Billionaire's Sweet Challenge

Chapter 7

Inside, the hall was alive with chattering and laughter with the adults talking and the small kids frolicking around capriciously. Oblivious to his and Lexi's presence, the happy family scene continued until one of his aunts spotted them. She wiggled her brows at his mother, a teasing smile growing on her face as she pointed towards them.

His mother, turning and upon seeing them, leapt out of the sofa, trotting towards them as joy suffused her expression. "My darling!" She pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.

Kris grunted with protest. "Mum come on, I'm not a kid any more!"

"Oh shut up!" As if wanting to annoy him more, the woman squeezed him even more into the bear hug. He heard Lexi chuckle beside him.

She ignored his grunts as she pulled back and faced Lexi, her blue eyes alight with excitement and admiration. "You must be Alexa. Oh my goodness, you are so beautiful. Elvis was so right." She pulled her into a hug.

Lexi must've been caught offguard because her eyes widened at him over his mother's shoulder. He smiled to reassure her.

"I'm so happy to meet you. You don't know how much!" Even if her voice didn't attest to how much she meant her words, the look on her face would've done the job just fine.

He'd always been confused by his mother's fervent wish that he get a woman, and still was by her now enthusiasm that he'd found one. Well, pretended to have found one.

"Come dear. Let me introduce you to everyone." His mother said, taking Lexi's hand and leading her towards the group, her whole body crackling with excitement. "Hey everyone, this is Alexa Parker. Alexa, this is everyone."

Some of the people laughed while others spoke and nodded with admiration at his 'girlfriend' until his mother commanded their attention by clapping her hands.

Because they knew how authoritative she could be, the noise stopped almost immediately, and his mother spoke when calm had been restored. "Alexa is my daughter-in-law."

The women cheered. Even the children who had stopped playing to look at them did, while the men went on to be their phlegmatic selfs. But he saw admiration in everyone's eyes.

"That's enough mother." Kris chastised, thinking Alexa would feel uneasy and not wanting his mother to go too far with her hopes. It was one thing to make her believe Lexi was his girlfriend but it was a more serious thing to make her get the idea he was planning to marry her.

Making his way towards them, he placed his hand at Lexi's waist, feeling her stiffen at his touch. He instantly found himself loving his hand on her waist, and God did she have small waist.

"Lexi and I have only been together for four months. We're still going steady and not even engaged yet. Why are you making such a big deal out of this?"

His mother turned to look at him with an almost umbraged expression as if wondering whether he was joking. "I'm making a big deal? Son, for a while I feared you weren't planning to get married. This girl is the first you've introduced to us all 30 years of your life. It must be something!" She mused, earning nods of agreement from the others.

He had to admit she had a point, and to think everything was so fake. "Hopefully, you two will be getting married soon and I can play with my grandchildren."

So this was what all the excitement was about, he thought. And as he looked into his mother's hopeful eyes, he felt a pang of guilt at the way he was deceiving her.

Quickly shoving the guilty feeling away, he took Lexi's hand and led her past his mother, saying a quick "hey, dad" to his father and receiving a curt nod and a small smile in return even though the man actually grinned at Lexi. He and his father had never had the strongest of bonds.

Some of his aunties, cousins and uncles came to greet and hug Lexi, welcoming her in a way that undoubtedly pleased her judging from the look in her eyes. Uncle Elvis was the only male who hugged Lexi.

Kris glared at his cousin, Ramiro, when the latter prolonged a handshake with Lexi much longer than required, and then glared at Lexi when she didn't seem to mind the lewd undertone in his gaze.

A trouble maker cousin, and a promiscuous fake girlfriend wasn't a very good combination. He wondered if he had cause to worry as he glanced between Lexi and his cousin. After the warm welcome, his mum immediately came for Lexi, taking her hand.

"You guys go up and rest. Dinner is in a few hours." She said affectionately. Lexi returned it warmly.

Kris stepped up behind her, resting his hand on her waist and once again loving how slim it was as he led her upstairs.

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"Okay, we are away from your family so you can remove your hand from my waist." Lexi pointed out immediately they entered his room.

Kris extracted his hand from her waist like she'd caught fire. Damn it, it'd felt so right; the feel of the soft flesh of her slim waist beneath his hand, until he'd forgotten it was even there. What was wrong with him?

He stepped away from her before she could sense his tension, and slewed to face her when he was at a safe distance away. "Sorry I didn't tell you we'd be sharing the same room."

"I figured as much." She replied.

Kris wondered how true that was. "Not to worry, I'll sleep in the couch."

"Totally fine by me."

An awkward silence settled over them as they just stared at each other until Kris decided to break the unnerving spell. "Uh... So you want to have a nap before dinner?"

"No, I'll go down with you. The drive wasn't that long. I'm just ravenous for a shower!" A broad smile suddenly curved her lips.

He chuckled despite himself and watched as she begun removing her dangling conical golden earrings, her beautiful rope-woven bracelet with hints of gold, and then her somewhat high heeled shoes before sauntering to the bathroom. It took the click of the bathroom door to snap him out of his daze, making him realize he'd been following her every action.

Chastising himself for the umpteenth time, Kris looked around the room he'd occipied while staying at the mansion and let the nostalgia and the memories wash over him. Nothing had changed really. The large King sized bed was aligned in the middle of the room, resting against the cream coloured wall.

The mattress was covered by immaculate white sheets and a rather colossal amount of pillows. A flowery designed lamp rested on each of the nightstands on either side of the bed. A large mahogany closet formed part of the wall with mirrors embedded in the doors.

Perched against the wall at one corner of the room were plush sofas just beside the intricate glass doors that led to a large balcony. After his observation, Kris looked at his and Lexi's mini suitcases and sighed. He would just unpack his later. Tiring job, since they would he spending a maximum of three days anyways.

Lexi emerged some minutes later from the bathroom in a white bathrobe, and his first thought was that he couldn't have met a more beautiful sight.

The large bathrobe ended just above her knee, leaving the exquisite view of her long, slender, creamy legs. Her wet dark hair clung to her face, creating a beautiful contrast against her caramel skin.

It took him a smile from her to realize he was ogling. Snapping out of it, he nodded when she told him she was done showering.

"Sorry I didn't take my clothes inside with me." She said apologetically.

Kris nodded to reassure her. Cursing silently under his breath and hoping she hadn't heard him, he made for the bathroom, stripping immediately he entered.

The warm water was refreshing against his skin, and he would've enjoyed his shower more if not for the constantly jagging image of Lexi's freshly scrubbed skin and her legs.

After his shower and toweling, Kris was about to grab the last bathrobe when he stopped. Lexi had been getting his mind all messed up today even while she'd been rather cool as a cucumber. It was time to rattle her some and see her phlegmatic level.

With a small smile at the naughty thought, he wrapped the towel around his waist and stepped out of the bathroom. Lexi had changed into a maroon coloured dress that was low cut on the cleverage. A gorgeous sight.

"Your room is. . . beautiful." She seemed to gasp, stretching on the last word when her eyes fell on his body.

"Thanks." He muttered, suppressing a smirk of satisfaction. He knew he had an athletic body that could get most women at his beck and call. Like he'd always suspected, Lexi was obviously not immune to it.

Schooling his facial expression to nonchalance, he proceeded towards his suitcase and opened it leisurely, pretending to be surfing through his clothes when he was in fact watching her from the corner of his eyes.

She seemed to be battling with herself to keep her eyes away from his body, and damn did her face looked flushed. "Uh, I think I'll wait for you outside." Her voice sounded like she was parched.

Kris suppressed his chuckle until she'd scurried out of the room. God I'm so gonna have fun doing this often.