DESTINY
This man! “Why would you want to fake marry me?” Gosh, maybe he was touched in the head. Or he could have escaped from some asylum, and I brought him to my home. Good going, Destiny. I always attract the weirdos.
“Like I said, Destiny… You owed me, have you any idea how much damage your rust bucket caused? That motorbike cost more than this entire property.”
“Well, now you’re exaggerating.” I shook my head at him, does he think I’m stupid or something.
“Okay, but still. My father and grandfather have threatened to disown me if I don’t get married and settle down. And I really like my lifestyle.” He explained, sitting down beside me on the sofa. I shifted up, not trusting to be so near to him.
“Are you rich or something?” I frowned at him; I was not going to be some rich boy’s plaything.
“No, nothing like the sort. I work for my father. I’m the only child.” He smirked at me. “Would you want to be married to a rich man?”
“I’m no gold digger!” I have always managed well enough on my own. “Are you gay? Not that I’m judging, but I mean you don’t even have a girlfriend, obviously.”
He burst out laughing. There were tears in his eyes. “Oh, God, no, I’m not. I have several girlfriends, but they’re not marriage material.” He wiped his face with his fingers, leaving marks on his face, making him look like a racoon.
It made me smile.
“Why are you grinning like an idiot?” he asked, glowering at me.
“Why are you so mean?” I threw back at him. “Okay, so if you aren’t rich then what’s in it for me?” I can’t believe I’m actually thinking it over.
He looked excited, moving closer and I moved back.
“Hey, I don’t bite. Not unless you want me to?” he jiggled his stupid eyebrows at me.
I clicked my tongue at him. “Get to the point.”
“Right. So, I’ll get us a contract drawn up. It will be just between us, nobody else will know about it. Do you have family?”
He was changing the subject again.
“No, my parents are dead. I don’t have siblings.” It wasn’t completely untrue I had no idea where either of them where. But, shit, I should have made up a better story. He could kill me, and no one would know or care. “Umm… I could have an aunt or uncle.” I didn’t know any of my relatives or if I had any at all.
He sighed. “Destiny, really, I’m not going to hurt you, I promise. Scout’s honor.” He gave some sort of hand signal which I didn’t know what it was for. “I just wanted to meet your family. I mean, it’s got to look like authentic, you understand?”
“Oh.” I said, unconvinced. “The real deal you say. Do I have to sleep with you?” that scared the bejeezus out of me. I was still a virgin. The thought of being intimate with anyone made me uncomfortable.
“Not unless you want to.” He laughed and his blue eyes twinkled.
“I do not.” I said with emphasis.
“Fine. I’ll put that into the contract. But in the public eye we’ll have to act like a married couple. Like hold hands, kiss now and then and so on. Okay?” he asked.
I shrugged. I guess I could stand to kiss him. “And where will I live? Seeing as you have me out of my job.”
“At my house of course. You wouldn’t have to work if you don’t want to. Or I could ask my father to give you a job at his firm. But we’ll get to that later.” He tapped his chin with one finger, thinking.
“Yeah? And after three years?” I needed to know what my options were before I went and did something foolish.
“We could get a divorce, and I’ll make sure you get a nice settlement, and we can go our separate ways.” He made it sound so simple.
“Okay.” I said.
“Yeah?” he beamed.
“That’s what I said.”
“Awesome. Pack your things.” He clapped his hands together, scanning the place.
“Why?”
“Oh, my God!” he slapped his hands to his head. “I have to go home, and you have to take me, not so.”
“I guess. But I can come back.” I had no intention of going home with him right now.
“Nope. There’s no way you’re going to stay here. Do you have to give notice? Give me their number, I’ll do it.” he took out his cell phone.
“You’re very bossy, you know.” I took out a paper wedged in between two books and gave it to him. The landlord’s number was written on it.
He took it. “Pack.” He went outside to phone.
The nerve of him ordering me around! I didn’t have a suitcase and most of my stuff was in Susy. I needed to go to the laundromat to do washing. Taking out what was left of my clothes in the small closet, I stuffed it into grocery bags.
Standing in the door I listened to him speaking to the proprietor.
“Yeah, Destiny’s leaving. She’s getting married.” He listened. “Inspection?” he laughed, “Listen, buddy, this place isn’t worth the rent you made her pay. She’ll leave the keys for you inside, yeah? Goodbye then.” He ended the call. “Are you ready?”
As ready as I would ever be.
***
“What about your family? Do you have many relatives?” I asked while driving Susy down the gravel road. She seems to have taken the accident in her stride, although she was veering to the right side a bit. Seeing as he wanted to marry me, he would have to fix my Susy.
“No, not really. There are some uncles and aunts, nephews and nieces, not much left. I will take you to meet my father and grandfather soon. But we first have to discuss a few things.” He sounded cryptic. It made me nervous.
“You know, you actually owe me a thousand pounds.” I told him.
I saw his face in the rearview mirror. He gaped at me. He’d forgotten about our bet.
“Yeah, you said you’d give me a thousand pounds if I got Susy driving.” I smiled at him.
“Seriously?”
“I’m willing to forget about our bet, if you fixed my Susy.” I said, smiling sweetly.
“Ugh! Whatever. Yes, alright. I’ll arrange it.” He didn’t look pleased.
We drove all the way in silence until we reached Lake View. Then he gave directions and we drove through some expensive looking neighborhoods. I turned Suzy into a dead end where at the bend sat an impressive house. This couldn’t be it?
The gate opened.
“Drive through.” He instructed, waving his hand at me.
“Is this your father’s place?” I asked fearfully, I didn’t want to meet his dad looking like I was a homeless person which I technically was.
“Destiny, just drive before the gate closes.” he raved.
I pushed hard on the gas pedal and Susy lurched through the gate. It closed right after us. The house was beautiful. I have never seen such a place. It was a double-story house with large windows and a huge front door with a knocker on it. The knocker was in the shape of a lion’s head. Goodness!
“Does this thing leak oil?” he asked.
“What?” I didn’t hear him, because I was amazed looking at the house. I couldn’t believe he lived there.
“The rust…Susy – does she leak oil?” He asked, closing his eyes as he spoke. Gosh, what an impatient man.
“I don’t know.” I really didn’t. There were two garages attached to the house. Why couldn’t my Susy be housed there? Huh!
“Park on the grass.” He instructed.
I did as he asked and parked Susy under a big old tree, so she had some shade.
I grabbed my two shopping bags with clothes and things and helped him to get out. He didn’t even say thank you. I ducked back into the car to retrieve my brush, cell phone and charger.
“What the hell are you doing now?” he asked, impatiently tapping his foot.
“Getting my stuff.” Was he looking at my butt? I swear I could feel his eyes on it. I wiggled my way out, and wouldn’t you know, he was right behind me. I bumped into him. Why did he stand so close to me anyway?
“Sorry!” I said, looking anywhere but at him.
“Okay then. Come.” He turned on his heel, leaving me with my bags standing, watching him like a lost puppy.
“Are you challenged? Come on!” he shouted at me over his shoulder.
I shook my head. He needs a lesson in manners this man.
DESTINYWhen I entered the house, I stood still in the middle of the entrance hall. I’ve never been in a house this big before. There I was with my two shopping bags of all my worldly possessions standing in this impressive place that smacked of wealth. Gosh, and he said he wasn’t rich! The carpeting on the floor was worth more than my Susy. Not that I know that much about carpets. A chandelier hung from the ceiling. Who has chandeliers, even?“Hey! What are you standing there for?” James peered down from the banister on the second-floor landing. “Come on up. I’ll show you to your room.”“Okay.” I started up the stairs to where he waited. “Jeez, don’t look so scared.” He said, frowning at me.“I’m not. Do you live here alone?” I couldn’t believe he had all this space to himself.“Of course.” He pulled me behind him down the corridor. There were four rooms on opposite sides of the passage. He opened one door and pulled me inside. “This is your room.” “Wow!” I couldn’t help but stare
JAMES“Well, that’s done.” I breathed a sigh of relief. Arthur left after two hours of trying to convince him I knew what I was doing. We gave him our notes on our expectations, and he promised to have a draft ready by Monday latest.Destiny had a pensive look on her face, she chewed on her lower lip, staring into space. She’d better not be having second thoughts about this.“Penny for your thoughts, Ms. Johnson?” It scared me how much I sounded like my father just now.“Your lawyer friend doesn’t like me much.” She looked up at me with those big olive-green eyes. Actually pretty, I thought.“Does it matter? We need to do some serious shopping. I can’t have my future wife looking like a homeless person, now, can I?” Her sense of style sucked seriously.“Excuse me?” she huffed, “What’s wrong with me?” she sounded miffed.“Where do I start…?” I pulled her up from the couch and twirled her around. I liked the tight jeans. She had a nice ass, and I could tell her boobs were just the size
DESTINYThe way James and Giovanni stared at me made me feel self-conscious. I hardly recognized myself in the mirror. I don’t think I’ve ever looked this good. I used to hate the color of my hair until today. Giovanni really knew his stuff.“Thank you, Giovanni, James.” I blushed like a teenager.“My pleasure, Bella!” Giovanni kissed me on both cheeks like he greeted James. It felt strange to me, I wasn’t used to affection from strange people.James held out his hand for me to take. He looked pleased with himself, a smug grin on his face, like he’d won the Lotto or something.“Let’s go, gorgeous.” he said.Wow! I wasn’t expecting that. I took his hand, and we strolled out of the salon.“Mr. Barrington! Mr. Barrington!” Someone called out and James stopped in his tracks, swearing under his breath.Barrington? Was that his surname? Why did it sound so familiar?James looked over at me, “Can you run, Destiny?” He grasped my hand firmly. “Come!” We ran to the car. He opened the door and
JAMESShe really had no idea what she was doing to me. Damn, what have I gotten myself into? I can’t remember when last I had a girl as innocent as Destiny. I think when I was thirteen. No, scrap that. That girl took my innocence, and she was three years older than me. She was no innocent little virgin that’s for sure, I remembered and grinned. What was her name again?“James?” Destiny broke me out of my thoughts.“Yeah? Sorry, I spaced out for a moment.” Watching me with those big olive-green eyes of hers while sucking on her milkshake… Oh, my God, James! Stop it! This girl drove me nuts! I wanted her, that thought sobered me enough to choke on my beer.I spluttered and coughed, tears stinging my eyes.“Gosh! Are you alright, James?” She got up to pat my back, her cleavage almost in my face. God, she smelled amazing. I wanted to press my face against those pretty mounds.“I’m fine…just fine.”She handed me a napkin to wipe my face, trying to hide her smile. She had no idea how gorgeo
DESTINY“Good afternoon to you too, Grandfather. Let me introduce you to Destiny Johnson, the girl I am intending to marry.” James said just like that, beaming a smile at me.The two men stared at me as if I came from another planet. I was dumbstruck, hanging onto James’s arm like he was a lifeline. “Good afternoon.” My voice managed to slice through the heavy silence that seemed to press down on us.James’s father was the first to react. He stood up and reached out well-manicured hands towards me. His grip was firm enfolding my hand in both of his.“I must say, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Destiny.” He was an older version of James, but more polished. It was clear that James got his handsome looks from his father.“Yes,” the grandfather drawled, wrinkling his nose as if he were smelling something unpleasant. “More like surprised to see you actually exist.” He placed his newspaper down on the table next to his chair.James pressed my hand reassuringly. He did warn me his grandfather
“Oh, my God that was exhausting.” I told James when we were on our way home.“You did well, Sugar.” James chuckled, “Sorry about that South Africa thing, I don’t know what came over me. It just slipped out.”“Your grandfather is scary. And your father knows we’re lying. I’m sure of it.” I wasn’t being paranoid.James laughed it off. “Don’t worry about it. Even if he does, he can’t stop us.” James turned a corner so fast I was thrown towards him. My hand landed on his thigh to steady myself.I pulled it away so fast like he was hot metal. “Sorry, sorry.”James glimpsed at me a cheeky smile on his lips. “You have nothing to apologize for. If you want to touch my leg it’s fine by me.”“Oh, get over yourself, will you.” I stared out the window and he chuckled.“By the way, I got a text from Arthur saying he’ll see us tomorrow with the draft of our agreement.”“Really? Wow, that’s fast.”I was sure that Arthur didn’t like me at all. He must think that I was after James’s money.“Have you t
Driving to town he had the car radio on full blast playing alternative rock, his fingers drumming to the beat on the steering wheel. He seemed to be in a good mood. He winked at me when he caught me staring.“First were going to fill our tummies and then I’m going to find you the biggest, shiniest rock I can.” He said waggling his eyebrows at me.“You really don’t have to.” I grumbled.He laughed, “You can choose whatever you want, Sugar. Don’t pout unless you want me to kiss you. You have such an irresistible little mouth.”“Ugh! Stop it!” I slapped him on his thigh, and he grabbed my hand and held it there, the heat of his skin warming my palm. When I resisted he just chuckled.“Practice, Sugar. If we’re going to convince people, we need to feel comfortable touching each other.”“When you say it like that it sounds dirty.” I snapped at him. Why is he doing this? He is playing with me, must have some idea how I’m crushing on him.He looked hurt. “No, nothing like that. Jeez!”My chee
JAMESOf course, I should have known Arthur would go to my father. The backstabbing rat. But this leaves me no choice to sign the contract because I had run out of time.“Your father thought it was unfair to Miss Johnson that you be allowed to carry on with your (he cleared his throat) … wild ways and she had to stay faithful to you.” Arthur said, carefully studying his glasses.“We could change it to an open marriage.” I tried.Arthur shook his head. “Not an option. Your father stipulated that any changes made be run by him before they could be implemented.”Of course he would. Sneaky bastard. I looked at Destiny who so obviously enjoyed my predicament.“I don’t believe you James. Wanting me to remain at home like the good little wife while you go on as usual?” She looked at Arthur. “I should actually thank Mr. Barrington personally.”“No need, Ms. Johnson.” Arthur said.“Don’t be angry, I did it to save your reputation, Destiny.” I said. “Let’s just sign the damn thing and get it ov