by Kimmy Love
“Listen, I’m sorry I was upset,” Sierra began, “this whole thing is confusing me.”
“Sierra Whittaker, are you falling in love with me?” he grinned.
She flustered…
She should have told him she had fallen in love with him. It was too early to say it, right? People don’t fall in love at first sight, that was just stupid. Besides, falling in love at first sight meant you could fall in love everyday with just about anyone. She had wanted to be careful. She could have treated it like a business proposal. But at his insistence, he’d wanted it to seem real enough that even they would believe it themselves. She had fallen for it, gullible as she was, gullible enough to sign a silly contract to pursue small-town dreams.
There was one good thing to come out of all this, at least she didn’t owe him anything. The morning she had gotten back to New York, she immediately called her agency, saying she had gotten the flu while on vacation. Was that enough time for her to heal from her “fake” heartache?
Tyrone was right. She had allowed this to happen to herself. She had no way to undo it. It was a foolish notion to even think it could really happen. She had whacked his hand away for real. She had gotten hurt by what he’d said. It was true enough that he had to be a bit of an asshole.
I just wanted to use you this whole time.
What he had whispered to her that night reverberated in her ears, and she knew the hurt was real the moment she looked at his eyes. He had said that on purpose, to elicit genuine emotion from her. You don’t do that to people you love, she thought again.
Sierra had blocked Ben from calling her, knowing that the wounds were still fresh. Her vacation in France had suddenly turned into some distant, wonderful dream, it was almost unreal. Being with him was unreal. Had three months passed by so fast? Looking back, being with Ben had been a mixture of pleasure and pain.
Maybe I inflicted the pain on myself, she thought. Maybe I was so needy, and I needed to move on from Rushport and the memory of James. Maybe I thought I could be the do-it-all girl, graduating with honors and finding work with some deep purpose.
Whatever it was, it had landed her right here, feeling miserable. She felt that her passion for life had been washed away by the shores on Nice. She’d felt love from him, however fleeting it was. It wouldn’t last, of course. They had both signed the contract, and they were both willing for it to end as soon as it was over.
She had expected it to be this soon but not this painful.
*
It had been two weeks since they had last seen each other, since that intentional disaster in France. Sierra buried herself in work, grateful that contracts were piling on top of each other. She was glad the photoshoots for Huntley had ended, and she was careful to research the companies that hired her agency. None were connected to Ben Eriksson.
She would be having her first runway show soon for Dolce and Gabbana, and it had her in jitters. She had been practicing a lot, looking silly as she walked back and forth, her posture being critiqued. Tyrone had taught her to walk better, much to her delight.
The days were getting shorter and colder, and the first heavy snowfall began that day as she made her to way the warehouse for a photoshoot with an airline commercial. She had on a thick coat, the one Ben had gotten her. She had forgotten this detail, her thoughts preoccupied with the job at hand instead.
There was a wonderful set-up, and it was wonderfully warm as soon as she stepped into a hangar. There was a section of the plane on one end of the set. A few other models were there as well, getting made up.
“Sierra,” a familiar flamboyant voice rang out.
“Ty?” she said with a smile. “You got this gig?”
“Uh-huh,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
That was strange. Tyrone was usually at the salon at this time, unless the salon had been tapped to do their hair and makeup.
“Lemme just finish her first,” he told her, getting back to a blonde model who was seated.
“Sure,” she said, knowing that she would be even more relaxed with Tyrone around. The warehouse was new, with heaters on all corners to stave off the cold. It could have easily fit two jumbo jets inside, yet it looked like any other studio set-up today with all the lights and assistants running about. She walked to a quieter corner and sat on a chair, knowing the makeup artist was going to start on her soon.
She watched as the first model began, in full flight attendant gear, and she found herself smiling, knowing she was almost as nervous as the neophyte in front of the cameras now. She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. She heard the shuffling of shoes, but she didn’t bother opening her eyes.
Then she felt someone staring at her. Her eyes opened, and right in front of her was a blond-haired, blue-eyed man who looked somber. He looked like he hadn’t slept well in weeks.
She didn’t say anything; he didn’t say anything. For a moment, they just looked at each other in silence, knowing there was so much to be said but there was no way to say it all at once.
“Why are you here?” Sierra began. Then she realized he owned the aircraft that needed the ads, or at least he partially owned it. She quickly stood up, determined to walk away from him. “Oh my god, oh my god, you set me up. You set me up—”
“I did this because I had to see you!” he uttered. He sighed deeply, his hands dropping to his sides. “I did this because I couldn’t stand not seeing you.” His voice was lower this time, defeated and tired.
“Is this why Tyrone is here? He’s in on this too?”
“It wasn’t easy. I had to call the previous agency after realizing your current agency was never going to hand in your address. You blocked me on your phone.”
“You deserve to be blocked.”
“You can unblock me. I went through this much effort to see you again.”
She was staring at him. He was screwing with her head again, wasn’t he? Just like before. He’d made her believe it was starting to get real, or rather, she had been stupid enough to think things could be real. “We shouldn’t be talking,” she said before she started to walk away. She was going to put this all behind her, move on from the fantasy.
He stopped her by holding onto her wrist, firmly but gently. She looked at him with angry eyes, and he saw they were clouding over.
“You are so easy to read,” he said, letting go of her wrist.
The asshole! He was making things worse, she thought. “Easy to read? Is that why you hired me to play the part of your girlfriend? Because you think I’m defenseless and I can’t think for myself?”
“Because I could see you already liked me, even before France.”
“Wh—” she was unable to finish her sentence.
He tried to smile, but it was a weak smile. “The whole contract thing, I don’t know if it was a mistake, but having that with you led me to something I never thought I could feel.”
Her mouth was drawn into a straight line. She took deep and quiet breaths, trying desperately to control her tears. “If I had known you owned this, I wouldn’t have allowed myself to be here.”
“I took a chance. It was a long shot. Ty is a good person, just like you. He saw how I badly needed to see you, and he helped me.”
“To what? Hurt me again?” she snapped.
“You weren’t the only one who was hurt…”
“It doesn’t change anything. I was a fool, that’s what I’ve realized. I thought it would help me. I mean, it did financially. But that contract, those terms, it tore me apart.”
“It tore me up, too, more than you know!” he said.
“I didn’t want to go through with the contract anymore. My pride got in the way, though, because I couldn’t pay you back. I wanted that master’s, and I wanted to be successful in New York. I wanted to live in a neat apartment and eat proper food, all for my ego, huh? But it’s a funny thing. I signed that contract because there was the briefest moment that I imagined you’d end up liking me. I bet you were thinking ‘for s
omeone who’s supposedly smart, she sure seems dumb,’ am I right? It’s true, I felt dumb. How could anyone love someone in three months? Especially when all you did was ignore how I felt. You were selfish; you’re the most selfish person I’ve ever met. But Ben, let me just say this before we never see each other again. I love you, and I’m not ashamed of it. What I’m ashamed of is that I didn’t have the courage to tell you earlier.”
Ben was staring at her, his eyes softened. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment.
“Sierra, those three months together, even if the dates were planned, I enjoyed those dates. You were the best thing after those long working hours. I loved seeing you smile. I loved seeing how naïve you were. I enjoyed showering you with gifts because you deserve them. The night of the ball, I had never seen anyone as beautiful as you. It was a mistake to act like an asshole around guys I don’t even trust. It was immature of me. And you have no idea how sorry I was for that. But I’m even sorrier now, and I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I knew you had fallen for me, and I denied falling for you. But it happened, and I didn’t want to go through it. I had fears, no matter how small or stupid-sounding it seemed. In Nice, I fell for you even more when I heard you sing. How could I have not known about this? Maybe because I didn’t pay attention to you. I was solely concentrated on myself. But when you were singing, for that briefest moment, I felt the song you chose was about us. I hope I’m not wrong. Sierra, I’m not a nice person; I get annoyed easily, and I have minimal tolerance for emotions that go beyond what is expected of me.”
“You set those expectations yourself,” Sierra spoke. “No one made you act the way you act.”
“It’s true. And it took me years to realize that. It took me two months to realize you’re the one for me.”
“What if I’m not the one for you, Ben?” she asked. “I’m no socialite. I’m not cultured enough. We’re too different.”
“We laughed together. That counts for me. You listen to me, and I need to keep up with this newfound change of me listening to you.”
“You make it sound like it’s a decision you’re ready to stand by. We’ve only been together for a total of three months. It was a fake relationship. Give me time to heal, I need to get used to this.”
“Why do you need to heal? I’m here. And I’m here to tell you that I’d like it to be real this time.” He swallowed.
“You’d what?”
“You heard me, Sierra Whittaker. I’m going against my pride, I’m going against expectation. But I’m going to do this because of you. You’re not the only one who’s in love.”
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her heart was pounding. He took a step closer and he reached for one hand, holding it in his own. His palm was sweaty, and he breathed in heavily. “I’m not asking you to believe every word I’m saying. I won’t ask you to sign another contract to prove you’ll stay with me for the duration specified. You’re too good for me, and I’m proud to say you are. I’m going to do everything to win you.”
“What are you willing to do?”
“Go on unplanned dates, depending on your schedule. Take you to places you’ve never been to before. I won’t get jealous when guys ask to have photos with you. I’ll let you hold the remote and give you free reign over the channels—”
“Stop,” Sierra said harshly.
He had said something wrong. He was too honest. Suddenly, he couldn’t read through her. Had she had enough of him finally? This was harsher than the end of the contract. He felt that he couldn’t take the rejection from her. It couldn’t end like this. He didn’t say anything else.
“Ben, for someone who isn’t romantic, you’ve said a lot of romantic stuff…”
He looked up, a faint smile forming on his lips.
“We’re going to have to work on a few things,” she began.
“Go on,” he prodded.
“You’ll do your best to listen to me, and you’ll lessen being a hothead.”
“Noted.”
“And you’ll come clean with your parents, especially your mother and grandma about us.”
“That’s been done already.”
This surprised Sierra. “Why did you do it?”
“I had to face what I felt. And my mother proved to be the best listener. She didn’t say anything about what I should do. I had to face it, and it was quite challenging because I’m not adept at this. But I did. And I’m glad. To know that I love you is the greatest gift I could give to myself, and to know you love me is an even greater gift. You changed my world, Sierra Whittaker.”
Sierra looked down at her shoes. Then she looked into his eyes. “I hope I get to rock your world,” she said with a smile.
“You already have.” He grinned. “I’m going to be a work in progress, Sierra. But I’ll give it my all.”
“I’m a work in progress, too, “Sierra told him, taking a step forward.
She found Ben holding onto both hands now. “So you really were desperate to see me, huh?”
“I’m sure you were, too,” Ben said with a smile.
“That obvious? I was doing my best.”
“You’re a terrible actress, and for that I’m glad.”
She laughed, but he cut her off with a kiss. “I’d like to have this every day for the rest of my life, if you don’t mind,” he said, pausing from the kiss.
She smiled, not saying anything, and kissed him back.
THANKS FOR READING!
Authors Personal Message:
Hey beautiful!
I really hope you enjoyed my novel and I would really love if you could give me a nice rating on the store!
If you want to check out my other books then just head over to my Amazon author page at the below link. Collect them all! :)
GO TO KIMMY LOVE AUTHOR PAGE
Thanks in advance, you are amazing!
Kimmy x x
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