by Haley Travis
Handing Mia her drink, she couldn’t stop giggling. “That guy looks just like–”
“That was him.”
Her jaw dropped open as she squeaked, “Get out.”
“Sweetheart, you might meet a few rich and famous people around here. Money flocks to money, and people just pop up at places and events all the time. You’ll get used to it.”
“The heck I will,” she laughed, sipping her pink juice.
“I know you’re making a lot of changes in this new life,” I said, serious for a moment. “But that’s one of the good ones, right?”
“There are lots of good things,” she said merrily. “My bedroom has an amazing view, I have all the food and wine I want.” She cocked her head. “I can have my friends over a few times a month, right?”
“Of course,” I said.
“See, that’s awesome,” she continued, “Because a lot of the time we’re all too broke to go out, but everyone has lousy apartments and we’re embarrassed to have each other over sometimes. So we’ll actually probably hang out more often, and somewhere quieter where we can really talk, and that’s amazing and thank you.”
This rum was like truth serum, and I couldn’t resist wanting to make the most of it. “What else do you like about the rich life?”
She stared up at the multicolored lights for a second. “I can really support the arts now. I could go to see more bands, and actually buy their CDs and t-shirts. I can go to plays on opening night and pay full price instead of waiting for tickets on sale. Oh! And I can maybe buy some clothes from Rayanne’s fashion designer sister.”
I set our empty glasses aside, wrapping my arms around her waist as we gently swayed, too tired to really dance anymore. “Is there anything you don’t like?”
She made a face. “A few fussy people make me nervous. I’m terrified that I’m going to make a mistake and embarrass you, but I’m studying really hard.”
I tucked her hair behind her ear. “Sweetie, you’d never embarrass me. What are you studying?”
Mia laughed, and I realized she was officially tipsy. “I’m stalking all of your female friends on social media to see what they wear and where they go and stuff. And the expressions they use. So whenever they’re around, I’m sort of modeling myself after them.” She changed her voice to sound exactly like Logan’s girlfriend Katy. “Like, how could anyone spend three hours in the nail salon? I tell you, they simply must get better people.”
I laughed with her, but then held her face in my hands for a moment. “Mia, I don’t want to change you.”
“It’s the show,” she grinned. “And my job now. I’m playing my part. See? I knew those few acting classes would come in handy. I’m going to play the part of Jacob’s artsy wife, but like, just the right amount of artsy. Just enough to be interesting, not enough to be weird. You know? But with my hair all glossy, and clothing from weird European houses and I still don’t know why a pair of pants needs to come from a house with an ugly logo.”
I realized she was sacrificing much more than I realized, and felt guilty as hell.
We danced slowly for a while longer, then I reluctantly dragged her back to our villa. I figured that she was likely exhausted and I should put her to bed with a glass of water.
As we approached our quaint little building, she began laughing.
“What now?” I grinned.
“Your mother doesn’t really like me. Does that make me a bad girl?”
“You’re a bad girl because you are a naughty little minx. But mother has never approved of any girl I introduced to her.
“That’s because you likely brought hundreds home.”
“Nope. Just two, including you. I rarely dated anyone for more than a few months. It became too obvious what they were after.”
“I’m sorry that girls wanted to use you,” she said, quite serious. “I wish they had seen you for you.”
I smiled. “But then you wouldn’t be here now.”
She nodded, then cocked her head. “I need to tell you something and this might be weird.”
“Go ahead.”
“If you had asked me out, I would have gone out with you if you were poor. Actually, more likely if you were poor.”
“That’s odd but nice to know.”
Mia bit her lip, looking a little ashamed as we walked into the villa and she kicked her shoes off. “I hate to say it, but I sort of lumped all rich people into the same group. But you don’t act spoiled at all. You work hard. You don’t waste as much money as some.” She looked up with a grin. “And you’re willing to change and grow. You’re not all fussy and judgey.”
Then she climbed up on the bed and began jumping up and down. “Hey Jacob, is this what rich people do?” She was giggling as if she were out of control.
“Only if they want to break their necks,” I said.
Her hair was flying, and she looked so happy and free that I didn’t want to stop her, but I didn’t want her to be hurt either. “Mia, could you please come down?”
“Isn’t this what a corporate wife does?” She was taking shorter bounces, but still laughing her head off.
“Mia, I don’t want you to fall. Could you please get down?”
She flopped on her back in the center of the bed, releasing a weird “Mmmphf,” noise.
I brought her a glass of water. “Let’s hydrate and get to sleep. It’s been a long day.”
She chugged half of the glass, then looked at me. “Hey, Jacob?”
“Yes?”
“Being rich is weird. Don’t you think it’s weird?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never been anything else.”
She nodded to her water glass quite seriously. “It’s weird. I have so much more than my friends now. More than I ever thought I would. It’s tweaky.” Then she giggled. “Tweaky. That’s a technical term. I am hoping that you understand it.”
“Do you want me to find you a nightgown?”
“Nope.” She peeled off her dress so that she was wearing just a thin camisole and panties. “Jammies.”
Crawling into the huge bed, she threw a few of the extra pillows at me while I pulled off my jeans and t-shirt. I figured if she was sleeping in her underwear, I might as well do the same. It was certainly as comfortable as I was going to get without being naked.
Turning off the lights, I got into bed as far away from her as possible. She was being a little manic, and was likely totally overwhelmed after the stress of the wedding, the flight, and a little too much sugary booze.
She reached out to stroke my hair. “You’re a nice man, Jacob. I like you a lot.”
I turned, desperate to hold her. “You’re a lovely woman, Mia. I’m so glad I know you. Sweet dreams.”
“Mmm hmm,” she murmured, turning away and curling into a ball. In moments I heard her breathing become steady.
I knew that we’d both sleep better if I cuddled her, but didn’t want her to feel obligated to do anything that didn’t make her comfortable.
We were becoming close pretty fast, but it was an absolutely bizarre set of circumstances. There were no guidelines for such a thing. What sort of man marries a woman, and then realizes he has completely fallen for her? Although I had to confess, I’d been falling from the moment I met her. I just didn’t want to completely admit it, because I was a business first sort of guy.
Mia’s breathing synced up with the ocean waves as I drifted off.
I awoke sometime later with my arms around her as she snuggled into my chest. I knew the right thing to do would be to gently roll away, but I couldn’t. She felt so perfect there, breathing against my skin as I held her close. I had to assume that once again we could blame it on random chance, but we were obviously both becoming far too aware of how attracted to each other we were.
She was irresistible, and I was a weak man who was falling madly for my new wife.
M I A
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SWEETEST DREAMS
Everything was so perfect,
so comfortable. I had the deep satisfaction of knowing absolutely everything was okay. Strong arms were wrapped around me, and the warmth was transferring into my skin. I didn’t even care where I was, but I opened one eye and looked around. Turning my head very slightly, the arms wrapped tighter, almost rocking me. I was in a gorgeous villa and could hear the ocean waves.
I had sort of suspected that Jacob and I would end up in each other's arms again, since it appeared to be inevitable. Our bodies wanted each other, consciously or not. But we couldn’t allow ourselves to risk this arrangement.
Or could we?
We had handled every bizarre obstacle so sensibly and always remained on the same team. We got along so well. We clicked together in every possible way. How terrible would it be if we were together physically as well?
My breasts were flattened against his chest as he held me tighter, shifting me so that I was basically lying on top of him. He murmured something in his sleep, almost kissing my forehead. I could feel tingles running up my spine, and had to tighten my thighs against each other just from thinking about being with Jacob more intimately.
It wasn’t just that he was impossibly gorgeous. It wasn’t just that he was funny and lighthearted, and I knew we would probably laugh a lot during sex. He was so kind. Tender. And he really listened and cared for me more than any other person I’ve ever known.
Last night when he had gone down on me was the most intense experience of my life.
I had never been able to relax completely with a man, especially while I was naked. I’m just too shy about that, and get all caught up in my head and nervous. But with Jacob, everything fell away. I couldn’t believe that he didn’t want anything in return. I knew that he was generous, but it was still surprising.
My hand was tucked up against his chest, and I gently moved it down, skimming along his side to settle on his hip. I couldn’t resist thinking that if we were to get it out of our system, we would be even better as a fake couple.
On the other hand, I was fully aware that I was trying to find justification for something that on some level I knew was fundamentally wrong. I had certainly read enough psychology to understand how the human mind could manipulate itself when a prize was on the line. And Jacob was the sexiest prize I’d ever seen.
His fingertips caressed my lower back, and I rolled toward him a little, my hip tapping against his. I would have given anything for him to simply wake up and ravish me. We were already close, we were already addicted to each other’s kisses. Holding back was becoming too hard.
Then I felt his semi-hard shaft press against me slightly as I rolled closer. So big, so ready, and already nudging toward me. The feeling of him right there, with just a few flimsy pieces of fabric between us… My desire was taking on a mind of its own.
I knew it was completely wrong, I just needed to imagine what he would feel like for just a moment. Snuggling closer so that his unconscious arousal was pressing right against me, I couldn’t stop thinking of how much we could please each other if we could just let go.
Then I realized how impossible it was to stop my body from squirming. Teasing myself was a bad move, as my heart began to race, and I could feel myself becoming heated. The desire burning through me had an intensity I had never felt before.
Pulling back, I tucked into his side, putting a tiny bit of space between us. His arms adjusted, tightening around me again as he pulled my head into his shoulder.
“Shh, Mia, go back to sleep, baby,” he whispered, rocking me gently as he kissed the top of my head, melting my heart.
No man had ever called me baby like that before, and I was shocked at how the word touched me.
I would have to find a way to ask him about where our lines were drawn, and why. We had joked about so many things, perhaps there would be no harm in putting the idea out there. There had to be a way to talk him into having sex with me tomorrow, because I could not possibly handle another night like this in his arms without it.
M I A
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OCEAN
Somehow Jacob had woken up before I did, and ordered a giant breakfast that should have fed four. After a round of heavenly rich coffee, omelets, fresh sourdough bread and more different kinds of fruit than I even knew the names for, we threw on our bathing suits, and got ready to head to the beach.
I grabbed a couple of towels and was almost out the door before Jacob stopped me.
“Hey, you brought sunscreen, right?”
“Of course.”
“Where is it?” I pulled it out of the bag that I was going to bring with us.
He took it from me, squirting out a huge handful, and immediately began to rub it into my back and shoulders. “You’re so fair, and apparently this stuff takes ten minutes to kick in. I’m not letting my gorgeous new wife get burnt to a crisp on my watch.”
I almost protested, but the tender way his hands skimmed across my skin was heavenly. Then I took note of how he had been calling me gorgeous and beautiful for the past week and a half, and realized my teeth were digging into my bottom lip. Holding my hair up out of the way, Jacob quickly spread lotion across my shoulders, my back, and my arms. Then he turned me, working the last of it across my chest and stomach. Although he was touching me in a very appropriate way, it was driving me crazy.
He wiped off the excess on the top of my thighs, then looked up at me with a grin. Taking a few more drops on his fingertips, he drew a line down my forehead and nose, then made a few dots across my cheekbones.
He massaged it all gently into my skin, while I concentrated on breathing in and out, and not falling into his arms. He was obviously enjoying himself, knowing that he was teasing me. “There we go. Ready?”
I nodded, unable to speak.
By the time we got to the water, I thought that maybe splashing through the waves would chill my ravenous libido.
But Jacob seemed determined to play the part of the desperately in love newlyweds, chasing me through the waves, wrapping his arms around me and spinning me until I was dizzy, and threatening to drop me head first into the water. My sides almost hurt from laughing as we frolicked as if we were shooting a vacation commercial. He looked so utterly relaxed that it delighted me.
“What?” he asked, noticing that I was staring at him.
“I’ve never seen you quite this mellow. It’s nice.”
He came over and pulled me close. “That’s because you and I have pulled off the trick of the century. The hard part is over.” His fingers ran over the shell of my ear as he tucked my hair back. “I got a text from Sam this morning. The actual paperwork for Uncle Geoffrey’s house has started, and ownership will be transferred to me in about a month and a half.”
“Congratulations!” I was absolutely beaming.
“All we have to do now is chill out and have fun.”
“And continue to sell the show,” I added.
“We like hanging out together, so it should be pretty easy, don’t you think?”
My chin nodded, but my gaze was locked on his. My hands had instinctively circled his shoulders, as we stood knee-deep in the beautiful blue ocean. He looked down at me with those deep eyes, stopping himself.
Then he leaned in again, then stopped.
Pulling the back of his head almost roughly, I claimed his lips as we dissolved against each other. His mouth was so hypnotic I almost felt like I was falling under a spell.
When he finally pulled away, I winked. “Ocean magic. We had to have one lucky kiss in the water, right?” I giggled, trying to pretend that it was nothing. But we had definitely both felt that deep pull, yet again.
He looked down, smiling gently, but obviously searching for something. He playfully grabbed my hand and gave me a little shake. “What is it? For the past hour you’ve been looking like you want to ask me a question, but won’t let yourself.”
I nodded, staring down at his chest, but he tilted my chin up to him and held still, as if he was prepared to wait all day. “Okay,�
� I started. “First off, if this offends you in any way, I don’t mean to freak you out.”
“It’s really hard to offend me. Go ahead.”
I nodded, looking up to meet his striking eyes, and deciding that I absolutely had to take this chance I might never have again. “What if we had a real honeymoon?”
Jacob cocked his head to the side slightly. “We are at a resort, we’re standing in the ocean. What makes it more of a honeymoon to you?”
His bottom lip twitched as he held back a smirk. He was going to make me say it. “Well, we’ve been pretty, shall we say, friendly through this whole process, and we don’t want to complicate things. But since we’re here in this incredibly romantic place…” I trailed off, trying not to bite my lip, feeling awkward as hell.
