Chapter 10
Reine I had not expected it to turn out like this. Sometimes, I needed to keep my mouth shut. I was too outspoken at the wrong moments. Exhibit A: right now. I shook my head and stared at Jax who was looking at me with a questioning look on his face. I sighed then shook my head again. With the little I knew about Jax now, I knew that he wasn’t going to let it go until I gave him a satisfactory answer anyway.
“I mean, your life is out there for the entire world to see. A lot of it.” I stopped talking and sighed. I was just going to dig a hole for myself if I continued talking. It would be best if I just shut up. “You know what Mr. Coleman, forget I even said anything.”
Jax stared at me for a while, so much so that I thought he was going to push. But to my greatest surprise, he didn’t say a word. Just smiled what I guessed was his signature smile and shook his head. “You know what? Let’s drop it like you said.”
I felt some kind of awkwardness, so I bent my head slightly and started with my meal. Was he going to reconsider everything because of what I had said? There had truly been no malicious intent in my words. I had blurted the first thing that had come to mind. I knew that I was probably jumping to stupid conclusions and overthinking. But when you lived with a man like my dad, you had to get used to unpredictability.
I looked up suddenly to find Mr. Coleman’s eyes on me. I expected him to look away or something (because that was what I would have done) but he continued staring. I felt my face heat up. This man was so shameless. I raised a brow despite how fast my heart was beating in my chest, and he chuckled. There was no apology for the staring, just, “I like you.”
I didn’t know whether that was a compliment or not, so I just turned my head back to my food and continued eating, even though I barely had an appetite. I put my fork down when I was done and as I looked up, he was still staring! I didn’t know what he was thinking, and if I was being honest, I wasn’t very sure I wanted to know.
“Are you done?” he asked.
I nodded. He stood and came towards me, then he extended his hand towards me. “What do you say we talk about the deal while eating dessert?’ he asked.
It sounded like a great idea. Eating dessert while talking would reduce how much time I had to spend with her. My anxiety was already on a constant rise and I needed to know what the verdict of all of this was. My mind was already working at 100 miles an hour. This added stress was not something I needed.
I took Mr. Coleman’s hand and we stood. I looked at the table. “Are we not going to clear…?” I asked, letting my question trail off.
“Don’t worry about that,” the man said, waving his other hand, the one that was not engulfing mine in its warmth. “I have someone who is going to take care of that.”
I was a little perplexed. Was this how rich people lived? It was weird to me, but it was clearly a habit of his. So, I was not going to question anything. I walked with him to another room. It seemed like the apartment was endless. I mean, I had known it was big with how tall the French windows were. But damn. Why did he need so much space? Didn’t he live alone?
I was one to talk though. My dad and I lived in a house that was fit to host six people. So, I quietened my thoughts and tried not to gape when we reached the broom. I was determined not to show that I was impressed by anything this man owned. It was going to be hard, but I was trying my best.
We sat in some cozy chairs, and he picked a plate with a slice of cake on it and gave me.
“Now this would have been perfect with a glass of wine, but I respect your wishes.”
It was obvious that he was baiting me. I was not going to give in. He was not going to know that every time I saw alcohol, any kind, the thought of drinking it made me sick. It brought just one thought to mind. My dad and all his uncontrollable bursts of anger, the hurtful words he had thrown at me while he was drunk. Nah. I was good.
“So…?” I asked. I was eager to know. All of this, the small drink we had had before the dinner, the meal itself, and now the dessert? Didn’t he think it was a little too much? I was already at wit’s end trying to figure out whether I was going to save my family business and home or not. Or whether in the cause of doing that, I was going to become a two-bit whore or something like that.
“Impatient, are we?” the man asked with his signature smirk on his face. I felt like slapping it off.
I stared at the watch sitting prettily on my wrist for the first time since I had gotten into his apartment. I was a little shocked at the time. It was already 9:30 pm. Where had the time gone to? I looked up at Jax who was—unsurprisingly—staring at me. “Yes, I am,” I said bluntly.
He chuckled. “I’m not going to waste any more of your precious time then.”
I knew he was mocking me, but I didn’t even care. I just wanted to know what he had to say, how the deal was going to proceed—if it was even going to proceed. Jax placed the tiny plate on the small table in front of us then stood and walked to the desk that I had not even noticed.
I could not help but notice the man’s appeal. He was attractive, there was no doubt about it. But I had already told myself one thing; if we did go on with the fake engagement agreement, I was going to try my best not to get involved with him. This man was dangerous, and with all the mysterious smiles he had been throwing my way, I knew he expected me to be another notch on his bedpost. It was not going to happen. I had too much pride… too much dignity and there was a whole lot at stake. What I wanted was to make my dad proud for once, not find out how good the next president of the board of ColElectronics was—no matter how tempting the thought sounded.
So lost in my thoughts I was that I barely noticed when he approached me. I looked up at him. There was a document in his hand. I swallowed and waited for him to give me an answer. This cryptic silence was almost terrifying.
“So?” I asked for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. I was already tired of asking the question and I bet he was tired of hearing it too.
“So, my dear Reine, this is the contract. Take all the time you need to read through it, understand it, and ask me any question you want.”
That was quick. He had spoken about a fake engagement the previous day and a contract was already drafted? I was probably thinking of myself as too special. Maybe it had been drafted long before I met him, and he had simply not found someone to play the part. I took the first single sheet from his hand, then the second pile. I wondered why the second document looked so thick until I saw the title.
It was an NDA of course. I knew I would probably have to sign one of those, so I didn’t mind. I did a cursory read-through, satisfied by the fact it was just like any other NDA. I kept that one by the side and that’s when I noticed my hands were shaking. I closed my eyes for a few seconds, trying to control myself. Then I opened them again and started reading through the actual contract.
Everything was fine until I saw one line: Jax Coleman retains the right to add any clause he deems important enough to this contract. For a weird reason, it angered me a little. I knew that I was going to be at his beck and call for the duration of this agreement—which the contract stated would go from three to sixth months—but for him to add that? It made me feel some type of way.
I looked up at him and cleared my throat. The man raised one infuriating brow. “You retain the right to add any clause to the contract?” I asked.
Jax sat in his chair and his expression changed. I bet this was what his collaborators saw every time they did business. This man had a reputation in the business world for being very intimidating, but with how much he had been playing with me, I had not really seen it. Now I did, and it wasn’t a side of him that I truly wanted to familiarize myself with. It was hard enough being attracted to him. But intimidated? Nah, I was good.
“Yes, Ms. Graham. I retain the right to add clauses, after consulting you, of course,” he added the last part mockingly. It infuriated me. But I was learning that I was going to start having to pick my battles with this man, especially if I was going to sign the contract—and who was I kidding? I definitely was.
I cringed a little at his use of my last name. It felt so formal. It didn’t matter that we were business associates to be and that what was going on was purely business. It had just been a day and a few hours, but I had already gotten used to his playful nature. And while it got me mad, helplessly so, it was much better. I looked at the contract for a few seconds.
So, this was it. I was truly selling my dignity away, to a man who probably didn’t respect me to keep the heritage of another man I knew didn’t respect me going. It was so ironic. But I had already embarked on the journey, I couldn’t stop now. And maybe it would finally tell my dad that he could trust me with some responsibility… that I wasn’t all bad.
I sighed then looked up at Mr. Coleman.
“Can I have a pen?” I asked.
He stood without a word and walked to the desk and brought a pen to me. I took it from him, ignoring the electric feeling that happened when we touched each other’s fingers. I was determined to ignore every ounce of attraction that wanted to exist between us—wanted, because I wasn’t ready to accept that it truly existed yet.
I signed the contract where necessary, feeling some sort of doom come over me. I felt like I had just made a deal with the devil, which I probably had. I handed the pen over to Mr. Coleman and he signed as well, then he looked up at me with a devilish glint in his eyes. I didn’t know what to make of that look, but I found myself strangely bound by it.
“It’s done?” I asked before the infuriating man could say anything.
He laughed, and I had to admit that it was a nice sound. I shivered a little, but I ignored my very human reaction to the man’s obvious sex appeal.
“Are you that eager to leave, Reine?”
“Yes,” I said bluntly.
He laughed again, then he stood and stretched his hand out to me. I took it and he pulled me up. Then he said, “I have a feeling that the next few months are going to be some of the most exciting of my life…”
Some kind of dread took over me, but I was determined not to show it. I smiled though, trying not to let it show. I was going to do this without complaints, and I was going to get the money at the end of the duration of our agreement and leave. Without looking back.
“I will send you a copy of the contract, and if there are any needed modifications, I will let you know.”
I nodded. Yes, I was going to do all of this with one thing in mind: freedom at last.