MICHELLE blinked awake at the throbbing pain in her head. When she opened her eyes, the familiar ceiling welcomed her sight. As she sat upright, her hand massaged the side of her head that was hurting.
"Shit, I will never drink a beer again..." she murmured as she winced.
Her eyes surveyed the four corners of her bedroom. She could not recall how she got home in one piece. As she tried to remember what happened last night, the door opened, and then Ethan entered the room holding a cup of something.
Michelle could not help but check him out. He was a walking temptation, dressed in a gray bathrobe that flowed down the floor, with a smell of aftershave and a cool body wash, and a drooling charisma that she could hardly ignore. She sucked in a breath as his pair of marble gray eyes locked onto her, making her feel a morning shiver down her spine.
"Drink this," Ethan ordered and handed her the cup.
She then realized it was ginger lemon tea. Taking the c
LIKEABLE... Michelle could hardly erase that word from her head. Even after hours had already passed since she had had a conversation with Ethan, his words completely puzzled her.Needless to say, she wanted to know if he found her likeable somehow. She knew it was ridiculous of her, to know and hope that somehow he had that kind of impression of her, and she felt crazed that a simple word made her think deeply."Scrap that, Mich," she said to herself as she lay down on her bed.In the middle of pondering, her phone chimed, signaling a new text message she had received. She rolled over the bed to pick up her phone on the side table and figured out it was a bank notification stating that Megan had just wired five hundred dollars to her bank account. The side of her lips curled into a smirk. That amount just added to her savings.Another text message came in. This time, it was from Megan.Megan:I sent you the money, naughty girl. You won! I t
ETHAN’S STUDY room was big enough for a large group, yet Michelle found it small for the three of them—she, Ethan, and his ex-girlfriend. With Ashley around, she felt like she was being suffocated, and did not have much space to move.Still, she remained seated on the couch as she watched them work on their project. While Ethan was talking casually to the woman and seemingly handling the situation as pure business, Ashley could not seem to behave properly. The way she tapped Ethan in the arm as she showered him praise for his bright ideas and chuckled seductively to get his attention made Michelle burn inside."The nerve of this woman..." she mumbled, massaging the side of her head while leaning her back on the couch, with pouted lips and eyes like a surveillance camera.Although Ethan gave Michelle a look that was telling her to take a chill pill, she only rolled her eyes and continued gawking at them from the corner. Just in case Ashley does someth
DAYS PASSED like blinks of an eye. Michelle got so occupied that before she even realized it, the annual party of the Steinfield Company had finally come.The said party would be held in the enormous event hall of the hotel owned by Ethan’s family. Over the past couple of days, she and Ethan had been so busy dealing with the preparation for the party.It was a tradition of the Steinfields, and since the event only happened every year, Ethan’s family made sure that it would be grand, elegant, and the talk of the town in the States. Needless to say, Michelle thought that Ethan’s family did not fail to throw such a grand party. With all the business tycoons, shareholders, investors, influencers, and media reporters invited to the party, she already knew that the said party would be featured in the biggest magazines, articles, and even on television.Ethan’s grandparents and relatives would be there too. Although Michelle had already mastered
WITH HER HEART pounding wildly, Michelle turned to the door as soon as Megan opened it. Despite how her body tensed up, her lips managed to form a smile. Ethan might have come to pick them up, and she wanted to be her best self when he saw her.But when the door widely opened, her eyes glanced over at the familiar face of a man who was absolutely good-looking in his all-dark blue formal attire, wearing a sexy smirk that made her best friend gasp in surprise—a man who was not Ethan, but none other than Andrew, his best friend, who turned out to be Megan’s boyfriend."Andrew!" Megan exclaimed.The next thing Michelle witnessed was the two hugging each other, like they hadn't been able to see each other for a long time. Seconds later, they kissed, and that was Michelle’s cue to turn her gaze away, feeling totally awkward."I thought I was imagining and saw the mother of my future children for a brief seconds. God, you look amazing, Meg!"
HER BODY was rattling, her heart was racing too fast inside her chest, and a familiar tension was building against her skin.The moment she laid her eyes on the man who was wearing an all-black suit and pure temptation, she struggled to take her eyes off of him. Ethan was definitely the man of every woman’s dream, and he, out of millions of men around the world, was the one who became her husband.I don’t fucking like this feeling at all, she thought.Her chest was clouded with those emotions that made her feel giddy. Her stomach was twisting as if there were bats dancing inside of it, and no matter how hard she tried to calm her heart, it wouldn’t listen to her and only pounded of its own accord.She only came back to her senses when they reached the staircase. Her mouth fell open as she glanced down at the party that screamed nothing but elegance and classiness. Crowds were dressed in expensive gowns and suits, conversing with each oth
ETHAN GAZED at his older brother like he wanted to punch him in the face, and a flash of panic went through Michelle as she noticed it in his eyes."This is just a casual conversation," Jacob told Ethan as he sipped from his champagne glass.Ethan gave him a questioning, hard look. "You seem to like having a casual conversation with my wife when there are other women available here.""Ethan," Michelle called for him through her gritted teeth. She tapped his chest, trying to get his attention and wanted him to stop. "We’re not doing anything wrong. Please, calm down."He gazed at her as a devilish chuckle escaped his mouth. "I am still fucking calm, my wife."Michelle shook her head and looked at him in disbelief. She then turned to face Jacob, who never seemed bothered by his brother’s behavior. She could not help but feel ashamed. A minute ago, she was defending Ethan and even told Jacob that he was likeable. Now, Ethan came and acted
IN A FLASH, she felt conflicted about her feelings toward the man who was extending his hand, waiting for her to hold it.Michelle swallowed the lump in her throat. In her mind, she kept asking herself whether she was attracted to him or not.Was it because Ethan was so damn charming right now that she felt like her heart was going to explode?Or was it his sincere words that made her feel such things?Blinking those thoughts away, Michelle inhaled sharply. It was suck to think that somehow, she’d come to like Ethan. It was impossible for her to like him. They have signed a contract that prohibits them from feeling such things toward each other.She just couldn’t...She lifted her hand and accepted Ethan’s invitation to dance with him. Although her heart was frantically a mess already, she had to do what she had to do, and that included joining her husband on the dance floor as many eyes were looking at them. One hunch of a
ETHAN SHUT the door behind him as soon as they entered her suite. Suddenly, his scent filled the air in the room, and it was absolute madness for Michelle.He really had a way of taking her mind off everything. One kiss was enough for her to forget the party, even the rest of the world, and right now, the only thing that mattered to her was to seize the moment she had with her husband.Ethan was kissing him in a way that made her legs wobble. It was overwhelmingly hot, and her body was burning as their lips smacked continuously.She pushed her body closer to him. A needy moan escaped her when Ethan parted her lips and tasted every corner of her mouth. It was the voice of a woman who was in absolute hunger and desire, and it was a voice she could no longer recognize."Fuck," Ethan whispered in between their kisses.Michelle knew he had lost control. His hands traveled to the back of her gown, trying to tear the zipper apart so he could undress her.