Sophia’s POV
I knew I would miss Tina when I moved out but I could never have imagined how much I would long for the time I had spent in her home.
Because that was what it was. A home, unlike Reid Prescott’s cavernous fully staffed house that looked homely but felt anything but homely.
He fulfilled his promises and got me admitted into a university, paying for everything in advance. I had online classes instead of physical lectures due to the accelerated program I had chosen that would let me graduate in just over a year.
I didn’t know how long this marriage was going to last so I had to make the best of the time I had.
My days were filled with a crazy schedule of classes and never ending research to keep up with the program.
Mr Prescott might have been my husband but he was rarely around and even if he was, I rarely saw him as our rooms were on opposite sides of the house.
The only times I got to see him was at dinner. We always had dinner together as though by some silent agreement.
Our dinner was the same every day. Whoever arrived first would wait for the other then the chefs would set the table. Yes, chefs as in plural.
Reid Prescott would sit at the head of the table directly opposite me on the other edge, his suit impeccable and unwrinkled despite his long hours at work, his five-o’clock shadow giving him a slightly edgy look with his razor-sharp steel gaze pinning me in place.
“How are your lectures going?” He would ask casually.
And my response was always the same.
“Well.”
“Hmm.” He would say making a deep throaty sound at the back of his throat that made the hairs at the back of my neck stand.
And that would be it until the next night.
Moving into this house initially, I had been sure that Reid Prescott would try to do something unsavory with me but I shouldn’t have bothered.
Reid Prescott didn’t seem to be into women or even men. His only concern was his work.
Whatever. I didn’t care. It would soon be time for my first doctor’s appointment for the baby and I could barely wait although I would need to be careful to ensure that Reid Prescott didn’t find out. At least for now.
We continued being distant housemates at least for the most part and the only break in our routine happened barely a month into our marriage because of the chocolate chip cookies.
I woke up bleary eyed and craving chocolate chip cookies that weekend. Not just any chocolate chip cookies but the type that Mom used to make me.
I cried a bit, I seemed to do that a lot lately, then I headed to the kitchen where I instructed the staff to evacuate the place until I was done baking because they kept trying to assist me despite my insistence that I was fine.
The cookies were almost ready and I was cleaning up after myself and keeping the rest of the ingredients back on the shelf when I lost my balance.
I yelped falling off the stool I had been standing on and right into the arms of Reid Prescott.
Where did he come from? I wondered, clutching his sleeveless shirt instinctively.
This close to him, with his thick muscular arms cradling me, his eyes didn’t seem grey but the palest most iridescent blue and a stray thought occurred to me. Reid Prescott might be an asshole but he definitely was hot.
“I-” I tried to speak. To say anything to break this awkward staring contest but my voice failed me.
Reid Prescott’s voice didn’t falter as he released me unceremoniously.
“Watch it.” He said gruffly before grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and leaving the kitchen almost as quickly as he had entered.
Wait a moment.
The way he’d said ‘watch it’ acutely reminded me of something. Oh.
My mind flashed back to the day of my wedding to Jerry.
That day as I struggled with my panic attack, I’d bumped into someone before seeing Kate and Jerry together. He had been as curt as Reid Prescott just was.
No, he hadn’t just been as curt as him, it was him.
It had been Mr Prescott at my wedding. Why had he been there? And what exactly was his problem with the Baxters? All questions I couldn’t ask because of that damned rule number three.
That night, dinner felt more tense than usual or maybe it was my growing annoyance coming through.
“How are your lectures going?” Reid Prescott asked again, his voice as casual as ever.
I stared at him as though I could decipher him if I stared long enough. In this lighting, his jaw looked defined, his steel gray eyes fixed on me.
“Well.” I responded finally.
“Hmm.” Reid Prescott hummed and that was it.
This was where our conversations usually ended but today, I wanted more.
I dropped my cutlery on my plate making a loud clang before looking up to meet Mr Prescott’s gaze.
“Are you always going to be like this?” I asked him.
“Like what?” Reid Prescott asked with a quirked eyebrow.
Like we were going through a damn routine. Like we were in a play or something.
“Sitting at the opposite ends of a large table,” I said “And asking me perfunctory questions that you don’t even care to know the answers to.”
Reid Prescott was silent for a moment, his gaze now unreadable as he stood from his chair and moved towards mine.
Wait, what was he doing?
Reid Prescott closed the distance between us and stopped right next to my chair. Then placing a hand on either side of my shoulder into the ground, Mr Prescott leaned in.
“Would you prefer me this close instead, Muss Evergreen?” He asked with a snide tone.
“I-” I tried to speak but I stuttered, feeling flustered.
It wasn’t that I was attracted to him but he had literally just come from nowhere to move this close to me. I literally didn’t know what to do.
Reid Prescott’s lips tipped up into a small smirk.
“I want to take you somewhere tomorrow.” He informed me.
I blinked at him in confusion.
“I have classes tomorrow.” I reminded him.
Reid Prescott’s eyes never left mine.
“You don’t need to worry, Miss Evergreen. It’s later at night.”
“Sure.” I nodded.
Sure? What on earth had I just agreed to?