A low chuckle escaped me. “So, do you accept my proposal?”

“I'm still trying to figure it out,”

“My matters are private, just as yours are,” I said plainly. “But, I will respect our arrangement till it is over,”

“Wow,” she murmured, finally sitting down like I had asked her to moments ago. A thread of silence settled between us as she frowned slightly, clearly giving it some serious thought. But, I wasn’t worried. The fact that she was considering it at all meant I had a chance.

“Secrecy, huh?” she said at last, a small smile playing at her lips. “What exactly do I get out of this? Going along with this means toying with my family's feelings.”

“A million dollars and more. Fame, status–”

She laughed and cut me off. “I already have money. I’m not impressed, Nathan.”

Our conversation was only for a few minutes, but I already liked the way she called my name.

“Companionship?” I offered, and I knew I sounded ridiculous. To prove my point, Nora began laughing again.

“Okay, now we’re being honest.” She leaned back, smiling. “Fine. I’ll agree. But only if you tell me what you think happened the night we won the cup.”

“Deal,” I said solemnly.

I straightened myself from the table and walked towards her, as green eyes never left mine. My heart raced as the memories of that night flooded through me, flamed skin to skin, our hips clashing, crashing into each other. I would figure out that feeling later, right now, I had something very interesting ahead of me.

“I can tell you now that there isn't a day I don’t remember that night,” I said, going down on one knee. I saw her eyes widen in surprise. “Will you marry me, Nora?”