Chapter 19 - Laurel
I woke up slowly, feeling loose and mildly achy, but in a good way. The best way. I lay as still as I could, but eased carefully out of Mik’s arms, watching him sleep through half-closed eyes.
Wow. I knew my boss had a dominating personality, but last night, and part of this morning, was next level.
From his taunts to hit him, to realizing why he was doing that, I lost control, and like the subtle ache in my body, in the best possible way.
Nothing bad was going to happen to me while I was in Mik’s arms.
Somewhere between the second time out by the pool and the third time in his massive granite shower with the waterfall sluicing down on us, I had opened up a bit more about my year-long relationship with Rand.
I hated calling it a relationship at all, and I still felt that clinging shame that I stayed as long as I did.
I could only speak about it so much without feeling like it was tainting what we had.
Whatever it was, I didn’t want Rand’s foul presence anywhere near it.
The more the sun flowed in through the slats in the blinds, the more I woke up and began to wonder how I didn’t recognize that waking up in Mik’s arms was a huge mistake.
Well, the mistake started long before I got here, and there were plenty of opportunities to figure it out and put a stop to it, but I couldn’t exactly regret it, either. I hadn’t experienced anything like what Mik did to me in my entire life.
My one high school boyfriend barely got a kiss.
It was just too hard to have a relationship when I couldn’t invite him over for dinner or just to hang out in the living room to watch a movie.
My parents could sometimes go weeks without a blowout fight, but seeing me try to enjoy my life always set one or both of them off.
Rand couldn’t compare at all to Mik, and it made me sick to consider they were the same species, sicker that I’d been fooled by his act for so long.
Still, it wasn’t in my nature to trust easily, and I felt a bit queasy that I’d shared as much as I did last night.
All while Mik hadn’t given me much about his early life except that he had all those siblings and cousins.
“Good morning, gorgeous,” Mik said, startling me out of my thoughts. He grinned. “You were about to sneak back to your room, weren’t you?”
“No,” I lied, melting into his kiss. “But maybe it’s a good idea if I sleep in there from now on.”
He grumbled and kept kissing me instead of answering, and after a few minutes, I forgot what we were talking about.
Over the next few days, I continued to feel wary. It wasn’t anything Mik did, but everything had tilted. Was the feeling of control that Mik somehow magically restored to me real, or an illusion like our fake marriage? That was something else to add to the reasons to stay in my own room.
That night together was too good, too perfect. Many more of those and I’d get attached, then addicted. Then my heart would be in danger as well as my job, and I was sick of picking up the pieces of my life.
The glue holding everything together right now was weak, but it was holding, and it would be nice to keep it that way even if it meant giving up all that pleasure.
The very first night after what I loosely thought of as our honeymoon night, I returned to the guest room without making a big stink about it, resolutely determined to rebuff any of his advances.
Except, he didn’t make any. He wasn’t home.
As soon as we finished dinner, and I was awkwardly looking for reasons to head to my own room early, he got a call and rushed out.
No explanations, barely a goodbye. The next couple of evenings were the same, and not that I was paying attention, but most of the time, he didn’t get home until the wee hours of the morning.
Not a single word about any of it. I was eaten up with curiosity, but I had learned from a young age to understand I didn’t always want to know what secrets people were keeping. I definitely didn’t want to rock the boat, because Mik and I were getting along.
Even at work. I had convinced him by doing a wine tasting using his glasses and a variety of other, more appropriate ones, imploring him to be honest about noticing a difference.
If he was or only appeasing me, I was grateful that he agreed that his exquisite, hand-blown glasses would be better suited for water or soft drinks.
Now that I was victorious, I had to concede they truly were quite pretty.
The shelves were still up in the air, but I knew when to fall back, eager to keep the peace between us when everything was going so smoothly.
On the fourth day, I cracked. I had been up since five, worried when I heard him rushing out of the house around midnight. It was difficult to get back to sleep, because it had to be some kind of emergency taking him out at that speed, so late at night.
I didn’t really know anything about him, but he didn’t seem like the kind of man who thrived in a nightclub atmosphere, and he had a giant selection of beers and wines right here at home. Something was up, and I couldn’t stay quiet about it any longer.
“Is everything okay?” I asked mildly enough when he came in right before dawn. I handed him a cup of coffee and tried not to look judgmental. I wasn’t really his wife, after all. Well, he’d dispute that, but it was on paper only.
“I was helping my family out with something,” he said gruffly. “It’s nothing you need to worry about.”
Helping family from midnight to six in the morning? And looking so tired that his broad shoulders slumped as he headed toward the stairs, not about to answer any more of my questions.
I mean, who said I was worried?
“Does your father even know about us yet?” I called after him.
He stopped and turned around, looking confused by the question,
“Since he was so hellbent on marrying you off,” I prodded. “He should want to meet me, right?”
Mik blinked a couple of times as if remembering that yes, it was very important that everyone in his family knew he was married. I almost asked him if he got hit in the head while he was out all night.
“Yeah, you’re right. And actually, thanks for reminding me.” He hurried back to drop a kiss on my forehead before turning back to head upstairs. “I’ll set it up, and we’ll go out to meet them tonight. Wear something nice.”
Oh damn. I couldn’t even be mad at him. That was all on me.