by Jerilee Kaye
“Even if it was just a favor? Even if I just asked you to sacrifice a huge part of your life?”
He shrugged. “You are a huge part of my life, too. For a long while now, you’ve been the only family I have had. I told you I didn’t intend to marry at all. But if I do this with you, it won’t be that bad, will it?”
I laughed and hugged him. “No, Travis. I don’t think it will be bad at all!” I took a deep breath. “I love you. Thank you for doing this for me.”
He held the back of my head and took a deep breath. “I am doing this because you are probably the only person I love in my life.”
I stared up at him. “I didn’t know you could love at all,” I teased, trying to make the mood lighter.
He grinned. “Me neither.”
Travis may sound like a formidable force—manipulative, shrewd, and ruthless in many ways—but I knew how torn and broken he was inside. And sometimes, he wasn’t afraid to show me that side. After all, it is tiring to be so strong all the time.
He stared at me seriously. Then he said, “Close your eyes, Brianne.”
I did as he said. I felt his breath against my face. My heart pounded wildly inside my ribcage. Gently, I felt him brush his lips against mine. I tensed against his lips, and he sucked in a deep breath. “Do you realize that this is something you should get used to?”
I blinked back at him. “But didn’t we agree…”
“That we would not go to bed, yes. But do you want your parents and your relatives to suspect that?”
I shook my head.
“Then you should know that they expect us to make a show of affection toward each other.” He gave me a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. I promised to protect you from the beast inside me, remember? I’m still good at keeping my promises.”
I understood that. I didn’t want my relatives to think I’d just commissioned Travis to marry me to escape the so-called family curse, whether or not there was truth to it. We did have to show them that this was a love match. Though nothing would happen in the bedroom, they didn’t need to know or suspect that.
I nodded at him. “Would you care to try again?” I asked him boldly.
He sucked in a deep breath, as if this was difficult for him, too. Then he leaned forward, and I closed my eyes. I felt his lips on mine, and he gave me one gentle kiss. And then he kissed…really…kissed me. Passionately.
It was a mixture of a whole lot of emotions for me. It was a combination of thrill, fear, excitement, weariness…it was nerve-wracking, it was mind-blowing, and sanity-disturbing!
How could I feel like this every time Travis kisses me?
When the kiss was over, Travis leaned his forehead against mine and sucked in a deep breath.
“That’s enough…for now,” he whispered.
I knew I was blushing violently. Travis smiled when he saw my flushed face.
“I can make you blush,” he whispered. And I wasn’t sure if he was teasing me.
“Didn’t you know that a long time ago?” I raised a brow.
He touched my warm face with his fingers. “It’s good to remember.”
Travis had been with a lot of women. I was just one of the many that he’d kissed like that. I doubted that he felt anything when he kissed me. I doubted that I could stir any emotion in him, the way he stirred so many emotions in me. And for that reason, I felt embarrassed. But I refused to let him see that.
“I’m not always soft-hearted or sensitive,” he warned me.
“You almost never were,” I said to him. “But I know you are. I know you have a good heart, Travis.”
“You have so much faith in me,” he said and hugged me to him. “This is not going to be easy for either of us.”
“I’m ready for that. Just promise I will still have you when all this comes to an end.”
He took a deep breath and tightened our embrace. “I promise, cherie.”
I smiled against his chest. I knew he meant that. After all, Travis was so good at keeping his promises.
Chapter Sixteen
When we got back to the hotel, Travis and I sat on the bed and talked. We were…well, basically planning our future. Although we were not lovers, we were betrothed and whether we liked it or not, we had lives that we would live together, for the next two years, minimum.
“You said you were thinking of moving cities,” he said.
“Yes.”
“Then come to Manhattan with me,” he said. “You can manage your gallery there instead. You can paint all you want. I’m pretty sure there are dance studios that would be happy to accommodate you.”
“That sounds like a plan.” I smiled. I found that proposal interesting.
“I have an apartment there. You can move in with me.”
“Why? Can’t I rent my own?”
“Useless,” Travis replied. His tone told me that he thought my idea was ridiculous. “When do you intend to get married anyway? You’re approaching your deadline, cherie. Didn’t you want to get married before that?”
I nodded. “Are we getting married in New York?”
“It’s up to you, really. We could get married at home. Or in New York, whichever you prefer.”
“New York is expensive,” I said. “I don’t think the money I have saved up is enough. But in any case, I intend to have a small ceremony.”
Travis raised a brow. “Did you really think I would let you pay for our wedding?”
“But, Travis, this is a favor!” I protested. “You already gave me this lovely ring! Which…I will return when we divorce, by the way. So you don’t have to buy a new one for your real fiancée.”
He smirked. “You are my real fiancée,” he reminded me.
“I mean…you know what I mean!” I said in a frustrated tone. Our relationship seemed to be getting harder and harder to define with each passing day.
“Well, in any case, you won’t be spending a dime on our wedding. I’ve been saving up for it since I was sixteen years old,” he said.
“You have been?”
He nodded. “I promised to be your safety guy. I had to make provisions for this event, you know.”
I sighed. “You really have the answer to everything, don’t you?”
“Not everything.” He took a deep breath. “So, are you fine with moving in with me…to my apartment in Manhattan? I personally do not like my fiancée staying in an apartment decorated by her ex-boyfriend!”
I laughed at that. Travis sounded like he was irritated and insulted at the same time.
“And besides, maybe you’d like to get married in two or three months,” he said. “It’s not forbidden for engaged couples to live together prior to the wedding.”
I nodded. “You state your case well, Mr. Cross,” I said. “Do you have a guest bedroom?”
He raised a brow. “My guest bedroom is a third the size of my room and has no walk-in closet. No way I would let you stay there. And besides, why would we stay in separate bedrooms?”
“Because nothing will happen between us, remember?”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean we can’t share a bedroom.” He raised a brow.
“We certainly can’t share a bed!” I protested, blushing violently.
He laughed. “Yes. But my bedroom is big enough to accommodate you. And I can always add a couch big enough to be a bed and I’ll spend my nights there. Same bedroom, separate sleeping arrangements.”
I looked terrified. Would I really be living with Travis? Staying in the same bedroom as him for the next two years?
He narrowed his eyes. “You haven’t thought this through, have you?”
I shook my head. “At least not this far.”
He slightly shook his head. “Oh God, Brianne!” he said under his breath. Then as if he were talking to a ten-year-old, he said, “We’re going to get married. We will live in the same house and we will stay in the same room. We don’t want to risk your parents or any of your relatives dropping by our apartment and finding us living
separately. If they found out that this marriage is an arrangement or a favor I’m doing for you…you’d be ‘cursed’ no matter what.”
I sighed. He had a point. “I guess you’re right.”
“Furthermore, we will show affection as if we really are a happily married couple. We can kiss, we can hug, and cuddle with each other, but…” He paused, giving me a hard expression. Then he continued, “We will not have sex. And in two years, you promised to discuss the possibility of having at least one son with me.”
“Wow. You got that one mapped out.” I knew only that I had asked Travis to do this for me, but it seemed that he’d given it more thought than I had.
“I have to. I don’t want to confuse the do’s with the don’ts!” he muttered under his breath. “Are you going to be okay with all the rules?”
I nodded slowly. Then I said to him, “Women.”
“What?”
“We need to discuss the issue of your women,” I said. “I know you’re a player, Travis Cross. How would your marriage to me impact your…sex life?”
He narrowed his eyes at me and then he said, “Let that be my problem.”
“I said it was okay for you to continue your usual activities,” I said. “But I can’t let my parents know or think that you’re cheating on me. They love you like a son, Travis. If they thought you were hurting me, that would change. And I couldn’t let that happen. You don’t deserve that.”
“I told you…let that be my problem,” he said in a more serious voice, as if telling me to shut up, as if he didn’t want to discuss the subject matter anymore.
“Do you have a mistress? Girlfriend? That I should know about? I mean…not that I care, really. I just want to know if I need to watch my back.”
He raised a brow. “What do you take me for?”
I sighed. “Travis…I…don’t know your relationship profile. I know there’s been a string of women. I just want to know if anybody from that string actually stuck.”
He sighed and said, “No one has the right to hold a gun to your face or stick a knife to your back. You should be safe. There were women…but no one stuck for more than a couple of weeks.”
I was surprised. “Why?”
“Because I’m a difficult man, Brianne!” he said in an irritated tone. “No woman will want to have a relationship with me! No woman can!”
His voice was so forceful, it made me turn away from him. I swallowed hard and then I turned around to get up from the bed and walk out of the room.
I heard his sharp intake of breath as I exited the bedroom, and before I knew it, I felt him pull my arm, and then I was enclosed in his tight embrace. I closed my eyes. I didn’t hug him back. He didn’t say anything, but he kept hugging me tightly, and I was almost afraid I would be crushed.
“I don’t want to fight with you, Brianne,” he whispered softly. “Especially not on the first day of our engagement.” It seemed that he was struggling for words. “But it is true…as you will soon find out when you live in my world. I’m a difficult man. I’m ruthless! Heartless even! I do not care about other people’s emotions. Maybe that is why I was getting better at my game. Because I see things logically all the time. I make decisions based on what I think would be most profitable. Regardless of what’s at stake. I’m a stone, you know!”
I shook my head. “If you were a stone, Travis, you wouldn’t be standing here, holding me!”
Instead of letting go, he hugged me tighter. “You’re probably the only one allowed to see me…weak. Maybe it’s because you’re the only thing left to remind me what it’s like to feel love…and pain.” He took another long breath. “Maybe it’s a good thing that you’re the one I’m marrying. If it were somebody else, I’d probably just break her heart, shred her to pieces.”
“And you can’t afford to hurt me…because you promised Tom you wouldn’t.”
He sighed but chose not to answer that. Then he pulled away to look at me in the eyes. “I’m sorry I raised my voice at you. I will try my best not to let that happen again.”
I smiled at him. I took a deep breath and I stood on my tiptoes so I could give him a kiss on the lips. I knew I wouldn’t normally do that. But it was something that I would have to get used to. Something that I should be comfortable doing from now on to make it easier to pretend in front of everybody else. He was my fiancé now. Everything was real.
He took a deep breath and leaned his forehead against mine. “You’re a good man, Travis. I know you are. You can pretend to be ruthless all you want. But nothing can change the way I see you. I know you have a heart. And I know that even though you’re just doing this as a favor, I still am a lucky girl to have you for my husband.”
He smiled ruefully. “You have so much faith in me, Brianne. Sometimes I don’t think I deserve it.”
“You do,” I said and gave him a hug again. “And I won’t stop believing in you, Travis.”
***
The next day we were in Manhattan. Travis took my hand in his as we entered his building.
I couldn’t help but notice that everybody on our way upstairs seemed to have frozen in place when Travis walked past them. Everybody greeted him formally, Good afternoon, Mr. Cross. And then the path seemed to just open up for him, like everybody in the building knew better than block his way.
Travis walked past every single one of them without a word, not even a nod. It was as if he didn’t hear them…they didn’t exist, except for the bellhop who brought my bags up.
A man in an Armani suit opened Travis’s penthouse suite.
“Mr. Cross,” he greeted Travis. He didn’t smile, either. But I didn’t miss the quick look he gave me.
“Call the landlord, Karl,” Travis said in a cold, commanding voice.
“Right away, Mr. Cross,” Karl said. He turned to the bellhop, gave him a tip, and immediately asked him to go.
Travis turned to me. When he saw me standing beside a couch eyeing him curiously, he said, “You can sit, you know. This is your home now.”
“Oh. I was waiting for you to tell me what to do,” I said wryly.
Travis didn’t miss the sarcasm in my voice, but instead of answering back, he turned away from me and went to the bar and poured himself a whiskey.
Karl came back with a man in his fifties. They stood behind Travis.
“Mr. Cross. Welcome back,” the man greeted him.
Travis got straight to the point. “This is Brianne Montgomery,” he introduced me to both Karl and the landlord. “She’s my fiancée. She’s going to live with me in this apartment. Tell all your staff that I want them to treat her with the same courtesy you give me. I don’t want any of your guys giving her problems. Am I understood?”
The man nodded. “Yes, Mr. Cross.”
Travis turned his back on them. That must have meant they were dismissed now. They turned around, and the man nodded at me. I stood up from my seat and ran after them just as they were about to reach the door.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name,” I said to the older man.
He stared back at me blankly. “Excuse me?”
I smiled at him brightly. I extended my hand to his. “You can call me Brianne.”
He shook my hand and smiled. “I’m sorry, Miss Brianne. My name is Andres Ferguson.”
“Nice to meet you Mr. Ferguson,” I said.
Then I turned to Karl. He was staring back at me in wild amazement. “I’m…Karl Dereks. I’m Mr. Cross’s P.A.,” he said in a voice that was too feminine to belong to a straight man.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I smiled.
Mr. Ferguson nodded at me and then he exited through the door.
“Are you hungry, Brianne?” Travis asked, walking toward me and Karl.
I nodded. “Kind of.”
“What do you want to eat? We can have food delivered.”
I shrugged. “Asian cuisine should be fine.”
Travis nodded and turned to Karl. “Go to Pearl de Oriente. When you get there,
read me the menu. You can bring the food over.”
Karl nodded.
I glared at Travis. He raised a brow at me.
I turned to Karl. “I’m new in the city! Perhaps if I go with you, I can start learning the streets of New York.”
“You will not walk the streets of New York, there’s no need for you to know them.”
“How do you expect me to get around?”
“I’m arranging for a limo and a driver to be at your disposal wherever you go.”
“Great! Lovely!” I rolled my eyes. “No, thank you. I’m not crippled. And I need to make new friends in the city. Perhaps Karl is a good start.” I turned to Karl. “I’ll come with you.”
He was open-mouthed as if he was appalled that I was daring him to defy Travis’s command. But I pulled him by the arm and started for the door. Then, just before we stepped out of the apartment, I turned to Travis and said, “I’ll read you the menu!”
I pulled Karl with me, closing the door behind us. He was still staring at me widely.
“What?” I asked.
He shook his head. “You’re going to get me fired!”
I laughed. “If he fires you for this, let me know,” I said. “I’m pretty sure I can make him hire you back.”
He gave me a weird look and asked, “Who are you?”
I laughed at that. “I’m Travis’s angel counterpart,” I joked.
When I called Travis to read him exactly what was on the restaurant menu, he didn’t even make me start. “Order whatever you want, and bring the same thing for me. Karl has my credit card. He’ll pay for the bill.”
“Are you sure you don’t have a personal preference?” I asked, provoking him.
“You know I’m not going to let you read that menu!” he said in a frustrated voice.
“I don’t mind, Trav.”
“Brianne…are you testing my patience?”
“Hmmm…nope. But maybe I want to find out just how short your temper really is,” I said evenly.
“Very short,” he answered curtly. “So please hurry home.” Then he hung up the phone.
