The Arrangement Duet Box Set

by Madison Quinn

  “It’s been nice.”

  “It has. Although, I expect the reporters are going to be worse when we first get back to New York.”

  “Really? Why?”

  “Because everyone’s going to want the first picture of Mr. and Mrs. Parker, I’m sure. We released the one from our wedding, of course, but they’re going to want their own.”

  “Oh, I suppose I should arrange for my name to be changed when we get back.”

  “The applications are waiting for you in my office—all you will need to do is sign them. My legal department has taken care of completing everything and should have attached our marriage license, but if it hasn’t come in yet, that might be the one thing we have to wait for.”

  “Oh, wow… thanks.”

  “You should also have insurance and bank cards waiting for you when we get back.”

  “Insurance cards?”

  “Medical, dental and vision. PFS offers complete medical care to all of its employees and their families. You won’t have any deductibles or out of pocket expenses. I can assure you the coverage is far better than any that you might currently have, but if you want to compare plans I can have someone in my benefits department call you—”

  “That won’t be necessary. I don’t have medical coverage now, so there’s nothing to compare. I just wasn’t expecting it.”

  “You don’t have health insurance? How do you… what if…?”

  “I looked into getting health insurance, trust me, it isn’t because I don’t want it. I made too much money to qualify for state funded insurance, yet to purchase a policy out of pocket would cost me more than four hundred dollars a month. And even then, the coverage itself wasn’t the greatest, and came with high costs.”

  “What if you got sick?”

  “There are plenty of clinics that will work a payment plan out with you, or a few even offer a sliding fee, based on how much you earn. Thankfully, I don’t get sick too often, so it wasn’t an issue. I made sure to get an annual physical, just in case, but otherwise, I rarely have to go to the doctor.”

  “Well, you don’t have to worry about that any longer. Like I said, PFS’s medical coverage is one of the best on the market. I didn’t want my employees having to worry about medical bills for themselves or their families, especially if they had a major medical issue.”

  “Thank you. I can cover the cost of my premium—”

  “No. These benefits are provided to all employees at no cost to them. Adding you to the insurance policy doesn’t cost me anything, but even if it did, I wouldn’t let you pay for it. Besides it’s in our paperwork that I cover your medical expenses.”

  “I just assumed that meant a doctor bill or something; I wasn’t expecting that to mean adding me to your health insurance plan.”

  “Well this way you don’t have to worry about dealing with bills if you need to go somewhere.”

  “And a bank card? I’m almost afraid to ask.”

  “Of course, you’ve been added as a joint owner to my bank account—”

  “Nicholas! I don’t need or want access to your money!”

  “I know you don’t need or want access to it, but you’re going to have expenses that you wouldn’t otherwise have being married to me. It’s only fair that I cover those expenses. You’re a joint owner on one of my personal bank accounts. I want you to use it for any expenses you have. I don’t care if it’s getting your nails done, your hair cut or going out to lunch with Cara.”

  “I don’t feel comfortable using your money. It was hard enough to use your card to pay for the dress when Cara and I went shopping, but hair and nail appointments?”

  “I know it’s going to take you some time to get used to it. I’m sure you’re used to having to worry about every penny you spend and how you’re going to afford the next thing that comes up. But you don’t have to any longer.”

  “But—”

  “Chances are you wouldn’t be buying the things you’re going to buy, or getting your hair and nails done as often as you will be, if you weren’t married to me. It’s only right that I pay for those things.”

  “I just don’t feel right. I have my own money, I think I should be using that.”

  “This isn’t about you having or not having money. It just makes sense since these expenses would be related to me. I have more money that I can spend in a lifetime, probably two lifetimes. Please, don’t worry about spending my money. I love that you are concerned about it, but you don’t need to be.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Just don’t think about it, okay? Let me do this for you…”

  I shrug my shoulders without answering; I really don’t feel comfortable using the money Nicholas earns working so hard, for something like getting my hair done. I see his point about it though, with the media hounding us, appearances are going to be more important than they’ve ever been. I guess I just never thought that would mean that he would make me a joint owner on his bank account. It seems…

  “I trust you, Kenzie,” he leans over and kisses me, which immediately ends my worried thoughts.

  Chapter 20

  Kenzie

  Today is our last full day in Fiji; tomorrow night we will be back in New York and back to reality. It’s hard to think about being back there and having to deal with reporters, schedules, business dinners and charity events again—things here are so different. I wonder if things will change between us when we get home and real life takes over. I especially don’t want to lose this: Nicholas’s arm wrapped around my waist and his body pressed up against mine as we sleep.

  We haven’t talked about what our sleeping arrangements will be once we get back, though if it were up to me, I would keep things just as they are right now. I don’t understand it, but for whatever reason sharing a bed seems to keep his nightmares away. I doubted his simple explanation as to why he had a nightmare the other night, but the more I thought about it the more it made sense. In New York, he had nightmares nearly every night for the two weeks I lived with him, yet we spent almost an entire week sharing a bed and the only time he had a nightmare was when we slept separately.

  I gently lift his arm from my stomach and slip out of bed, toss on a robe and head out to the living room. I spend the next few minutes planning out our last day on the island; Nicholas had said there wasn’t anything specific he wanted to do before he left, so I thought it would be nice to surprise him. A few phone calls later, I have managed to arrange our entire day, one that I hope he will enjoy. Everything planned today was done with him in mind: I’m really hoping that he likes what I have picked out. I’m nervous, though, I want him to enjoy today, but I’m worried that he might not like something I arranged. I’d like to think I know him fairly well, but the reality is we have only known each other a few short months, so I could easily be wrong. He has spent so much time and money doing things that make me happy, I want to do this for him.

  “You’re up early,” Nicholas finally joins me on the patio a couple of hours later.

  “You slept late.”

  “I don’t know how I’m going to get back on schedule when we get home tomorrow. I don’t think I’ve been awake before eight this entire week.”

  “I know, I was thinking the same thing earlier,” I don’t let on that I was also wondering if things will change between us. “I was going to wake you in a few minutes anyway, I planned a few things today, and if we don’t get a move on it we won’t be able to get everything done.”

  “You planned a few things?”

  I can tell how surprised he is by his tone, in the few months we’ve known each other, I haven’t planned much or taken the lead often on things we do. By the definition of our original arrangement, Nicholas was the planner: he told Bridget where and when he needed me and I showed up. With our revised arrangement not much has changed in that sense. He will need to continue to tell me when and where he needs me, so the mirage of our marriage continues, and the press stays off of his back allowing his foc
us to remain on PFS where it should be.

  “Yes, I’ve planned the entire day. Brunch should be here in a few minutes, then we need to leave within an hour if we are to stay on schedule.”

  “On schedule?”

  “Of course, two of our activities have set times that they occur. There’s an activity in the middle, that if times allows we can do, but it doesn’t have a strict start time like the others.”

  “Are you going to tell me what we’re doing today?”

  “Nope, it’s a surprise,” I chuckle at his heavy sigh, knowing that he has done this same thing to me a couple of times now.

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “Nope.”

  He laughs but wraps his arms around me and kisses my neck softly. He starts sucking and nibbling on my neck, as his hands struggle to untie the knot holding my bathrobe closed. Eventually, he gives up with the knot, instead sliding his hands between the folds of the bathrobe, groaning when he finds my silk covered breasts. I can feel him hardening against me, leaving me no doubt that he wants me as much as I want him right now. Things have definitely changed for us in this department: lately neither of us can keep our hands off of each other. I had thought that after I flipped out at Accord Towers that night, things would have cooled off, but it has only heated up since then.

  I’m startled when I hear someone in the villa behind us, but Nicholas holds me tight against him not letting me turn around to see who it is. The staff here somehow performs their jobs without ever interrupting the guests. Our brunch was delivered and they left all without saying a word or interrupting us. Thankfully, from where they were in the villa, they couldn’t see us on the patio, but even if they could, Nicholas’s back is all they would be able to see. When he sucks on my ear lobe, I moan loudly, thankful that the staff left us only moments ago.

  “I want you, Kenzie…” he whispers, pressing his hardness against my ass as if to prove a point.

  “I want you too,” I admit breathlessly. His breath hitches with my admission, I guess I surprised him with my honesty. I do want Nicholas, just as much as he wants me; we just need to figure out how that can happen with our issues.

  “Let’s go take a shower.”

  “Later… we need to eat and get ready to leave.”

  “It can wait.”

  “It can’t… we have appointment times.”

  “Reschedule them.”

  “It was the only time left.”

  “Hummppppffff.”

  I turn around so I’m facing him and wrap my arms around his neck. His arms immediately go around my waist anchoring me to him. The silk fabric of my nightie and bathrobe allow me to feel every muscle in his body when he holds me against him.

  “We’ll take that shower later tonight, I promise,” I kiss him gently on the lips even though I want nothing more than to deepen the kiss and take him up on his offer.

  “Tonight,” he reluctantly agrees before kissing me one last time.

  After eating a quick brunch, we head into separate bathrooms to quickly wash up and get changed. I’d much rather have Nicholas in here with me, than in the guest bathroom, but I know if he were here we would never make our reservation. I was so tempted to cancel everything I had planned, in favor of spending the day right here with him, especially after he suggested we take another shower together. But, at the same time, I really wanted to do this: I wanted to spend our last day on the island doing things that he might choose to do for himself.

  “Are you ready, Kenzie?” Nicholas knocks on the door just as I’m slipping on my shoes.

  “All done.”

  He comes into the bedroom to grab a pair of socks out of the dresser before sitting on the bed next to me. It really touches me that even though we have been sharing this bedroom for the entire trip, he continues to knock before coming in, especially if he knows I’m getting dressed. I like that he doesn’t take whatever is happening between us for granted. I don’t know how to label what we’re doing exactly, but I know this week things have definitely changed between us. We’ve gone from incredibly close friends to something much more.

  “So where to?” he asks.

  “I told you it’s a surprise.”

  “Do I need to bring anything? Bathing suit, towel…?”

  “Nope, just you.”

  We take the golf cart through the resort, parking in the lot by the dock where we first arrived on the island. I see Nicholas’s immediate confusion when he sees a plane waiting for us.

  “Kenzie… if you didn’t arrange for Carter to accompany us on this trip, I’m afraid we can’t go. We can’t leave the island—”

  “Technically, we’re leaving the island but really, in a way, we’re not. I spoke with Carter this morning and he agreed we didn’t need security for this trip.”

  “What do you mean we’re leaving the island but we’re not?”

  “It’s an island tour by air. The plane is going to take us around the entire island, as well as over the nearby islands. It’s just the two of us and the pilot on the trip, so Carter didn’t feel there was a security risk. We won’t be landing until we return to Turtle Island. However, he said if you insisted, he could be here within minutes—”

  “No, he’s right, we don’t need him. I’m sorry, I assumed you wouldn’t have thought about security.”

  “Don’t be. When I first arranged this, I didn’t even think about security, it wasn’t until after I finalized all of the plans, that I thought to run this trip by Carter to be sure he didn’t feel we needed security. Being here is different: in New York we need security whenever we leave Accord Towers, but here we have so much more flexibility. It was easy to forget that I should ask Carter.”

  “You’re right, we have much more flexibility here than we do in New York. I wish it were like this in New York; then I wouldn’t need security and wouldn’t have to worry about what the press thinks of me.”

  “True, but then we wouldn’t be here right now. You yourself said this was your first vacation…” I don’t mention that we wouldn’t be doing whatever it is we’re doing right now.

  “You’re right, and I’ve really enjoyed spending this week with you.”

  “Me too.”

  “Mr. Parker, Mrs. Parker?” one of the workers from the activities department arrives.

  “Yes, that’s us,” Nicholas confirms.

  “The plane is ready when you are. We are scheduled to take off in the next ten minutes, so I would recommend you make your way to the plane as soon as possible.”

  “Thank you.”

  We head down the dock to the plane that is waiting for us. I climb up the steps, my legs shaking the entire time. Although I know this plane is safe, I still hate how small it is. As soon as I’m in the plane, I wait for Nicholas to climb in before gesturing for him to sit closest to the window. Once he is seated, he reaches over and straps me into my seat; my hands were shaking so bad that it made buckling the seat belt difficult.

  “Are you okay? We don’t have to do this—”

  “I’m fine. I just hate how tiny this plane is.”

  “You are the one who arranged this trip, right?” He chuckles.

  “Yeah.”

  My nervousness all but disappears once the plane is in the air, and we are able to take in the amazing views before us. We are flying much lower than we were when we first arrived on the island, allowing us to see so much more of the island. Our pilot takes his time going around Turtle Island, while describing things in detail to us. I’m surprised at just how large the island is, when the pilot points out all the undeveloped areas. There’s so much to do on the section of the island where we are staying, that it’s hard to think that there are parts that are purposely left undeveloped for the local wildlife. While flying over the other islands that make up Fiji, the pilot shares information about the culture.

  As we circle back to Turtle Island, I spend a couple of minutes watching Nicholas. His face is practically glued to the window, watching as we fly
over everything taking it all in.

  “Wow… that was an amazing trip, Kenzie. Thank you for arranging it today,” Nicholas pulls me into his arms the moment I step off the plane and onto the dock.

  “You really liked it?”

  “It was really something. To be able to see everything so clearly… we were able to see so much that we couldn’t see on the flight in. I read about the air tours on their website, when I was researching the island, but I didn’t think we would fly as low as we did to be able to really see everything. And for some reason I had thought the tour was shorter—”

  “It typically is only an hour; I had requested a longer tour so we could look at the other islands.”

  “Thank you. It was… really something.”

  “I’m glad you liked it.”

  We walk back to the golf cart hand in hand; I feel much more relaxed than we first arrived. I was more worried about this activity rather than the dinner I planned for later today.

  “So, what’s next on our schedule?” Nicholas asks as we reach the villa.

  “Let’s see,” I glance at the clock mentally reviewing our schedule. “We have about two hours before we have to be somewhere. I had thought we could swim or go down to the beach one last time? Unless you want to do something—”

  “No, that sounds perfect,” he interrupts before I have a chance to finish my thought.

  “Oh, dinner tonight is formal. I sent your suit out to be cleaned, so it should be back by now.”

  “You did?”

  “I didn’t see another suit in the closet, so I assumed you only brought the one that you wore for our wedding?”

  “I didn’t think I would need one, but at the last minute I had Carter add the bag to the plane. I guess I needed it after all.”

  “I hope you don’t mind—”

  “Of course not. Although, I have to admit I’m intrigued as to what you have planned that requires me to wear a suit.”

  “You’ll have to wait and see,” I smirk at him.