“Steven, stop. Oh my God. Someone will see us. Steven, stop!”Marie said, laughing as she tried to push a mischievous-looking Steven away from her. They were in the parking lot, waiting for the elevator, when Steven suddenly got very handsy.“Steven, people are coming. They will see us.”“So, let them. We’re married, Baby.”“Steven! If you keep this up, you’re going to lose your Godzilla status. No one will fear you anymore.”“Mhmmm… A small price to pay if I get to do this…” He said, grabbing her waist and kissing her neck. The elevator opened and they came face to face with a group of staff. After shooting him a look that warned him to behave, Marie stepped into the elevator. Steven, who had been holding both her purse and her briefcase, placed them down. Cracking his knuckles and neck, he came closer to a giggling Marie and said,“Now, where were we?” He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips, and then pulled her tighter to himself.“Steven, people are watching us!” She said
Save me! Ellen is making a fuss about decor and seat placements and bla bla bla…Laughing while shaking her head, Marie focused on the work in front of her. No one had told her that being in a relationship was so distracting. The most she had done all day was type a memo. Her mind was jumbled up with thoughts of kissing Steven King and being in his arms. It was like her brain had decided to stop functioning and her insides were turning to jelly. So maybe he hadn't exactly popped the question yet but he had let his guard down so much.“I bet you're thinking about me.” The man in question teased, his eyes crinkling with mirth “What? No. I just got a text from Antonio.”“Liar.” He said, walking to her desk to plant a kiss on her cheek.Marie groaned inwardly at the thought of Antonio. She had to end things with him tonight. Even if Steven refused to place a label on whatever it was they were doing, she couldn't keep stringing him along. For some reason, she felt unsettled about going t
“Care to explain this?” Antonio barked, his phone still in his hand.“Can we discuss this inside, please?” Marie said, lowering her voice in a bid to get him to lower his.He glowered at her for some seconds before turning on his heels and going into the house. Marie followed at a safe distance, wondering how on earth she had gotten into this situation?How had the Paparazzi been so fast? It was barely two hours and an article brandishing her face and Steven King’s was headlining a gossip blog. Antonio balanced his hip on the curve of his kitchen counter and folded his arms as he waited for her to speak.Marie was terrified at the look in his eye. She had never seen someone so upset before. Especially not with her.“I’ve been such a fool. An idiot. A donkey!”Donkey? She fought back the urge to laugh.“Antonio, I'm so sorry. I was going to tell you about him.”“You were going to tell me? What exactly were you going to tell me, Marie? That you were married to a billionaire, or that
“Marie, you have to come into the house, please.”She shook her head sideways and averted her gaze. They had done this five times now and she showed no sign of relenting.“Marie…” He said, reaching out to touch her and flinching when she scooted backwards. It annoyed him that the bastard had laid his hands on her. One look at the jerk’s face and he had known that if he didn't step away, he would have spent the rest of his life in a slammer, serving a life sentence for murder. There were a lot of things he could have done better tonight. He could have insisted she texted him. Asked her out properly. Seized her phone. “I can't go in with you because you're mad at me, Steven.” Marie said, her voice shaking with the weight of unshed tears.Angry at her?“Marie, Baby. Why would I be mad at you?”“Because…” She said, shrugging her shoulders and looking away as fresh tears spilled from her eyes.What had the bastard said to her to make her this ashamed?“Baby… I'm not mad at you. I'm furiou
“So who's Jeff? Someone from her past?” James asked after Steven had narrated the events of the previous day to him.“I wish I knew, James. I wish I knew. It was so heartbreaking to watch. You needed to have been there, James. When she woke up in the morning and I asked her who Jeff was, she practically froze before telling me she didn't know who he was.”“Hmm,well, maybe it's too painful for her to think about yet. Made your move yet?”“No. And that's what upsets me about this so much. Because on top of what the stupid jerk has done to her, she has to deal with feeling like I'm not serious about us.”“What are you waiting for, City Boy?”“I just want it to be perfect, you know.”“Perfect, or you’re stalling?” “I am not. Really, that's not it. I just…” Steven massaged his temple and let out a huge sigh.“So do it…”“I will. I think I know just what to do.”“I can't believe you lied about Antonio having straight hair.” Steven said, as he saw the Alden Kings Inc. building come into foc
Marie ran her hands over the seams of her new cardigans, letting her fingers enjoy its rich texture.She couldn't keep it though. Nevermind that it was an Alexander McQueen design. 2,800 dollars for one cardigan was absurd, even for a billionaire. She smiled as she heard Steven's car pull into the driveway. She was wearing a red silk dress that fit snugly, and framed her back quite well. She had also curled her hair and deeply moisturized her skin. The only way she was getting Steven to return the cardigans was to distract him senseless. But even with that, she could only hope.She could hear him coming into the house. Throwing on a big robe, she got under the covers and waited for him in bed. As if on cue, Steven knocked on her door. “I'm not decent, Steven. Can you give me some minutes?” “You don't need to be, Love.” He said in a ridiculous baritone that had her chuckling.“Steven!”“Alright, alright. I’ll come back. Let me get out of these work clothes.”Marie smiled as she heard
“So don't freak out, Marie.”“Steven, tell me at once. What have you done?” Marie asked, clutching the front of his shirt.“Okay that feels good, Babe.” He said, his eyes glazing over again.“Steven!” “Okay okay. So I called Sandra…”“You? Called Sandra? You practically hate her!”“Ouch. I don't hate her. I just don't like her. Anyway, I called her and she may or may not have told me a certain story about how you met Adele four years ago but was too scared to go speak to her.”“Steve…”“Let me finish the story, Marie! So it got me thinking. Adele's doing a show in Madison Square next Thursday. Don't even get me started on how I came by that piece of information. But err, I got us these.”Steven watched Marie's eyes widened before she fell into a fit of giggles. “No no nope…” She said as she giggled into her hands. Steven had expected her to freak out but he didn't know what to make of this reaction. Sandra hadn't warned him about a reaction like this. In fact, even though she had gi
“Oh my goodness, Marie. You have to see the way he looks at me and touches me. I swear, Zed Norton is the one.”Steven rolled his eyes as Marie's laughter carried over to the kitchen where he was making dinner for them. He smiled at the thought that he had cooked more in the past weeks than he had in several years but he enjoyed cooking for Marie.At first, he had been confused by the connection between Sandra and Zed until he remembered Marie had told him about an accident or something.“Baby, dinner is almost ready. We’re eating in the kitchen, yeah?” He asked, ignoring Sandra's scowl as Marie nodded and smiled at him. She had better not invite that woman to dinner because he hadn't made enough for her. Maybe he would have if she hadn't started hounding him about hitting Marie the minute he walked through the door. She had even threatened to call the cops on him. Marie had thought she was being protective but he could see through her act. “So anyway. He’s absolutely glorious and I