Sophia’s Point of View
Jerry’s baby blue eyes were wide with surprise as he stared at me as though he had ever seen me before and next to him Kate was looking between me and Jerry with an ugly look of jealousy on her face.
“Can I have this dance?”
I looked away from Jerry to see Mr Prescott standing next to me with his hand outstretched.
The speech was over and an orchestra had just started up but I knew that wasn’t the reason Mr Prescott was asking me to dance. It was to mess with the Baxters and spawn even more drama.
I took his offered hand and he took me to the sparsely occupied dance floor.
Reid Prescott pulled me close and into a slow waltz in time to the orchestra. Over his broad shoulders, I could see that Jerry was still staring at us although it seemed like his surprise had morphed into anger.
“Having fun, Mrs Prescott?” Reid Prescott asked as he led me through a turn and I spun in his arms.
“Fun?” I scoffed meeting his cool gray eyes over my shoulder. “What is fun about you dragging me here to this event without even warning me?”
He smirked like I had just made a joke and his hand settled on my waist casually as he positioned us so that we were both within Jerry’s direct line of sight.
“The wife of the wealthy enigmatic Reid Prescott. You are the star of the show tonight and you are making your ex-husband jealous,” Reid Prescott commented drily. “You should be having fun.”
So he had noticed the little staring contest between Jerry and me. And from the look on his face, things seemed to be going according to his plan.
I let out a sigh of disbelief. He was even more manipulative than I had thought.
“You are unbelievable.” I said finally but my words seemed to roll off his back.
Reid Prescott pulled me even closer to him. Close enough that I could perceive his cedar scent, close enough that I could feel his firm abs beneath his suit, close enough that I could count his dark full eyelashes.
For anyone who was unaware of his ruthlessness and his extreme apathy, he probably seemed like the perfect partner with his extremely good looks and soft mannerisms.
Maybe a different girl would have swooned at his actions but I found myself flinching at our now intimate position wanting nothing more than to run away.
I felt his lips at my ear as he whispered softly.
“Relax, Mrs Prescott. Until our contract is over, I own you.”
What the heck?!
What did he mean by he owned me until our contract was over? My goodness, the audacity of this man was unparalleled.
I began to pull away ready to yell at Reid Prescott regardless of the fact that all cameras of the press were on us.
But from the corner of my eye, I noticed some movement. It was Kate trying to hold on to Jerry who simply shrugged off her hold and began to walk towards Mr Prescott and me.
I stiffened in Mr Prescott’s arms. What was Jerry planning to do? Was he planning to cause a scene at his own company’s gala?
Reid Prescott seemed to notice Jerry’s approach from the slight smirk that settled on his lips and the glint of malice in his eyes.
Then Mr Prescott did the last thing I could have ever expected.
His hand on my lower back tugged me closer, erasing the small space I created earlier on and his other hand cupped my cheek as Reid Prescott leaned in and kissed me.
At first, I froze stiff in his arms, unable to comprehend that somehow Mr Prescott and I were kissing.
Then I remembered the contract. This was all for show to prove our marriage. I had to play along for now. Reid Prescott and I would have words later about him ‘owning me’.
I opened my mouth to him and his tongue swept in, his kiss as confident as the man himself. Reid Prescott tasted like the red wine he had been sipping on earlier, a little sweet, a little tart and impossibly heady.
I quickly realized I had been wrong when I thought Reid Prescott had no other interests in women or anything apart from his work.
He kissed me like a maestro. Like he had perfected the act of kissing and even patented it. It felt so good that my toes curled in my heels involuntarily.
His hand on my cheek had shifted to my nape, his fingers finding their place at the base of my scalp and into my hair. I had the insane wish that he would take down the hairstyle that had taken the stylists almost an hour to do.
Reid Prescott pulled away ending the kiss before I lost any more brain cells and when he did, only his hold on my waist was keeping me standing straight.
My lips tingled from the kiss and I had no time to process my feelings because Jerry was already here, standing right behind Reid Prescott.
His blond hair was slicked back so I could clearly see the rage and anger in those ocean-blue eyes.
“What do you think you are doing here?” Jerry asked, his voice an extension of his anger.
Reid Prescott didn’t turn, at least not immediately, his steel gaze stayed on me and I could have sworn I saw a glint of surprise flicker in his gaze before he dropped another kiss on my forehead and turned to face Jerry with a smirk on his face and me at his side.
“Jerry.” He responded coldly and I realized I had never seen him this… unfeeling. I thought Reid Prescott had been cool towards me but it had nothing on the look he was currently giving Jerry.
Jerry’s anger seemed to double at Reid Prescott’s attitude.
“You were the one buying the shares anonymously,” He snarled, taking a threatening step towards Reid. “You bastard.”
Reid Prescott seemed unfazed by Jerry’s advance and he shrugged, a slight smile on his face.
“There’s only one bastard here, Baxter, and it isn’t me.”