Chapter 11
BELLA
“Nice place.” I stifle a yawn as Reggie tosses my purse down on the couch.
It’s very… white and grey in here. Clean. Spacious. Upmarket. But cold. Kind of like my husband-to-be, who said all of three words to me on the whole plane journey here after our little spat before take off.
“You approve of this little lad pad?” He mocks.
I roll my eyes and his fists clench. “It is very manly. But, not little, not at all, I’ll give you that.”
“Thanks.”
“Coffee?” he calls out, striding to the huge kitchen.
“Yes please.”
I join him and sit up on the barstool.
“Do you have any caramel syrup?” I ask as he turns on the machine.
He grumbles something under his breath.
“No. I’m sweet enough.”
I can’t hold back my laugh.
“Yeah. I’m sure you’ve been told that plenty in your life.”
He looks back at me over his shoulder, his dark eyes smoldering into me, making me sit up straight.
“Sugar then?” I ask.
“Yeah. How many?”
“One.”
He finishes up and hands me the steaming mug.
“I need a nap after this. Can you show me my bedroom?”
He chuckles.
“Your bedroom?”
I nod slowly.
“Yeah. I assume you have more than one bedroom in this mansion, Irish.”
“I do. But you ain’t having any. You’ll be sharing with me.”
I nearly spit out my coffee.
“Don’t fuck with me. This wasn’t part of the deal.”
He places his huge, tattooed hands on the counter.
“Remind me of the terms of the deal that you negotiated so hard on, Princess.” He grins.
I want to slap him. We haven’t negotiated anything. We just said we’d make a deal.
“I get my own room. We stay away from each other for the majority of the time. No touching. You don’t tell me what to do. I won’t be making you lunch for work. Nor cooking dinner. I’ll have access to your bank account.” I pause, tapping my chin.
“Oh, and I’d like a kitten to keep me company. Maybe two.”
His face doesn’t change. He doesn’t speak either. So I keep pushing.
“I can go out and make new friends. But I’ll agree to not bring any lovers back to your house.”
His jaw tenses.
“I expect the same courtesy back. I don’t wanna see or hear your conquests. I bet you’re loud, Irish.”
I’m rambling. But I’m kinda enjoying seeing him get progressively more irritated by me. Maybe this is how I get him to call off the wedding.
By being as annoying as possible.
“Oh, and did I say that I’ll need access to your bank? Hopefully you’ve got a Black Amex. I’m good with numbers, I could do some trading for you? What else…”
“Oh, we aren’t done. Please continue.” He gestures with his hand, his tone mocking.
“I’ve been informed I have a wardrobe of clothes and shoes here, I’ll need more. What about a boat? Do you have one?”
He shakes his head.
“No touching.”
A slow smirk spreads across his lips.
“You already said that.”
“Oh.” My mouth opens, it’s kind of a shame I said that. He’s drop-dead gorgeous. Totally my type, and I bet he knows what he’s doing in that department. He oozes sex. I’d guess a pleasure dom.
“What does no touching include, Princess?” he asks.
My cheeks blush, giving me away.
“Kissing, hand holding, bum smacking.” I grin.
He nods and runs his hand over his stubble.
“So sex without kissing and you tied up?”
I roll my eyes.
“No, Irish. Sex makes this whole deal complicated. You might fall in love with your defiant British Princess. And I can’t have my brothers blaming me for this alliance falling apart because your heartbroken ass sends me back home. Can we?” I say with a sweet smile.
He takes a breath.
“If I fell in love with you, I wouldn’t let you break my heart. I wouldn’t let you leave.” His stare burns into me.
He’s got cute amber flecks in his dark brown eyes.
“But, that’s never gonna happen. I don’t fall in love. I fuck. That’s it.”
A beat of silence passes where we just look into each other’s eyes. And everything crackles around us. I don’t know what my plan really was, but this was not it.
“Ditto.”
“You never been in love, Princess?”
Ugh. I swallow back the hurt, and I nod.
“Yeah. And I’ve been heartbroken. So, it won’t ever happen again,” I say quietly.
He leans in closer, his strong aftershave wafting up my nose.
“Trick is, if you don’t let them in close enough, they can never hurt you,” he whispers.
“Got it. Very philosophical, Irish. I’ll stay a man hater.”
He chuckles.
“Yeah. Whatever you need to do. But, I promise, we ain’t all like whatever prick broke your heart.”
I’m not even sure my heart ever belonged to Xander. I was young and naive. I believed it was love. I thought letting him own me was love. That sharing me with his friends was what I was meant to do. But it turns out, he was just a sick fuck who got off on hurting me.
“You alright?” Reggie asks, shaking me back to my present.
At least with this arrangement I know what I’m in for. A loveless marriage. But there’s no risk of me being hurt here, I suppose.
“Yeah. I’m tired. Can you show me my room?”
I finish the rest of my coffee, and he sighs.
“Yes.”
I look up at him with a smile.
“So I do have my own room?”
He rolls his eyes.
“Do I look like the kinda man who does nighttime snuggles?”
I look him up and down.
“No. No, you don’t.”
I grab my purse from the couch and follow him up the stairs, and he opens the door to my bedroom.
“I have to go to work in the morning, so I might not be here when you wake up. Help yourself to breakfast, I’ll be back mid-morning. And then we can talk..”
I nod. I’m too tired to argue.
I step in and smile. It’s all a pastel pink and cream. The first bit of color I’ve seen in his house.
“Bella.”
I turn to face him.
“Yes, Reginald.”
He blinks at me. “That’s the first time my real name has ever sounded hot. Must be that sexy British accent of yours.”
I giggle.
“What did you want to ask?”
“You with that girl in London. Is that something you always do? Or?”
I bite my lip.
“Are you asking your fiancée if she likes dick or pussy?”
He runs a hand through his curls.
“I fucking guess I am, yeah.”
“Long answer or the short one?” I tilt my head.
“The real one.”
Okay. I like that.
“After he who shall not be named cheated on me. Part of our relationship was that he liked to share me with his friends. Men and women. After we split, I realized I only ever really got off with women. So, I carried on. I felt safe, I guess.”
His grip on the door handle tightens.
“Trust me. I still like dick. But it just has to be the right one. It’s not about who I’m sleeping with, it’s about how they make me feel.”
He gives me a small smile. I didn’t intend to tell him that part of me.
“Thank you for telling me.” He nods.
And then he backs away.
“Goodnight, hubby,” I tease.
“Night, Princess.”