Marriage by Bargain - Book 2

Chapter Five

Naia

I'm going to kill him! I thought to myself as I stormed into his office building and past the receptionist, who was so surprised that she didn't even try to stop me.

The elevator arrived at the ground floor at that exact moment; I stepped in and punched in the code Zandre had so brazenly left on the door of my empty apartment. My very, very empty apartment; as in no clothes, furniture or personal items, nothing at all. I had gotten a call from my landlord who suddenly decided to sell the building informing me that I was being evicted from my apartment because the new owner conveniently needed my apartment for an extra special project. Naturally I thought it was some kind of joke but when I had gotten home and I walked in, I immediately walked out again, convinced I had been in the wrong place. Unfortunately, it was no mistake and the very kind Zandre Alexander 'rescued' me from sudden homelessness by moving my things into his penthouse as well as putting my furniture into storage since his apartment was fully equipped with everything I would need.

I knew the fact that I was avoiding him contributed to his decision to make this drastic move but I honestly did not expect him to take things this far. I mean yes I refused to see or speak to him and kept sending back all his gifts, but holy aunt Jemima buying my apartment building and evicting me and stealing my stuff was just a whole different ball game. The man was an absolute lunatic! I had slept with a crazy, albeit sexy man and now he was obsessed with my lusciousness.

Damn my sexiness! I thought in despair as the elevator came to a stop on the topmost floor. Shaking off my momentary distraction, I exited the elevator with a determined stride, once again stepping past a protesting receptionist. It was clear this one was territorial about him because she actually got up and tried to stop me but I had already walked into his office.

"Hey! You can't just-"the woman stated breathlessly as she ran in behind me.

"It's alright Becca, Ms. Echeveria is never to be barred from my office," Zandre said coming around his desk to place his arm around my waist in a possessive gesture.

I briefly forgot my reason for being there just so I could smile smugly at the girl who just got all her 'big boss and me' dreams crushed.

"B-but what if you have a meeting?!" She whined in a desperate attempt to set boundaries for me.

"If I'm in a meeting and Xanaia comes to see me, you inform me immediately," he said with finality, dismissing the young woman who I'm sure he now realized had more than a professional interest in him.

I couldn't stop the unicorn dance party that hard started in my stomach at the sight of him so boldly stating my obvious importance in his life. If we had more moments like these I was sure the fight would go right out of me and I'd just resign myself to being his love slave for the rest of eternity. As if sensing my weakened defenses he took the opportunity pull me fully against him and steal a kiss from my pliant lips. I indulged myself for a few precious moments before pulling back and glaring at him halfheartedly. Neither of us had even noticed the sullen girl slinking out of his office dejectedly.

"You need to move my things back to my apartment Zandre," I said, struggling to keep my voice steady as he nuzzled my neck and pressed my body against his while stroking my back.

"I've missed you so much baby," he said in a husky tone, totally ignoring my statement.

I mentally fought with myself to resist the urge to tell him I had missed him just as much, I instead settled with heaving a deep sigh and squeezing his biceps to get him to meet my gaze. He reluctantly looked at me and I couldn't help the way my heart stuttered at the tender look in his eyes, he almost had me wondering if maybe I was being a bit too harsh about making this hard for him. I mentally shook myself for that thought, I couldn't sit back and allow him to dominate me or things would never be balanced between us when we eventually did get together. I stepped out of his embrace so that I could think clearly without the scent of his cologne intoxicating me, I folded my arms over my chest to further discourage him from trying to hold me again. He sighed and gestured for me to sit in one of the chairs in front of his desk while he took the other.

"What on earth were you thinking to make you pull a stunt like that?" I asked straight off the bat not wanting to stall anymore.

"Well I was thinking that the woman I'm trying to make fall deeply in love with me had been avoiding me for ten days and i needed to have her with me one way or another," he stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "it was either that or kidnap you, but I didn't want Amelia to have her husband hunt me down so I settled on the option that would keep you in the city but close enough so you wouldn't be able to avoid me so easily," he concluded.

"Zandre you can't just do things like that to get my attention!" I said in exasperation, "you need to move my things back to my apartment TODAY," I stated in a serious tone.

He held my gaze for a moment, clearly trying to decide if I was serious or not. I didn't break eye contact, I knew if I wavered even a little bit he wouldn't back down about this. He finally caved and sighed in defeat, sitting forward in his chair once he had concluded that I really wasn't going to budge on this.

"I'll move them back on two conditions," he said.

"What are they?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him in suspicion.

"You let me take you on a date tonight," he stated easily, giving me the sinking feeling that his second condition would be much worst than the first one.

"And the other?" I asked tentatively, not really sure if I wanted to know.

"You live with me until Sunday," he said with a straight face.

I sputtered in disbelief at the outrageous request, there was no way he could possibly expect me to stay with him for five whole days and nights at his apartment, alone with him! However, one look at his face told me the man would be relentless on this one. I growled in frustration, not wanting him to have this victory on his terms.

"I have one condition of my own,"I stated defiantly, determined to win even a small victory of my own.

"And that is?" He asked, sounding slightly wary of what I could possibly ask for.

"No sex," I said, making sure my facial expression communicated that this was the deal breaker.

"Damn," he grumbled, standing and extending his hand for me to shake it.

I stood as well, placing my small hand in his larger one to seal the deal. The minute he had a good grip, he gave my arm a sharp but gentle tug causing me to stumble into his arms. He used his advantage to press a firm kiss to my lips. When he pulled back my brain had been effectively turned to mush.

"Deal," he grinned with a smug smile, knowing exactly what he had done to me.

I gulped, what have I gotten myself into?