Modern Arrangements: Complete Trilogy (Modern Arrangements #1-3) (15 page)

Oh, he knew it was coming.

"You did what?" I shoved him
in his chest. He went stumbling back. "How could you do that without even
talking to me about it?"

Aidan grabbed my arms as I attacked again.

"Calm down," he growled.
"This way we can get to know each other before we get married."

"Didn’t I tell you that—"

"Yes, you did, but it was after I
already made these arrangements," he shrugged.

"Did you even think about Dixon? He
is my best friend, Aidan and you just took me away!"

"I’m sorry," he let go of my
arms "If you want, I will have your stuff taken back." He turned and
walked through the glass doors.

"Ahggghhhgg!" I screamed
before I followed him through the doors.

He stood on the other side grinning.

"Feel better now?"

"I’ll feel much better after I slap
that smirk off your face." I threatened.

He chuckled and led me to the elevators.

When we reached the top floor and walked
off the elevator I realized that there were only two doors on the floor,
besides the exit door. Which, I won’t lie, I considered running through that door.
Aidan walked over to the large black door on the right and opened it, motioning
for me to enter first.

I stepped inside.

"This is your apartment?"

Astounded by the size of the place, I
stretched my neck taking in large open dining, living room and kitchen.  Two
doors at the far end, near a staircase, could’ve been extra rooms, a bathroom
or closets.  I didn’t know what lay behind them or the multiple doors on the
landing the staircase climbed up to reach.

"Well, technically it’s now our
apartment."

Turning around, I was met by Aidan’s
large grin.

"Jerk," I muttered. "You
live here by yourself?" Further into the apartment, overstuffed leather
couches, chairs. and dark wood tables filled the open living space. Bar stools
lined the dark wooden island separating the kitchen and a pool table sat in
place of a dining room table. 
Definitely a bachelor pad.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, why the hell do you need so
much if it’s just you?" Pointing at him, I raised my eyebrow.
"Hmm?"

"I don’t know, I just liked
it." He sat onto the large leather couch.

"You mean it fits your ego?" I
giggled.

"Ha ha," he made a face.
"You’re such a smartass, you know that?"

"Why yes, yes I did know that."
I stuck out my tongue.

"Your room is this way," he
got up from the couch and walked up some stairs.

I followed.

"The door at the end of the hall is
mine," he motioned to a large dark wooden door.

I nodded.

That door is a guest room, this door is
an extra room, and this," he opened the door and motioned me in, "is
your room now."

"Thanks," I muttered looking
around at my things in this strange unfamiliar room.

"You can put the stuff where you
want."

I jumped, having forgotten that he was
behind me.

"I just didn’t want you to have to
unload a bunch of boxes."

"Thanks."

"Well, I’ll uh…leave you to uh…get
settled," he smiled small and shut the door behind him.

Walking around the room I realized this
wasn’t my bed. This one was nicer and larger. My clothes were hung in the
walk-in closet and my laptop sat on a small but very expensive desk. A second
door opened into a large bathroom. My toiletries were placed on the sink and in
the shower. This bathtub had Jacuzzi jets. I moaned thinking about sinking into
that bathtub. The thought itself almost made me orgasm.

Lost in thought, my cell phone’s ring
startled me. I pulled my phone out and looked to the screen—Demitri.
I
wasn’t married, yet…right?
I kicked that thought out of my head, but it
crept back in. Biting my lip, I answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Hey you," his voice a deep, rich
Spanish seduction.

"Hey yourself," I was trying
to use my teasingly seductive voice.

"Are you up for a ‘Deli
night’?"

"Hmm…may—"

The knock of the door stopped my words and
Aidan leaned in.

"Lilli?"

"Who’s that?" Demitri asked.
"Do you have company?" He laughed.

"Hold on a sec," I covered my
cell phone.

"What’s up?"

"I just wondered if you wanted to
get something to eat?"

"Umm…I may be stepping out for
something to eat with a friend."

Aidan’s face fell slightly. 
"Oh," he said.

I went back to my call. "What
time?"

"Want me to pick you up now?"
he asked, eagerly.

"No, umm...I’ll meet you at the
Deli, okay?"

"In about twenty minutes?"

"Sure." We said our goodbyes
and hung up.

With a smile on my face, I spun around. 
The smile disappeared. Aidan was still in the doorway.

"Who was that?" he asked with
a little too much acid in his voice.

"A friend," I answered curtly,
grabbing my purse.

"The same friend you spent the
night with before?" He raised his brow and crossed his arm over his chest.

"It’s none of your business. We
aren’t—"

"Lilli, you’re engaged to me. You
can’t just go off with some guy in the middle of the night." He lectured.

"So, you’re telling me we have to
start this fake relationship now?" Venom seeped into my words.

"Yes," he snapped.

"And when some girl is all over
you, before the
fake
marriage, you’re going to push her away and do
nothing?"

He squirmed under my intense gaze.

"That’s what I thought." I
started to walk passed him.

"It’s four years, Lilli," he
argued.

"Exactly…four years…I say we get it
while we can and before anyone finds out we are engaged, married or
whatever," I argued back and headed down the stairs toward the door.
"If you can do it, so can I!" The front door of his apartment clicked
shut behind me.

About to step onto the elevator, I was
pulled back and spun around. Before I could process what was happening, Aidan’s
lips were on mine.

Chapter Twelve
Rules and Guidelines

Aidan

When she called me out on the fact that I
would take up a hot girls offer, I was stunned into silence. She took that
opportunity to get past me and out the door.

"Oh, hell no!" My words fell
on an empty apartment.

Moving fast, I was out the door and at
the elevator before she could take a step inside it. Acting on pure instinct,
angered at the thought of her with another man, I grabbed her arm and swung her
around.

Once facing me with her eyes widened in
shock, I had no idea what I was going to say to stop her from going to meet
that…
guy
. I did the first thing that came to mind the moment my hands
touched her. I pressed my lips to hers, firmly.

The feeling intensified and I slid my
tongue against her lips. Her mouth started to part. Then pain shot across my bottom
lip, Lilli’s teeth clenched down on it, painfully.

"Christ! Shit! Ow!" My hand
flew to my lip, eyes squeezed tight. "What the fuck, Lilli?" Shouting,
I scowled at her.

"Me? What the fuck do you think you’re
doing?" She shouted back.

"We’re engaged," I shrugged.
"You are committed to me. We have an agreement." I pulled my hand from
my lip, red dotting my finger. "You drew blood!" I glared at her.

"You touched me without my
permission, asshole!" She crossed her arms over her chest and glared more.
"Have you ever heard of personal space?"

Pointing my finger at her, "We have
an agreement, an arrangement, and I won’t let it be screwed up!" Grabbing
her arm, I pulled her back to my wide open apartment door.

"Let go of me!" She slapped my
arm. "You don’t own me, Iverson!"

"Just stop," I snarled, pulling
her through the door, shutting it behind me.

"Move," she shouted.

I stood with my arms over my chest.

"You’re insane, you know that. I
don’t want anything to do with this." She sneered.

"Too damned late, you already
signed the agreement," I smirked. "Now, what do you want to eat. I’ll
have whatever you want delivered." I stalked to the phone.

"I want to leave." She headed
toward the door.

Quickly, I jumped to stand in front of
her.

"I don’t think so, fiancée." I
stressed her new label.

She punched me in the stomach. The wind
rush out of my body and I gasped for air. Hunched over in pain, she yelled.

“You’re a complete selfish, spoiled
asshole!" She stomped up the stairs, disappearing into her room with a
slam of the door.

Catching my breath, I stalked up the
stairs and burst through her door.

"What the hell! You have seriously
never heard of privacy, have you?" she screamed.

"I can’t believe you hit me!"

It was her turn to smirk. "Don’t
treat me like I belong to you because, no matter what I agreed to, I am
not
a possession!" She moved to stand directly in front of me.

I scowled down at her.

"Don’t give me that look! You
deserved everything you got, jerk. Now get out of my room!" She shoved my
chest.

"No," I growled. "Not
until you understand that there will be no outside arrangements with other
men." Planting my feet, I refused to leave.

"Fine Aidan, what the fuck
ever." Then she added "But the moment you run to some other woman or
give in to someone’s interest, then it is fair game for me! What you can do, I
get to do too." She smiled in her own victory.

"That’s fine." I smiled large.
"My wife will be all I’ll need." Wrapping my arms around her waist,
she growled and shoved me away.

"Oh, I don’t think so. You and your
hand will have plenty of alone time." She smiled. "I’ll even make
sure to get extra lotion when I fetch the groceries, dear hubby," she
grinned with malice. "Unless you prefer lube?" She titled her head in
an innocent manor before she batted her eyelashes.

"I think you forget that we will be
having a child together, dear wife," I reminded. "That will involve
physical interaction." I mimicked her head tilt and batting of eyes.

"Hmmm…well I think that is where
invitro fertilization comes to play," she smiled.

"Hmm, but we have to consummate the
marriage, my love, so trust me that once I make you scream my name, you will be
begging for it again and again." I stepped closer. Arousal began to urge
me on.

She took a step back, made a face like
she was going to throw up. I furrowed my brow.

"Oh God, I’m going to be sick. Does
that really work on women? Is that your pick up line?" Lilli’s fake
illness turned to mirth.

"I only speak the truth," I
shrugged. "Plus, I don’t have to pick any women up now that I’ll be
married." Smiling, I walked out of her room.

Leaving her to cool off, I went back
downstairs.  In the kitchen, I pulled one of the menus out of a drawer and
placed a delivery order. The local restaurant didn’t deliver but I had ways to
convince people to do what I wanted.

Hoping the forty-five minutes apart
calmed her down enough, so we could talk this out, I went upstairs to tell
Lilli dinner arrived.

Turning the knob of her closed door, I
found it locked. Huffing, I knocked a little too hard.

"What?" Her voice carried
through the door.

"I ordered some food," I yelled
at the closed door. "Open the door."

"No thanks," she shouted.

I sighed and ran my hand through my
hair.

"Lilli, please open the door."
I stood waiting. When it didn’t seem she was going to open up, I turned to go
downstairs. Then the door opened. I spun back around.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey," she mumbled.

"I ordered delivery, please come
down and eat. I think we should talk some more." She was lost in thought
for a moment and then nodded before following me down the stairs.

"Do you really eat this much?"
She looked around at the twenty different containers placed out on the counter.

I rubbed the back of my head.

"I...uh...wasn’t sure what you
liked, so I got a bunch of different things." She looked to me with a
shocked expression.

"You ordered all of this because
you didn’t know what I liked?" I nodded. "You are crazy, aren’t
you?" she laughed.

I was glad to hear her laugh after our
heavy argument.

"Um, take what you want. Do you
want a beer?" I opened the refrigerator.

"Uh…no, I’ll just drink
water," She began looking through cabinets. "Do you own
glasses?"

Reaching over her head, I opened a
cabinet with all the cups.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

We grabbed some food and sat down in the
living room. After eating in silence for about fifteen minutes, I placed my
food down on the table.

"Look, I don’t want to argue all
the time and I don’t want any misunderstandings of our arrangement
either." She sipped at the water and then placed her stuff on the coffee
table too.

"I agree. I think we should talk
and there should be some rules or guidelines established."

I raised my eyebrow. "Rules and
guidelines?"

"Yep," her face serious, "For
example: privacy and personal space," she raised her brow.

I smiled.

"You don’t get to just barge into my
room. You knock and wait for response."

I nodded, agreeing because soon enough
we would be sharing a bedroom. I would have any right to walk in if I wanted
to.

"That includes bathrooms." She
added. I nodded a little more hesitantly. This means no accidental walk-ins
while she was showering.
Damn!

"My turn," I grinned.

She nodded for me to go.

"No outside relationships with
people. I do not want to risk losing everything. I’m trying to gain and
keep."

She nodded reluctantly.

"So, we need to talk about the
physical aspect of this arrangement."

 She stiffened.

Damn did she really not want to be physical
with me at all? Didn’t she feel that pull between us?

She cleared her throat.

 "Aidan, I don’t see how a physical
relationship is going to work." She sighed. "I already feel like an
overpriced whore and that just confirms—"

"You’re not a whore," I shouted,
but then got control of my temper. "We have an arrangement for marriage. I’m
not paying you to have sex with me. But, part of that agreement is to have a
child, so physical aspects will come into play. Also, when we are out in public
I don’t want to look like we aren’t married, so hand holding, kissing, hugging,
touching each other has to be gotten used to."

She went to say something but closed her
mouth. I continued.

"Lilli," I sighed out. "I
know I cannot go four years without a physical relationship, if I don’t have
to. Honestly, I don’t feel I need to."

I watched her sigh heavily and pick up
her food. She started eating again without saying a word.

"Well?"

"I’m not going to just sleep with
you because we have an arrangement. You need a kid. Well we will talk about it
and figure it out when that time comes." She sighed again. "I am not
going to just allow you to pull me around like a caveman and put your lips,
hands or anything else all over me when you feel like it." She pinned me
with her eyes.

"Okay, but you’ll have to deal with
touching in public," I threw out there, again.

"Fine, touching, not groping."
She countered.

A nod of my head confirmed our deal.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Monday arrived quickly the next day and I
was up and out the door without one hint that Lilli was awake. I left keys to
the apartment, a credit card and a note.

The day at work was going along fine
until around lunch time when my Uncle Henry burst into the office.

"Is it true? You did it?" His
face was part anticipation and part hope.

"If you mean did I get engaged,
then yes, it’s true," I sat back in my chair as he approached the desk. A
smile spread across his face.

"Aidan, my boy, you are…oh hell…you
know what you are," he chuckled. "Congratulations on the engagement! When
is the wedding, this weekend?"

"No, Viola wants to have a more
formal wedding." I shrugged. "So she is planning something for next
month. I’m sure you will receive your invitation in a few days. You know Vi,"
Then a thought struck me. "Besides Uncle, James wedding is next
weekend."

"Oh I know, but hell my boy, you
shouldn’t wait. Seal the deal and get an heir." He advised. He must have
seen my expression change at the mention of heir. "Is she already with
child?" The look in his eye told me he would be impressed if she was.

And who says with child?

"Uh…no," I furrowed my brow.
"I just have to do a little more ‘convincing’ with the heir part of the
conditions, but…"

"You mean you are getting married
to a woman who isn’t going to give you a child? Aidan are you...?"

"I didn’t say that, I just need to
do a little more convincing with her. She needs a little more time to get used
to the idea, that’s all." I shrugged again.

"Aidan! To marry is great, but in
order to keep this company we need an heir. You need to start working on that
immediately!" He was panicking.

"Henry," I stood behind my
desk. "I am well aware of the conditions and I am not taking a chance. I
will have an heir conceived within the time necessary but I can’t force her
to…"

"Like hell you can’t," he
argued.

"I may be, and do, a lot of things,
but that is not one of them," I spat.

"Are you at least going to go to a
doctor before you get married, to ensure you are both healthy and able to
conceive a child?"

He was referring to Lilli more so than
me and it bothered me, but to be honest he did have a point. I would have to
make arrangements for the both of us. If I get a clean bill of health, maybe I
would have a better chance of convincing Lilli to sex and conceiving.

"Yes, we’ll be going to a doctor but
that’s none of your concern."

"Well, I at least hope you will be
going to the family doctor." He stood tall and proud.

"Of course," I sighed.

"Well, then…I hope for all of our
sakes you produce a child soon." His badgering started to wear on me. "Good
day, Aidan," he nodded and left the office.

Collapsing into my chair, I exhaled.

"Fuck." I picked up the phone
and placed a call to the doctor’s office.

Finally, I was able to leave the office
around nine o’clock. When I arrived home it was dark and quiet in the
apartment. That’s when I remembered Lilli was at work. Getting a beer from the
fridge, I then made my way over to the couch. Grabbing the TV remote, I got
comfortable and settled in for some ESPN highlights.