In His Arms

Chapter 23

This kiss is as searing and mind-blowing as the one we shared in that back alley and it is a close contender for what happened in the car last night. As he leans further forward, it is almost as if he wants me to lay back on the bed and I almost comply. Breaking the kiss before I lose any more of my self-constraint, Alexander looks down at me in slight confusion, my heart pounds wildly in my chest as I place both my palms flat against his chest and gently push him away.

"I think we need to talk," I mumble finally after he's stood upright.

Sitting down next to me, I pull my hands to clasp them together on my lap as I contemplate how to broach the topic. Alexander patiently waits beside me as I gather my thoughts and my guts to speak.

"Alexander...what do you want from me exactly?" I ask him straight out not giving me a chance to think through what I'm saying. "From the moment we met, you made it clear that our relationship is purely business. All I'm here for is to take care of Danny and marry you so that the tabloids will stop harassing you. We know the basics of each other and we've been living rather peacefully together...I know our contract states that physical contact like kissing is allowed but-"

"What is your point exactly, Ms Summers," He cuts me off short with his clipped, emotionless baritone voice, his eyes rake across my face in scrutiny. "Dinner with the Whites' is at six, you will only have a little over two hours to get ready if you continue to beat the damn bush."

He called me 'Ms Summers'...he's being serious...

Huffing at his words as they do ring with some truth, I force myself to get right to the point, "Why all the flirting? The kissing? Even going as far as to suggest changing the contract. What's changed since we met?"

"What's changed, Ms Summers is my motive for hiring you," he answers me, his voice warm but still somewhat closed off, the man from the night before and the man in front of me now threading the borders of each other. "That's what's changed."

Blinking a few times to let the words settle in my mind, I find myself staring at him in utter shock as he does nothing to take back his words. He means it. My throat is drier than a desert when I attempt to swallow some silva to calm my nerves as the face of Carter Logans floats tauntingly behind my eyes.

"Mr Holt, as f-flattered as I am...you-you must be kidding right?" I stumble over my words as I continue to stare at him in bewilderment.

His grey eyes remain impassive as he watches me slip into slight hysteria as he fails to take back his words for the second time.

Nope...he's NOT joking.

My sharp intake of breath is enough for him to raise his brow at me in interest, his long fingers gently push my unconsciously fallen lower jaw up to meet my upper jaw as he continues to stare at me. My heart skips a beat when his finger drifts achingly slowly gently along my jaw before tracing the slope of my neck to my shoulder.

"For now, just digest what I've said. We can speak more about this tonight after dinner," He murmurs, his eyes following his finger as he makes his way down my shoulder to my arm. "Go get dressed."

With that he stands from the bed to make his way to the walk-in closet next to the bathroom, leaving me with my heart sputtering in my chest and my jaw on my lap. It takes me a while to get back to the basic function of my body and by the time I do, he's already showered and dressed in an intimidating black office shirt and black business pants.

The look he has now is such a dark contrast to his white shirt just now.

"I took the liberty of setting your dress out for you," He announces as he suddenly appears in front of me, his back bent slightly so that he is face to face with me who is still sitting in the same place he left me at. "You should get ready."

Swallowing nervously, I give him a short nod, accidentally roughly bumping our foreheads against each other having underestimated the distance between us. I make a move to rub the slightly sore part on my forehead but he beats me to it by gently moving his thumb in a soft circular motion right where it's sore.

At this point Danny begins to wail causing me to pull back from his thumb like a rubber band being snapped, clearing my throat I manoeuvre myself past Alexander's body to move to Danny's cot where the baby is crying with his little hands pulled into tiny little fists.

Cooing softly, I take him out of his cot to cradle him to my chest where instantly, his crying ceases to little whimpers, his hand gripping tightly onto the front of my shirt. The thought of him looking for me even in sleep is heart-melting.

Once he's calmed down enough such that I can place him back into his cot if I wanted to, I take him with me into the walk-in wardrobe to see his father's choice of clothing which lays delicately on the low foot chair in the middle of the closet.

It's a peachy pinkish sleeveless dress with a high open back and numerous buttons down the front in a straight line down between where my breasts would go. The material is light but not see-through and it stops just above my knees when held against my body by the hanger.

If I wear this my back will be showing...

On one hand, through his choice of dress, it's relieving to know that it wasn't him who changed my clothes last night because if he did he would know about the scars and he would have chosen something else to hide them. On another hand...he doesn't know and hence he chose this dress.

And I have to wear it otherwise it'll cause him to be suspicious.

Crabiolies.

Deciding that the only other person who could have changed my clothes would be Mrs Denise, I decided to call for her to help me apply the cover-up make-up on my back. Arriving a little bit after I called her, Mrs Denise didn't hesitate to help me.

"You poor child," She murmurs as she drags the Dermabend Quick Fix Body Stick from my shoulder blade to my lower back in long confident strokes to get rid of the pinkish-white, long jagged scars. "I am unable to tell Alexander, yes?"

"If I can trouble you," I reply embarrassed that I'm only in my panties with my hands over my breasts as a woman who I barely know helps me cover my scars. "I want to tell him when I feel he's ready to know."

"I understand darling," She admits, fishing off my back. "All done!"

Giving me what I want to think is a comforting smile, I leave her in search of some privacy to hook my chosen lacy nude bra across my body before I slip into the tight-fitting dress. Sighing softly as I catch a glimpse of myself in the full-length mirror on my way out of the walk-in wardrobe where I found the privacy I was looking for, I remind myself that I'll have to get used to looking very not me.

"You look beautiful, dear," Mrs Denise coos as I move to pick up my curiously looking around, wide-eyed baby. "Alexander chose well this time."

Softly laughing at her last comment, I lead the way out to the living room where Alexander and Mr Ford are conversing in low tones but their conversation ceases when Mrs Denise, Danny and I enter the room.

His eyes take me in from head to toe, making me feel a little self-conscious, Alexander's previously tense body visibly relaxes a little as he stalks slowly towards me while Danny makes a soft sound of confusion when Alexander hooks his arm around my waist to pull me against him.

Well, as much of me, he can pull towards him with Danny in between us.

"You look beautiful," He comments not looking at my dress rather his eyes are boring into mine as he speaks. "This little monster will have to stay with Ford and Mrs Denise. Shall we, Ms Summers?"

Gently prying Danny away from me, Mrs Denise takes him into the kitchen so that he doesn't have to see our departure. Leading the way, Mr Ford has a shadow of a smile on his face as Alexander holds me tightly against him by my waist and I choose not to comment on the actions of these two men.

"Will we be heading straight to the airport after your meeting, sir?" Mr Ford asks in the silence of the elevator as we travel down to the parking garage.

"Yes, Ford," Alexander responds curtly, increasing his grip on my waist slightly when he feels me tense up at the mention of the airport. "Have the car ready by seven."

"As you wish sir," Mr Ford replies formally, his eyes catching mine as he glances from his boss's face to mine.