Chapter 3 - A one night-stand with Adrian Moore…?

Liz Walters sighed sleepily. “It’s so comfortable.”

Squinting, she glanced at the unfamiliar roof that greeted her when she woke up. “When did my ceilings become so high?” She mumbled to herself.

She sat up. A frown pulled at her lips when she didn’t recognize her surroundings. “When did my room become this big?”

Pursing her lips, she ran a hand through her hair out of frustration until she spotted the glass of water sitting on the bedside table beside her. She was thirsty.

Smiling, she reached for it and quenched her thirst by gulping down the cool water. It was refreshing.

Everything was going just fine until she noticed her lack of clothes. “Where are my clothes?” She asked, looking down at herself under the bed sheets.

She was momentarily confused.

Placing the empty glass back on the bedside table, she searched the ground to find her dress scattered down there.

She got up, leaving the warmth of the bed and the bed sheets and perched down to pick her dress up when someone walked in on her.

Stunned, she froze for a second as she met gazes with a handsome man who was half naked.

Realization dawned on her that unlike him, she was fully naked, from head to toe.

She let out the loudest scream of her life while diving into the bed and hastily covering herself up with the bed sheets.

“What are you doing in my room?” She asked. Her voice raised an octave in panic. “Get out!”

“Don’t you remember anything from last night?” The handsome man arched a brow at her, slipping his hands into his pockets as he stared at her as though mesmerized by her reactions.

“Will you get out or not?” She reached for the first thing she could get her hands on. It was a vase which looked oddly familiar to her.

“Calm down, woman,” the man said, raising a defensive hand. “That’s the same vase you picked up to hit me last night.”

She glanced down at the vase in her hands. She could faintly remember holding it last night and almost throwing it at this handsome man not once but twice. “Last night… nothing happened last night.” Liz’s lips pulled down into a frown as she avoided his eyes.

Images of them both tossing around on the bed, on this same bed she was sitting on, crossed her mind. She bit her lower lip in embarrassment and clenched the bed sheets in her hands.

She immediately squeezed her eyes close and silently prayed for it all to be some kind of dream, hoping that when she’d open her eyes, she’d find herself back in her bedroom, in her apartment.

Fingers snapping caught her attention. She looked up to find the man standing two steps away from the bed, closer than he was before she’d closed her eyes. “It seemed like you remembered everything.” He said with a smirk.

The same smirk Liz remembered admiring last night. Unlike last night though, Liz felt angry seeing that smirk on his face.

“Stay back!” She pointed a finger at him to stop him from moving closer.

The man put his hands up in surrender and moved a few steps back. “Woah!”

“Who are you?” Liz narrowed her eyes down at him. She remembered almost everything that had happened in this room but she couldn’t recall getting here in this room with this man. “Why are we together?”

He looked past her shoulders and then, rubbed the back of his neck before answering, “Adrian Moore… we met at the bar last night.”

His name did ring a bell, Liz thought. “Then…? What happened?”

“You want me to tell you everything in details?” He arched an inquisitive eyebrow at her, surprised that she seemed keen to know everything from there on.

“Yeah,” she said with a shrug.

“Can we talk it out while having some brunch?” He suggested, glancing at the clock on the bedside table. “I’m starving.”

Liz opened her mouth to tell him off when her stomach rumbled. She grimaced and pressed a hand over her stomach, looking everywhere except at the handsome man whose eyes were fixed on her.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Adrian nodded. “I’ll go get dressed in the bathroom. You can have the room.”

He didn’t wait for her response and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Liz glared at the bathroom door for a minute. “What does he think of himself?” She muttered under her breath and hesitantly got out of bed to get dressed while gathering her thoughts about last night.

She winced in pain when she lifted her right leg to put on her underwear. She felt numb down there. “Shit!”

“Are you done? I need to use the bathroom!” Liz shouted, running her fingers through her messy hair to untangle the knots.

Adrian simply walked out and gestured at her to go in while buttoning up his shirt.

Liz couldn’t help rolling her eyes as she passed by him to enter the bathroom.

Before he could take another step forward, she shut the door behind him, making Adrian jump.

She still couldn’t believe that she’d been drunk enough to not even realize that she was losing her virginity to this man. “I’m such a fool!” She mumbled, staring at her disheveled self in the small mirror before rinsing her face.

Adrian Moore ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He couldn’t believe he’d slept with the woman he’d only met last night in the bar. He wanted to have a contractual relationship with her, not a real relationship of any sort. But not only did he slept with the woman, he also took her virginity.

He felt like a bastard.

When he’d woken up this morning, he was shocked to find himself spooning a naked Liz. He was so dazed he didn’t even notice that he had an awful headache.

Like a coward, he slipped out of bed and went to take a cold shower.

He wasn’t prepared to face her at all but knew he couldn’t possibly just leave her like this… not when she’d signed that contract and agreed to be his fake wife.

If only his parents and grandmother weren’t pressuring him to get married, he wouldn’t have gone to that bar, wouldn’t have met this woman, wouldn’t have made her sign that contract and wouldn’t have made such a mistake.

He slumped back down on the bed once he was fully dressed and closed his eyes. He took a moment to recollect last night’s events.

Why didn’t James question me last night when I’d told him to book us a hotel room? He thought. That was so unlike James.

Thinking of him, Adrian grabbed his phone and called him but he wasn’t picking up.

He tried again and again but James still wouldn’t pick up. What the hell? Adrian was getting pissed at his unresponsiveness.

James owed him some answers about last night and Adrian would stop at nothing to get those answers out of him. The only person he’d ever trusted after his family was James.

James was Adrian’s confidant, secretary, assistant and best-friend.

Furious, Adrian dialed the hotel room service and ordered some brunch.

It was only when he’d cut the phone call did he notice the black file and his wallet on the bedside table. James was here this morning. He’d seen him with Liz. That was the only way to explain how the contract and his wallet got here. He pursed his lips. The nerves of this guy!

He tried calling James once again and on the third ring, he picked up.

“You were here this morning, weren’t you?” Adrian demanded.

“I-I… yes –” James stuttered.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“You were sleeping and uh – you looked tired and uh-uh –”

“So, you thought you’d just leave?”

“I don’t think it’d be okay to be in the room while you were both sleeping. Wouldn’t that make me a pervert?” James slowly asked as though he was carefully thinking about his choice of words.

“Since when did I give you the permission to question me? I’m the boss, not you.” Adrian snapped, sounding harsher than he’d meant to. He pressed his lips into a thin line and then said, “Look I’m sorry, listen –”

“Do I not have any right to question you? I’m your best-friend, not just your assistant.” James was angry at Adrian.

“I’m sorry,” Adrian apologized yet again. “I only want to know one thing.”

“What?”

“Why did you leave me at the hotel last night?” Adrian kept pacing around.

“You told me to book you a hotel room.”

“It was for Liz.”

“Yes but before I could take you outside, Madam Moore saw you and Liz together, drunk and holding hands in the hotel lobby.” James revealed.

“W-What?” Adrian felt like he’d been punched in the stomach. “My grandma saw me with her.”

“Yes and I had to take her away before you or Liz would blurt out anything about the contract.” James further explained.

“What did you tell her?” Adrian held his breath as he waited for James’ response.

“I told her that Liz is your girlfriend otherwise she might think that the news circulating on the media these days are true.”

“About me being a womanizer?” Adrian couldn’t help but snicker. “I just made that happen last night.”

“Those things can wait. The only thing that matters right now is that you and Liz have been dating for the past five months.” James stated.

“Is that what you told my grandma?”

James hummed in response and then said, “Look, I’ve got to go. Madam Moore asked you to bring Liz home this week. She wants to get to know her more.” He ended the call before Adrian could say anything else.

Adrian sighed in disbelief, staring at his phone screen for a moment. He’d thought he would have some time telling Liz a bit about everything and prepare her for when she would meet his family but now…

What did I just get myself into? Adrian face palmed himself.

A knock at the door pulled him out of his train of thoughts. “Room service,” a woman shouted.

“Come in,” Adrian shouted back and watched the woman slowly pushed a cart filled with food inside the room. “I can take it from here. Thank you,” he told the woman who nodded before leaving.  

At the same time, a door unlocking caught his attention. It was Liz.

“Come,” he motioned at her to have a seat while he placed the food on the coffee table.

“I don’t have an appetite.” Liz shook her head but still took a seat. She needed an explanation.

She frowned when Adrian placed a black file on the coffee table along with the food. What was that? She could faintly remember seeing this last night but decided to stay quiet for now.

Adrian took a sip of his black coffee and hummed in delight.

Liz couldn’t help but make a face. Wasn’t that bitter? She always hated the taste of black coffee.

She paced around and busied herself with drying her hair with a towel when Adrian started eating. Her heart was racing. She was anxious to know what he had to say about last night.

Liz didn’t wait for him to finish his brunch. “Can we talk now?” She asked. Her patience was running thin.

She threw the towel onto the bed and sat back by the coffee table when he nodded.

Adrian started telling her everything about last night and Liz immediately regretted asking him about it. She wasn’t ready.

“Wait a second! Which contract are you talking about?” She was confused.

“The contract you signed with me… you agreed to be my fake wife and in return, I’ll give you a salary and a house but for these three months, you will stay with me at my place.” Adrian declared and placed the black file in front of her.

Reading the contract, Liz shook her head. She couldn’t believe this. A short laugh left her mouth. “You’re crazy if you think I’ll agree to this.” She stood up and began assembling her stuffs together to leave this place.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Adrian demanded, getting up. “You already signed the contract.” He stated as though that would force Liz to stay put.

“You think you did me a favor?” Liz asked, pissed at the handsome man standing in front of her. “I was drunk! You framed me into signing this contract.”

“I thought it was a done deal.” He said.

“What done deal…? My foot!” She exclaimed, stomping her foot.

“You can’t leave like that.” He stepped in front of the door to block her from walking out of the hotel room when she grabbed her luggage. “I won’t let you leave.”