He frowns as he looks down at it in his hands.
“It’s a prenup agreement,” I announce.
His eyes rise to mine, and he raises a pissed off eyebrow.
Oh crap, he thinks it’s about me. “I mean, it’s not for me or anything. It’s for you to have for the future. Like, if you ever meet the right person. I don’t want you to get ripped off ever again, Seb.”
Unimpressed, he throws it onto the table and stands. He goes to the cupboard, takes out a glass and fills it with scotch. He takes a sip as his angry eyes hold mine.
“Are you angry?” I ask.
“Yes, I’m fucking angry.” He growls. “If you want to leave, just do it.” He drains his glass.
I open my mouth to say something, but no words come out.
“I cannot believe you would have the fucking audacity to draft a pre-marital agreement for my future wife to sign,” he says.
“Sebastian…”
“Don’t.” He fills his glass again.
“This is for your own protection. I won’t let another woman rip you off.”
“I don’t want another fucking woman!” he yells.
Oh crap, he thinks I’m leaving.
“Then, I’ll sign it,” I stammer. I grab the pen from the shopping list on the fridge. “Here, I’ll sign it right now.”
Fuck, this is going bad.
Real bad.
I flick through the pages to the back and quickly sign my name on the dotted line. I’m half expecting him to throw me out onto the street. “There, see?” I smile. “It’s done.”
He glares at me.
“Sebastian, I don’t want your money; not one penny. But if I’m going to stay here in your house and be with you, I need to have this for my own sanity. I want us to go into this relationship unencumbered.”
He storms past me, heading toward the stairs.
“Where are you going?” I call after him.
“To take a shower. Do you want to do up a premature legal agreement for that?” He yells.
I roll my eyes. Smartass.
He marches up the stairs, and I slump onto my stool. I thought I was doing a good deed-that he would be happy.
Premature legal agreement.
I exhale heavily. I guess not.
I peer into the oven and glance at the clock. Sebastian has been upstairs for half an hour. Is he even coming back down?
Too soon.
It was too soon, you idiot.
What the fuck was I thinking?
I honestly thought he would be happy that I took that upon myself to do that.
I hear the stairs creak, and I stir the gravy to act busy. He walks in and takes a seat back at the kitchen counter.
“Are you ready for dinner now?” I ask with my back to him.
“Yes, please,” he replies curtly.
Big baby.
I dish out our food and place it in front of him.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I smile through gritted teeth.
I sit down, and we eat in silence while I repeat the mantra, hold your tongue, hold your tongue.
Eventually, he breaks the silence. “I’ll have my own lawyer draft an agreement.”
“That’s fine,” I say, trying to keep a straight face.
We eat in silence again.
“And I don’t like being pushed into anything,” he states.
“Okay.”
“You will not be moving in here until we discuss it.”
I roll my eyes. He’s pissing me off now. “That’s fine, Sebastian. I don’t want to move in here, anyway.”
His eyes rise to meet mine.
“What?” I scoff. “It’s okay for you to say it but if I agree, I’m in the shit.”
He raises an eyebrow and goes back to his dinner.
“I was only trying to protect you,” I say.
“I don’t need your protection.” He snaps.
“Really?” I scoff, “From where I’m standing, you kind of do. You’re a very wealthy man, Sebastian. Don’t be a fool.”
He gives a subtle shake of his head. “You’re fucking infuriating, April.”
“And you’re a big baby.” I stand and pick up my plate.
“Where are you going?”
“To eat my dinner in front of the television.” I walk out into the living room and sit down on the couch. I begin to eat my dinner on my lap. “And I might write up a contract up for this, too!” I call out.
If he wants to be a dick, I can be a bigger one.
“Write up a contract that you have to suck my cock every day!” he calls from the kitchen.
“If you check the fine print of the already-written contract, you will see that it is me who gets head on the daily.” I call back. “I’m not stupid, you know.”
“Could have fooled me,” I hear him mutter.
I smile to myself, and I know that he will be smiling, too.
“And you’re washing the dishes,” I call.
“I can’t hear you.”
I smile, knowing our fight is over.
I think that maybe I won.
I lie back in the deep, hot water as the steam rises. I think this is the deepest, most luxurious bathtub I’ve ever seen. Sebastian has been fussing around downstairs. He washed up and fed Bentley. God knows what he’s doing now.
It’s the strangest thing. We have these disagreements, but never once do I consider going home, which is weird. Usually, that’s my first response.
He walks into the bathroom and takes off his sweater.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting in. What does it look like?”
I smile and scooch over. He slides his track pants down his legs, and I’m gifted with a full frontal from my Adonis.
His skin has a beautiful honey hue. His chest is broad with a scattering of dark hair. His stomach is rippled with muscles. My eyes drop lower to the well-kept, black pubic hair and his large family jewels. No matter how many times I see him naked, I’m always taken aback by his beauty.
He climbs in the opposite end and rearranges us so that I am lying between his legs. He takes the soap and begins to wash my legs. I stay silent as I wait for him to say something. Eventually, he does.
“I have a wedding in the Maldives this weekend.”
Oh no. A weekend without him. “Okay.”
“I leave on Thursday and get back next Tuesday.”
I nod, damn it. He’s going away for work tomorrow for two nights, so that means I won’t see him for a week.
“I’d like you to come and meet my friends.”
“To the wedding?”
“Yes.”
I smile goofily.
He remains straight-faced as he soaps up my feet. “I’m going away for work tomorrow, remember? I won’t see you for an entire week otherwise.”
“Oh, I had forgotten about that,” I lie as I act casual. “I’ll have to see if I can get off work.”
Bang work. If they don’t give me time off, I’ll leave. Not really, but still.
“I have a lot of time in lieu owed to me, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”
He nods as his eyes search mine, and I know that he has a million things that he wants to say that will never leave his lips.
“I’m sorry about the contract, but you need to know that I’ll protect you, even if you don’t want me to.” I slide up over his body so that I am lying on top of him.
“I hate that you think this is about money. I don’t care about the money.”
I melt, and kiss his big, beautiful lips, running my hand through his thick, dark hair. “This is about freedom, Seb,” I say softly.
He frowns, not understanding.
“I need to know that we are on the same page. You need to remember that I lost everything to an ex-husband, too. That contract protects both of us.”
He blinks. “You think I would take your money?”
“No, not that I have a lot, anyway.” I pause as I try to get the wording right in my head. “But if there ever came a day when we decided to go further…”
“Define further.”
“Elope or something crazy. This way, the legalities are already taken care of.”
“Elope?” He frowns.
“Well, I’m never having a white wedding again. What a crock of shit that was.”