WHO IS THIS MAN?

KIRA

This man was the ultimate in nerve and insensitivity. After all that had happened, he was asking me to trust him. He couldn’t have told a better joke. 

“You are asking me to trust you?” His kisses had burned my skin, and I was furious at what the hell he was up to. I was shivering even as I scowled at him.

He gave me a tricky expression that made me want to pound my feet in anger, but before I could strike out at him once more, he slid his hand under my chin, raised my face, and this time tightly pressed our mouths together in a kiss. Not a tease, not a quick brush of his lips against mine, but a passionate, genuine kiss.

There was nothing frigid about the kiss I was receiving from my ice-cold ceo.

I instinctively lifted myself slightly on my toes to allow him to taste me better. In other words, I was responding to him with eagerness. 

When I shivered, his lips grew smoother and warmer, and the kiss intensified as his mouth opened and slid against mine. It was really difficult to resist kissing my way inside his mouth and never leaving because he tasted better than my dreams.

He crossed barriers he shouldn’t have crossed. I wanted him more than I admitted to myself, and I knew that the mess I’d gotten him into would only incite him even more. How could I handle him now? Surely he’d make the most of his position as my fiancé. 

He couldn’t, however, kiss me like this. He actually had no right to kiss me at all. None of this had to be a strategy for him to bring me back into his company, and having to explain that to him was going to cause my heart to break once more.

“Gabriel,” I uttered against his lips.

“It’s Brad, remember?” he mumbled in response.

“We can’t just kiss like that.” 

It was unacceptable that my voice sounded rhythmic and anxious. He couldn’t possibly know how much I enjoyed this kiss. How badly I wanted him to repeat it, going deeper each time. How badly I desired to have those hands all over me.

“We simply did. Did you despise it?”

 I knew my eyes had closed when I heard him teasing me in his voice.

When I opened them, I saw him staring at me with a completely different—yet equally ambiguous—expression. He exhaled. “You don’t have to answer me now. Just enjoy it”

“I’m not happy about anything. This has to stop!” I shouted in his face, wanting to seem tough, but I couldn’t believe how small and insecure I came off sounding. 

He gave me another kiss as if what I had just said meant nothing to him at all. I didn’t even have time to react and put an end to it. Also, I seemed to respond in a way that made me hate myself. His lips were dancing with mine, and it was very difficult for my brain to recall why it was not okay. This time was more of him and it was harsher and more demanding. Like he wanted everything.

He eventually let go of my lower lip and muttered against it. “Would you look at that? You dared to kiss me once more, and you survived. Now that we’ve decided that, I say let’s go to the dinner table, so we don’t keep your family waiting. Then, as is the tradition here, we can make cookies or sing around the tree, or whatever you wanted to do before I came and turn your perfect world upside down.”

“And we’ll just act like you’re my fiancé, right? The man I’m about to marry?”

His attention shifted to my mouth and remained there as he slowly smiled. I felt like I was burning again with that desire to kiss him. 

“Do you feel you can handle that, Kira?”

I glanced away from him because I knew the reply was positive. There was no other option. Yes, I could fool myself into thinking I loved him for a couple of days. I’ve never done something so easy. But what should we do about the single bed that was in my room?

I blushed without even proposing it at the thought of how we would sleep so tightly together and how Gabriel couldn’t help himself and would this time finish what he had started the night before. And it wasn’t about drinking anymore.

“I’m more than sure,” I answered back, just as I was leaving the room. I could feel Gabriel pacing behind me.

When I arrived in the living room, things were still getting done. My family was as loud as could be, and they were setting the plates on the table with wide smiles. The storm in my soul was so in contrast to their happiness. 

Gabriel immediately saw that I was going to disintegrate, so he grabbed my waist, pulling me closer.

“Change that face or you’ll give yourself away,” he whispered in my ear. 

We were so different. Maybe my family wouldn’t notice. I was fire, he was ice. He was the mature one; I was the childish one, and still the one who got us into this mess. And he, with his calmness, was trying to get us out of it, and he was handling it really well. 

“Darlings, you have come! But don’t just stand there, come on to the table!” said mom with contagious enthusiasm. But for Gabriel, who was grinning. Instead, I swallowed so hard that I almost choked.

“Of course...mother-in-law,” replied Gabriel. Now I was really choking. “Honey, are you alright?” he asked, shifting his gaze to me.

“Oh, isn’t that nice, my dear Brad?” 

I was terrified of my mother’s happiness. 

“Tell us, dear, how did you meet my daughter? I bet you have an interesting and romantic love story to share,” my mother asked after we sat down.

“Mother...” Gabriel started again, only this time I was prepared. “Kira and I met in a park near her house. I was doing my morning jog, she was doing the same. Only I found her fallen on a path and helped her.”

“Oh, my dear. You fell? I hope you didn’t hurt yourself badly.”

“Oh no, Mother, it was superficial.” 

“That’s what you always say. Good thing Brad was around. Brad, tell me, what do you do for a living?” 

“I’m a lawyer by profession!” 

I swallowed hard again. I knew Gabriel had studied Law and now it came in handy. 

“Oh, a lawyer. Nice!” Joe interfered in the conversation. 

The more people got involved, the worse it got. But I had to admit that Gabriel was doing great. He had that gift of storytelling that captivated everyone. At first glance, everyone. Except my granny.

I watched her a few times. She was quiet, just eating. It was like she was waiting for the right moment to attack. Only to my surprise, she let Gabriel get his story straight.

“And that’s how we agreed to get engaged,” he finished with a broad smile.

“Wow, how wonderful! I can tell you love my daughter and respect her,” said my mother, bowing a glass of wine in our honor.

If only she knew how much respect he showed me yesterday and today in the room when he could barely contain himself from making me his. 

Well, it was respect, otherwise I would have been red as hell. 

By the time we finished dinner, mom and Brad… well, Gabriel, got the best friends. I didn’t know how this made me feel. If it should put me on my guard or go with the flow.

And when I got it all done, Granny pushed me into the kitchen. 

“Kira and I are going to make dessert. The rest of you go decorate the tree. That includes you, Brad.”

I didn’t even have time to object, but to comply. 

In the kitchen, Granny brought out her holiday platters and together we filled them with delicious cookies. Brownies and gingerbread.

Then she looked at me intrigued.

“Who is this man, Kira?”