Chapter 7
Their heartbeats slowly returned to a steady rhythm.
Aaron tightened his hold, pulling her into the crook of his arm.
A strange, unfamiliar sense of peace washed over him—something he hadn’t felt in years, not amidst the endless grind of business or the viperous backstabbing of his social circle.
It was a foreign sensation.
Simple.
Pure.
He looked down at her.
Her eyes, the color of amber suspended in cool water, held him captive.
He pressed a soft, lingering kiss to her forehead, watching the haze in her gaze slowly recede, replaced by a clarity that unnerved him.
Her voice was a mere wisp, still frayed by the aftermath.
“Aaron… hold me closer…”
The words cut through him like a blade.
Hold me closer.
The tranquility he had just felt curdled into unease.
He shouldn’t feel this settled.
She’s not supposed to matter.
If this goes any further, it gets complicated—it drifts far beyond the terms of the contract.
It becomes dangerous.
Uncontrollable.
He didn’t make mistakes.
Aaron’s muscles tensed.
In one swift, deliberate movement, he pulled away.
Kinsley reached out to kiss him, but his searing warmth was already gone.
“Aaron—" She leaned toward him, longing for his embrace to linger.
“Hmm?”
He had already risen, his back turned to her.
She paused, the light in her eyes dimming to a dull ache.
“Nothing…”
With practiced efficiency, he disposed of the protection.
Only then did he glance back, his voice flat, devoid of the previous heat.
“Stay a while longer.”
“Okay…”
He headed toward the bathroom. The tenderness from moments ago had completely evaporated.
Kinsley curled into a ball on the bed.
The physical fire still lingered in her veins, the soreness between her thighs a stark reminder of what had just passed, but a cold, suffocating layer of shame began to settle over her.
She pulled the blanket to cover herself, biting down on her lower lip.
What was this? Was it just another clause in the contract?
Or was it pure, animalistic attraction?
His eyes had been so full of something that felt like adoration—she’d been sure it was more than just raw lust.
But now…
Forget it.
Even if it was just a performance, she’d play along.
At least the intimacy was real enough.
Her heart rate, her breathing, the wild pulsing in her blood—everything fell back into its artificial, well-ordered place.
Kinsley felt her professional mask sliding back into position.
When she was on set, she could snap into character the moment the clapperboard struck, and shed it the second the director yelled “Cut.”
She knew how to do this.
But as she touched her own skin, still buzzing with the phantom memory of his caress, a dull, persistent throb of pain lingered in her chest.
It hadn’t been a dream.
That part of him—the man who had nearly touched the deepest, most hidden parts of her soul—was real.
The bathroom door creaked open. Aaron stepped out, a haze of steam clinging to his skin, a towel loosely knotted at his waist.
Kinsley grabbed his robe and hurried to him, helping him slide into it.
In the dim, ambient light, his chest looked like sculpted stone—the same chest she had been pressed against moments ago, the same source of warmth she had craved.
His abs were rigid, a map of the raw power she had felt surging through her.
As the silk settled over his shoulders, her fingers brushed against his skin.
It felt like touching a live wire.
She recoiled instantly, pulling her hand back as if burned.
The heat and tenderness that had haunted his gaze moments ago were gone, replaced by his signature icy composure.
There was even an edge of distance—a sharp, deliberate detachment.
Kinsley’s fingers twitched, a reflexive urge to reach out and hold him from behind, but she caught herself, letting her hand drop to her side.
Forget it. The “job” is over.
Don’t make things complicated.
Aaron’s voice was colder than she had ever heard it.
“Just now, I…”
“You don’t have to explain anything,” she cut him off, her voice brittle. “You’re incredible in bed. Honestly,this jobis not bad at all.”
She turned her face away, her eyes stinging.
Aaron’s jaw tightened, his muscles corded in suppressed frustration.
“Is that all this is to you? A job?”
“Exactly,” she said, forcing a calm she didn’t feel. “It’s a possibility outlined in the contract, and you’re just fulfilling your end of the bargain.”
His gaze darkened, his lips pressing into a thin, grim line.
“If that’s how you see it… then fine.”
Terrified that the tears would finally spill over, Kinsley turned and hurried toward the bathroom.
He watched her go, his hand halfway reaching out before he forced it back, clenching it into a fist as he squeezed his eyes shut.
~ ~ ~
The hot water rained down on Kinsley, trying in vain to warm the sudden chill in her bones.
She stood under the spray, scrubbed her skin raw, desperate to wash away the ghost of his touch.
Just a moment ago, she wanted these sensations to last forever. Now, she wanted them erased.
She lathered her skin, methodically scrubbing every inch he had claimed—her neck, her chest, the soft curve of her stomach.
When her soapy fingers brushed against her core, she let out a jagged sigh and pressed her face into the water, letting it stream over her.
He had enjoyed it—she was certain of that.
His kisses, his tenderness—they hadn’t been a performance.
The way he’d surged into her… that wasn’t just raw, mechanical lust.
She really felt for it.
For a second, she actually thought it was love.
She tilted her head back, wiping the water from her eyes.
You’re an idiot, Kinsley.
You never mix business with feelings.
If you let this go any further, when the six-month mark hits, the pain is going to be tectonic.
She thought of the payout awaiting her at the end, and a bitter, self-deprecating smirk tugged at the corner of her lips.
Not worth it.
Aaron was perfect, in every way that mattered—but she had no business loving him.
And God knows, he didn’t love her.
It’s for the best.
She splashed water against her face.
“Don’t be a fool. Pull yourself together. It’s just a job. Do it. Finish it.”
“Six months. It’ll be over in a blink.”
Yet, even as she forced a smile into the mirror, a single, treacherous tear tracked its way down her cheek.
Deep inside, something new was taking root—
A terrifying, quiet growth she couldn’t prune away.
She let out a bitter laugh.
“Wake up, you idiot.”
~ ~ ~
When Kinsley walked back into the bedroom, she could feel Aaron’s gaze tracking her every move, but she refused to look his way.
She couldn’t bear the awkwardness.
“Everything alright? You were in there a long time.”
“I’m always like this.”
The room fell into an oppressive silence.
“If you’re feeling… uncomfortable in any way, just tell me.”
She offered him a stiff, mannequin-like smile.
“I’m fine. Everything is fine.”
She lay down on the far edge of the bed, just as she had the night before.
The lights were out,and a sliver of moonlight spilled through the expansive floor-to-ceiling windows.
Kinsley could hear his steady, rhythmic breathing, yet his searing gaze burned against her back, leaving her skin prickling with warmth.
She didn’t dare move, though sleep felt a world away.
She counted her breaths, but every attempt at peace was shattered by the vivid, searing playback of the last hour.