3. The deal 2.

James.

Maybe my eyes were playing games with me but the Amara I was walking towards was totally different from the one I saw yesterday. Even more different than the pictures I had seen.

Her green eyes which offset her spotless brown skin shined brighter as they widened with fear. I could tell, from the way her hair was all messed up and the fact that she was still in her nightwear that she had just rolled out of bed but damn, was she sexy?

 She was the perfect person to model for a face cream or all those types of shit that women were interested in. She was beautiful, gorgeous even, but that wasn't what I was here for. She wasn't. Well, not exactly.

"Look, Sir, before you kill me, can you give me a few minutes to apologize and save myself from death? I am too young to die." Her tiny voice croaked as her eyes followed me till I occupied a seat before her. Looking at her now, she appeared tiny and fragile and not the bold and wild Amara that fitted perfectly in my...woah, woah James.

I narrowed my eyes down at her and she gulped before shrinking into her seat. Was she scared of me? 

"Why would I want to kill you?" I made sure to keep my voice stern. It was best if she feared me. 

"Because I- you-. Everyone thinks we are together now and you must hate it."

I raised a brow and laid lazily on one side, "are you happy that everyone knows?"

She shrugged, "I don't know? In a way, yeah. But we can go to a public place, pretend to have an argument, you'd break up with me and this thing will die as soon as he started."

My brows narrowed, many women would throw a fit if their boyfriend raised their voice at them and here she was, asking me to do that and also break up with her publicly. "You want me to publicly break up with you?"

"Would you rather I broke up with you? We could tell the public that I didn't want to make the relationship public and since it's out that we can no longer be together."

I chuckled lightly and wiped the smile away before it could get comfortable. " A very dumb reason to break off a relationship, if I must say but, instead of calling it off, why don't we take it to another level, hmm?"

She blinked. And blinked again, probably trying to wrap her mind around my proposition. Of course she'd find it hard to say yes because she must have heard or rather, read everything about me.

"Take it to the next level? I'm not sure I understand, sir."

I nod once, "marry me, Amara."

"What!" She blurted, eyes widening, almost popping out of their sockets. "Marry you? I'm sorry if I led you on in some way but I am not attracted to you in the least." She pinched her thumb and forefinger together to accentuate her words.

I threw my head back, held my stomach and laughed. I laughed so hard a tear clouded my eyes. Sniffing, I blinked back the tears and wiped the smile away, "me too, baby girl. Me too."

"Ouch?" She pouted. "You don't have to mock me to make your point clear. Just so you know, many men will not hesitate to throw themselves at me once I declare myself single and ready to mingle."

My brows narrowed and I sat up and rested my elbows on my knees, bringing myself closer to her. "But that won't happen because you are getting married to me." 

She frowned, "wh- how. Why would you want me marry me when you just clearly demonstrated that you don't even find me attractive?"

Except I did. She was a very attractive young lady but that her beautiful face was not my interest. "I never said that."

"Hmm, so what then? I am too young for you?"

Too young, too distracting and too much of everything I didn't want. Especially not when her parents are the Mayor and that man toddling behind her.

"Are you angry that I seem to not want you? Is that a big blow to your ego because men are always throwing themselves at your feet?"

She opened her mouth and closed it when no words seemed to escape it and pouted. "Whatever," she finally said, causing me to chuckle, "I said what I said, I don't like you and I don't want to marry you."

I sat up straight, my eyes narrowing down at her. There was no way she could really mean that, not when I know what every other lady does to get my attention even for a second.

"You don't like me?" I asked with a raised brow and she smirked.

"Why? Is that also a blow to your ego?" She scoffed, her eyes glaring up at me. 

I nodded once and pushed myself an inch forward out of the seat. "You don't like me, I don't like you. That's the perfect thing we need for our marriage." 

I was still finding it hard to believe that doesn't want me but that wasn't the main issue. I'd deal with that after I passed my message across and rope her into it.

"Marriage? Haven't you been listening to all I said? I. Do not. Want to marry you."

"It's either me or that douchebag, Vincent or any other man your parents force you to marry."

"How- I." A sigh escaped her lips and she sank into her seat. With a shrug she asked, "so?"

"Good. We don't really have to get married, we can just get engaged and tell the public we're taking our time with the wedding. One year after the engagement, we'll call everything off and go our separate ways. I'm sure nobody will force you to get married immediately after being separated."

"But they will eventually." 

"You can leave town and start a new life somewhere. After what will happen, nobody will be that eager to marry you."

She scoffed, "of course." Her eyes narrowed down at me as she sat out in her seat. "You've only said ways this thing of yours could help me, so, if I may ask, what's in for you, sir?"

"My line of business involves attending many functions and gatherings and I always need an escort for every one of them. With you as my fiancée, I will be saved from the stress of selecting a fairly sensible lady each time."

"Why don't you just stick to one lady then?"

"I tried but they always develop this sense of attachment and that is excruciatingly stressful and a big pain in my ass." Her eyes left my face and slowly trailed down my body and focused below my waist. "Metaphorically." I added, she bumped her head up and down yet her eyes still didn't leave my ass. "Amara." 

"So, let me get this straight." She said in the most casual tone as her eyes met mine as though she hadn't just been checking me out. "You want to marry me just because you need an escort."

"Engage. Just engagement. And yes, since the public already knows of our relationship, it would be weird seeing me attend parties with a new woman that is not you everytime."

She nodded again. Her eyes staring into space as though she was giving my proposal a deep thought.

"So what are you saying, Amara. This would save the both of us a whole lot of stress."

"I never imagined myself getting married."

"We are not getting married."

"But I'll still wear your ring."

"You can wear yours if you like."

She turned to me, "no way am I getting myself a diamond ring. You are to surprise me with one."

"Done."

"I- I didn't say-"

"We are doing this, baby girl."

She exhaled deeply, "one more question before that."

"I'd advise you choose your words carefully." 

"Jeez," she rolled her eyes and my eyes widened. Did she really just roll her eyes at me? "Why don't you want to get married?"

"I do. And I will, when I'm ready."

"When you're ready?" She scoffed, "aren't you like...old?"

My lids flung open and I glared down at her, "I am 33."

"Oh." She said in a small voice as if I told her my pet bunny just died. Leaning closer to me, she signaled me to pull closer and I did. "There's this anti-aging cream my grandaunt uses, I can recommend it for you and I'd really advise you to use it. It works wonders." Slowly, she leaned back into her seat and carried her face in her hands as she watched me.

A chuckle erupted from my chest before I could catch myself as I slowly moved back. "Okay, I'd need the name of the cream."

"Good for you." She whispered.

"I'll be proposing to you in three days." I took back my stern voice as I wiped the smile off my face. "I'd send you the location and every other thing you'd need."

"Three days? That's too early."

"It's best we exhaust the spotlight while we can, you don't want them publishing your face in every newspaper again in the next two months or so, do you?"

I, for sure, wouldn't like that. Especially when it involved my personal life. Both our faces were already all over every social media platform and newspaper and that alone has been so fucking uncomfortable.

The public, media especially, just do not know when to stop. 

"O-okay?"

"I'd propose and we'd do whatever it is newly engaged couples do."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. Again. "No way I'm kissing you."

My eyes narrowed, "now that you've brought it up, yes. Yes you will, it's essential that people in love, a lady who just got proposed to by the love of her life will kiss him out of excitement and likewise. How else are we going to convince them that we're in love if we don't as much kiss."

"But we aren't."

"That, they don't know."

She visibly shuddered. "Fine, just a few kisses, nothing more. And I know you are a sexually active man, but don't expect me to satisfy your needs." She looked down at my groin and kept her gaze there for a second before returning it to me, "if you need some activity, you'd go get it where you usually do, don't expect me to do it for you."

Blood shot straight to my cock as I imagined her for a split second with my cock in her mouth. And my hand in her hair. Her face twisting out of pleasure.

"And likewise me."

"No." I blurted.

"No?" Her brows knitted.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because, you'd be engaged to me and no other man."

"But it's not real."

"Still doesn't change anything."

"But-"

"Amara, if you so much as smile in another man's direction, I'd feed his bones to the dogs."

She gasped, "you can't do that, sir."

"Allow any other man to touch you and we'd find out."

"I'm not a kid!" She protested.

"Neither am I. I can spread you out on this table and show you that."

She gasped again, her eyes shooting down straight to my waist. 

"When you get needy, Amara, you'd come to me. Get it?"

She scoffed, her eyes finding my face once more. "I'd never. I'm adding two new vibrators to my cart."

I chuckled, "Alright. In three days, we'd be getting engaged, commit that to memory." I stood to my feet, indicating my leave and she stood up too. I fished out my card from my pocket and passed to her, "call me tonight."

She took the card and lazily took a glance at it before placing it on the table.

"I'm serious, Amara, call me." 

"Okay, sir. I will."

"And drop this 'sir' thing, you'd be my finaceé in three days, babygirl."

She raised a shoulder, "okay, Daddy."

Another rush of blood shot straight to my cock, awakening it a little. I have always thought people to be a little bit extra with pet names and all until I heard the word 'Daddy' from her lips. With my dick rising another inch, I turned to the door and headed straight for it.

She winked as she raised her fingers and wiggled them at me, "Talk soon, Daddy."

Oh, we will. We most definitely will.