Modern Arrangements: Complete Trilogy (Modern Arrangements #1-3) (35 page)

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Aidan

There was no way we were going back to
no sex. Lilli was so hot, sexy, smart, and just completely amazing. Best part,
she had no idea just how amazing she was.

After seeing that asshole near her,
putting his hands on her, and then her dancing with the other girls, I had to
make her mine. She needed to realize she was mine and I was hers, she had to.

I was still unsure of how she was going
to react this morning when she woke up. We’d never resolved anything, but I
only hoped that last night was confirmation that we would continue.

When she stirred, I rolled to my side.
Even with smudged make-up and bed head, she was wonderful. How was it possible
for me to feel this strongly for her in just a few months? I hadn't lied to
Dixon. I really did care about her. However, it was becoming more than caring.

Stretching out, the blanket slid off her
chest, leaving her breasts bare to me. Christ. I must have said it out loud, because
her eyes shot open. Pulling the blanket up, her eyes moved to my face. I
wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her close to me.

"Good morning."

She raised an eyebrow at me.

"Are you always going to watch me
wake up?"

"Why?" I chuckled.

"It's kind of creepy." She
gave me a disgusted look and I laughed.

She tensed when I kissed her forehead;
however, it wasn't as bad as the morning before. I leaned back up and she
forced a small smile.

Lilli rolled away and started looking
around with her brow furrowed.

"What's wrong?" I sat up.
"What are we looking for?"

"Um...clothing," she looked at
me sheepishly.

I raised my eyebrow.

"For?"

"For putting on my body," she
said sarcastically.

"Are we getting out of bed
already?"

"I don't know about you, but I am."
She looked around again and leaned over the edge of the bed. I'll admit it, I
peeked at her ass. She sat up, sliding on my white t-shirt. "I'm
starving."

I could only stare. Seeing her in my
t-shirt was hot.

"Don't move." I picked up the
phone by the bed. "Good morning, Rachel. Can you send up a tray? Thank
you." Hanging up with a grin, I turned back, pulling Lilli back down onto
the bed. "Food is on the way."

Lilli leaned up on her forearms.

"I can go downstairs. I don't need
to be served."

"Just shut up." I kissed her
lips and pressed her into the bed.

I had just gotten one hand under the
white t-shirt when her cell phone rang. I groaned, "Don't answer it."

She giggled and stretched her hand out.
I grabbed it.

"I mean it." Her phone stopped
ringing and I continued on my journey under the t-shirt.

"Master Iverson? Mrs.
Iverson?" Jay knocked at the door.

I growled a curse and Lilli laughed.

"Cock-blocked again, Iverson."

"Zip it over there," With a
feigned glare, I kissed her before sitting up against the headboard. "Come
in."

Lilli's phone rang again and she
answered it.

"Good morning!" Her face was
so bright and cheerful. She rolled to her stomach, leaning up on her elbows
like a teenager talking to one of her girlfriends.

Jay brought in breakfast on a cart and
excused himself quickly.

"Thanks, Jay," I said as he
closed the door. I pushed the blanket down and slipped my boxers on.

"Of course I do." "It's
not a bother at all, you know that." "Great, Monday morning then?
Brunch, sure." "Okay..." "Bye."

I returned with two coffees, croissants
and fruit on a tray.

"Who was that?"

Lilli shifted around, twisting her body.
This action caused my shirt to ride up and I could almost see her perfect
little ass. I silently willed my dick down from full mast.

"Viola," she sat up, crossed
her legs and leaned against the headboard. "I'm helping her with the
upcoming charity ball. It's a black and white ball." She grabbed the cup
of coffee I offered. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I settled
back against the headboard. "I'm glad you’re helping her."

In my peripheral vision I saw her smile
a little. I knew she was worried about getting too involved with Viola.  This
arrangement made us question every detail. However, I could handle Lilli being
around, even if we weren't together anymore. A small voice in my head called me
a liar. 

Chapter Six 

Date Night: Iverson
Style

Lillie

Last night was amazing. However, sex
with Aidan Iverson always seemed to be amazing. I didn’t know if I could even
bring myself to put a stop to it. It was just too – ugh, too good, but I needed
to stop it before it progressed even further.

As I waited for the water to warm up in
the shower, I turned to the mirror.

"I’m going to kill him." My
anger boiled, examining the dark bruise at the base of my neck.

Stomping back into the bedroom, I glared
at Aidan.  He sat on the bed talking into his cell phone. He looked at me.

"I need to call you back." He
dropped his phone to his lap. "What’s wrong?" He eyed me with a
worried expression.

"A hickey? Seriously, Aidan, a
hickey?" He fought laughing.

"It’s not that –"

"Oh, shut the hell up. It’s
completely noticeable. I’ll have to wear turtlenecks for like a month." I
half whined and half yelled. He lost his battle to not laugh at me. "It’s
not funny, jerk! You don’t have some gross mark on you." I pointed to the
offensive bruising.

"I wouldn’t mind." His cocky
smirk made it a challenge.

"Oh really?" I cocked my head
and darted to the bed. Jumping on his lap, I pinned him down.

My lips captured his neck before he
could protest. Once he realized my intentions, his body took over, his hands
groping, grinding his erection against me. I worked his neck until I was sure
the evidence would be as noticeable as mine.

Channeling my inner Celia Leighe, I
pulled back and climbed off of him. He groaned and tried to hold onto my hips.
I slid away.

"Now we’re even." I shrugged
and went back to the bathroom.

"Fuck…Lilli….come back to bed. You
can’t leave me like –"

"Water’s running." Batting my
lashes, I closed the bathroom door.

He had me so worked up, I couldn’t keep
my fingers from wandering to the southern regions of my body, extinguishing the
intense need throbbing inside me.

Throughout the remainder of my shower I
wondered if he would appear in the bathroom. A part of me screamed for him to
get in here. The other part of me, my brain, prayed he didn’t show up. I needed
to process the past two days.

Knowing our date was tonight intensified
my anxiety. He already admitted to not wanting to stop and how could I blame
him when I started it. Plus, I hadn’t exactly objected to the other times.
Instead I moaned, groaned, and grinded against him. Could I be any more
hypocritical? I seriously needed to end the physical…well, maybe not end it,
but definitely slow it down. We have to talk tonight, it’s going to be an
uncomfortable conversation.

Drying off, I played out different ways
to bring the topic up.

"So, Aidan, I love having sex with
you, but do you think we could slow down before I mentally exhaust
myself?" Or, how about, "Aidan, you do amazing things with your
tongue, but I think we need to slow down on humping like rabbits." Hell, maybe
I could open up with, "So, I know I jumped you like a bitch in heat in the
library, but we should take a step back." 

With a frustrated sigh, I mentally
slapped myself for being an idiot. Discussing this stuff shouldn’t be this
difficult. We are both adults and talked enough to make this arrangement, so
discussing sex should be just a simple.

Yeah right, Lilli. Simple? Sex doesn’t
make anything simple.

Silencing my thoughts, I wrapped up in a
robe before drying my hair with a towel. I walked back in the bedroom, Aidan
wasn’t there. I did a small happy dance. Literally, I did a dance. Quickly, I
slipped into a pair of yoga pants, a sports bra, slid a tank top on, and headed
to the workout room.

It was like a recon mission. I looked
around corners before continuing down hallways and staircases. I was a pathetic
coward. When I reached the workout room, I shut the door and leaned against it,
trying to calm my nerves. Like I said – pathetic.

My nerves had settled from the workout
and I wasn’t mentally playing the ‘mission impossible’ theme. There was still
no sign of Aidan along the way to the library. I grabbed the book I’d left on
the table and picked up where I’d left off. On the last chapter of the book,
Aidan appeared in the doorway.

"There you are." He walked
into the room. "I should’ve known." He smiled. Sitting on the lounge
with me, he lifted my feet and placed them on his lap.

"What’s up?"

"It’s almost one and I wanted to
let you know we’ll be leaving around four for the evening."

"The whole evening?"

"Well, we’ll return home tonight,
if that’s what you are asking." He placed his head back on the couch and
closed his eyes, mindlessly rubbing my foot.

"Okay. Um…where are we going?"

"It’s a surprise" He rolled
his head over and winked.

"How am I going to know how to
dress if you don’t tell me –"

"I don’t care how you dress."
He shrugged and smiled.

"Aidan…"

"Okay, okay…we’re going to dinner.
It’s a nice place, so just dress for a fancy restaurant. Happy now?" He
grumbled.

"Not particularly, but if you
insist on us going out to some fancy place –"

"Do you not want to go
tonight?" He lifted his head up with a look of concern

"Of course I want to go," he
relaxed at my words. "I’m just saying I can eat at McDonalds and be fine
with it. I don’t need some fancy restaurant and –"

"I want to take you though, if you
don’t mind?" Again, he looked nervous. Like he was a high school boy
terrified of the girl he just asked to the prom.

Pulling my feet from his lap and putting
myself into a straight sitting position, I reached over and patted his
shoulder.

"It’s fine," I smiled and
turned back to my book.

"Lilli?" He leaned in close.

"Hmm?" I kept my eyes on the
book, knowing if I looked at him we would once again be naked in the library.

"Are you going to get ready?"
He was so close his breath warmed my shoulder.

"It’s only one o’clock." I
turned my head to roll my eyes, but his gaze captivated me. "I-I…I think I
can spare an hour before getting dressed." Taking a deep breath, I tried
to calm down. "It won’t even take me two hours to get ready." I
shrugged and quickly turned back to my book.

"So…" His fingers ran along my
thigh "You would agree that we have time to kill?" The innuendo was
obvious. I shifted a little, trying not to let him get to me. "Hmmm?"
He hummed so close to my ear the vibrations of his words ticked.

I was hoping we could have this
conversation later, but realized we were going to have to do this now.

"Aidan…" I used a warning
tone. His lips grazed the edge of my ear. Then his body shifted closer and his
tongue flicked against my lobe. "Aidan." Reluctantly, I pulled away,
my vagina screaming in protest.

"What?" He looked confused and
rejected. "What’s wrong?"

"I think we need to slow
down." I placed the book back in my lap with a sigh.

"Slow down?"

I removed his hand.

"Look, I know I started this, but I
mean…it’s just –"

He tensed.

"Don’t tell me it’s wrong or was a
mistake, Lilli, because I don’t believe that."

"Not a mistake, just…it’s just a
little too much too quickly. Ya know?"

"So, you aren’t opposed to us
having sex, just how often we’re having it?" He raised one eyebrow, a
small smile on his lips.

I groaned. "Sort of, it’s just that
we agreed not to get this involved, at least not until we had discussed it. Now
that it’s happened, it just complicates everything so much more."

"Stop. There’s nothing complicated
about this. We’re married and –"

"I know we’re married. I was
there."  My words were harsher than I’d meant them to be. "However,
it’s an arranged marriage of convenience for both of us. Not because we knew we
were meant to be together and wanted to get married."

He sighed and rubbed the back of his
head.

"I don’t know what the big deal
is." He looked back up at me. "You’re on the pill right?" I
nodded. "So, we don’t have to worry about a baby, though we do need to
talk about that sooner than later, it’s just a physical release. Are we supposed
to set up some damn schedule or something?"

I looked at him – annoyed.

"Of course not," I rolled my
eyes.

"Then what? Because I don’t think
I’m getting what you’re saying." He crossed his arms over his chest with a
pout.

"I’m saying we need to slow this
down."

"Why?"

"Because we’d agreed to no sex, yet
here we are going at it at almost every free moment."

"I was against the no sex
rule."

I pursed my lips at him.

"Hey, I just want to throw that out
there."

"You don’t think we should slow
down the physical aspect and maybe learn more about each other?"

"We know each other." 

"If there wasn’t the necessity for
marriage, would you be married to me right now?"

"I doubt it, but –"

"Why not?"

"Why wouldn’t we be married?  Well,
we would probably just be getting to know one…"  He paused for a moment,
"Okay, point made."

"Okay, well now that you
understand." I took a breath. "You don’t have to know every detail
about me, that’s not what I am asking. I would, however, prefer not being a
stranger in your bed." Standing, I left him to think about our discussion.
I also needed some alone time.

Wandering, I found myself in the pool
room. I changed into a bathing suit and dove in. Swimming laps, I let my brain
take the backseat for a while. When my muscles and lungs started to protest, I
got out and went to take another shower.

Entering the bedroom, Aidan was standing
at his closet going through his things. He turned to look at me, taking in my
wet appearance, and smiled. I smiled back before going to the shower. Maybe
things wouldn't be so awkward.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Aidan

I made the arrangements for the night
and did some work from my office for a couple hours before I set off to find
Lilli. It felt like she was hiding, again. Finding her in the library wasn’t a
surprise.

After telling her a little about our
arrangements for the evening, I couldn’t help but feel aroused. She’d left me
hanging this morning and now just the smell of her skin was causing a reaction.
I didn’t know about her, but it was becoming more and more difficult to keep my
hands to myself.

My desire was brought to a halt when she
began the conversation I was trying to avoid. I knew we needed to talk about
it, but I just wanted her naked and screaming my name.

When she left me alone in the library I
wanted to go after her, but I could tell she wanted some space. Pacing around
the room, I thought about what she’d said.

I knew Lilli, but what I knew of her was
very limited. As I turned that over in my mind, I formed a plan. I went to the
bedroom and got showered. Tonight would be different for us. The last thing I
wanted was for her to feel like a stranger in our bed.

While getting my clothing together,
Lilli entered the room. She was in a bikini, damp from the pool. She was making
it terribly difficult for me to stick with my plan. I smiled and she returned
the smile before disappearing into the bathroom.

For the next hour, I preoccupied myself
by making some necessary work calls and going over documents. Once everything
was handled I got dressed.

Having been interrupted by a phone call,
I paced the floor in my unbuttoned dress pants. Lilli emerged from the bathroom
and I did a double take.

Her hair flowed in large curls down her
back, her makeup simple, yet perfect, and she was wrapped in only a towel. Swallowing
hard, I watched her stroll from the bathroom to her closet. I ran my hand
through my hair and took a deep breath before finishing up my call.  In my own
closet, I leaned against the dresser, trying to calm my desire.

"How much longer?" Eventually,
I stepped from the closet, fully dressed, my jacket over my shoulder.

"Maybe fifteen minutes. Is that
okay?" Her voice carried out of her closet.

"That's fine. Meet me
downstairs?"

"Okay."

In my study I’d planned on shutting down
my laptop, but got caught up in a large email chain regarding a client. I
hadn't realized the time until I heard the creak of the door. My head snapped
up.

"You coming or did you change your
mind about going out?" Lilli walked into the room smirking at me and
standing in front of my desk, her arms crossed over her chest.