Chapter 1

Electra stares at the man sitting across from her at the table in the restaurant. Hands folded across her chest and her face set in defiance, she listens to him.

“Listen. Like you, I don't want this, but if we ever want this to stop, then we have to give them something. Something that'll get them off our backs.” Anders says, his eyes search hers, checking to see if she gets his point.

This is the second date their families have set both of them on in less than a week.

Anders has lost count of the number of blind dates he has been on in the last months. His grandmother is intent on seeing him get married before she leaves this world as she puts it. Anyone would think Anders is a grown àss man but his granny had a strong hold on him and he'd do anything for her.

And although he didn't know much about Electra, he was certain she was under some kind of pressure too.

“So what you're basically saying is that we pretend to be a couple for the oldies?” Electra asks, referring to both their parents.

“Exactly!” Anders emphatically concurs. “We’ll pretend, but we both know that that's all it is; an act with no strings attached.” He says with a wave of his hand.

She eyes him in suspicion. “What's the catch? What's in it for you?”

Anders shrugs. “My peace.” There's more, but he can't tell her.

Electra’s brows grow together.

“Just that?” She asks, incredulity lacing her tone.

“Isn't that enough?... What? You think I enjoy going on dates with random bimbos sticking their overly done makeup up my face? Well, no. I'll take my peace any day.” Anders says in a strong tone.

Electra cocks a brow at him. She tries to hide the anger that rises in her guts.

“Bimbos huh… And you want this bimbo to play your girlfriend?”

“Let's be realistic. I don't like you and you just as much don't like me.” He says remembering the first time they met at the workshop.

He had taken his friend's car for repair that day and instead of meeting his usual mechanic, Paul, he met her.

Having a rough start to his day and thinking she was a new receptionist, he snapped at her, asking her to go call the mechanic. What he did not know was that Paul no longer worked there and that Electra had taken up Paul's place.

When he did know, he passed her a look that questioned her skill at the job, questioning her abilities.

Electra was appalled by his assumption of her capabilities. She hates it when anyone undermines her and her work.

It made everything worse when he found out later that evening that she was his blind date. A disaster.

The date had been memorable, consisting of a nice meal, barely touched and hot exchange of insults which they both lashed at each other.

It was a tug of war with words and each wanted to have the last word, they ended up spending more than the one hour the date was supposed to last, causing their parents to think that it was a good match.

Usually, Electra goes back home half way through any date, cussing and listing all the big X she noticed in her dates.

But her date with Anders had been different. She got home late and went straight to bed, not uttering any words to her family as her anger had boiled over.

Anders on the other hand had called his granny to complain about Electra. Something he had never done. His grandmother was pleased to hear that Electra could evoke a reaction in her grandson.

For both families, it was a good enough reason to set them up for another date.

Anders picks his glass of wine and sips from it to quench the dryness in his mouth before he continues.

“We can't stand each other. That works fine with me. You won't wake up one morning and claim to be in love with me.”

Electra scrunches her face. Anders' words sound like a bitter pill in her mouth.

“That's very unlikely.” She tells him, eyeing him and refuting any possibility of that ever happening.

“Exactly my point.”

Electra rolls her eyes, still irritated at the thought of falling for Anders.

Anders smiles as he reads her repulsion.

“Don't even think about it. Women like you beg to be with me. I'm rich and I'm hot.” He says, his arms spread out in prideful arrogance.

Electra scoffs. “Yeah right. A hot piece of shit you mean.” She mutters.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing… So how long is this- act supposed to last?”

“A year.” Anders says noncommittally.

“A year!” Electra yelps.

“Yup! One long year of peace. No blind dates. No meeting random men-”

“Or bimbos.” She cuts him, still angered by his reference to her as one.

He tilts his head and points a finger to her as though the word was in front of her.

“And that too… Think about it. We could do whatever we want. After one year, we'll come up with a good excuse for a break up and then we go our separate ways. It's that easy.” He shrugs.

Electra pauses to think about his proposal. As much as she hated the idea, she had to admit he did have a point.

One year.

It was just the right amount of time she needed. A good excuse to escape her father's dottingness and live the life she wanted. She eyes him as she thinks about it.

“Okay. Deal!”

“Great! Now let's celebrate.” Anders says as he picks up his fork, ready to feast on the delicious looking steak.

“We get to eat on this date.” He says with a chuckle.

“Sure… A caveat though.” Electra looks him squarely in the eyes. “You don't fall in love with me.”

Anders scoffs and an arrogant smirk lifts the corner of his lips.

“Don't you worry about that. I'm not into girls like you.” His eyes trail her outfit in disapproval just before he fills his mouth with a piece of steak.

“Girls like me?”

“Yes.” He says, not noting her annoyance, he continues. “I mean who wears slacks, chiffon sleeves, a pair of flats and packs their hair into a messy ponytail for a date?”

It surprised her how detailed his description of her outfit is. He did look at her. Really look at her.

Anders waves his other hand over her. “I like my women- feminine. You're not.”

Electra grows rigid but she manages a smile. A tight smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. It’s the best she could do to hide her hurt at his words. This is not the first time she has been told that.

Having grown up as the only girl amidst four boys, a father and no mother for a model female, Electra counts herself a part of the male gender. She dresses and behaves like one. She doesn’t know any other way to live. She grew up with no interest in makeup, pretty dresses and high heels.

“By feminine, you mean clad in a tight little dress that leaves very little to your imagination. All smiling and blushes over everything dumb thing you say?... Like the bimbos you're avoiding?”

Anders' pauses.

She titles her head at him in a dare.

He quickly recovers and continues to chew. He clears his throat.

“That's not exactly what I meant. You sound offended.”

“Offended? Oh no I'm not. I'm just really glad I'm not so feminine for you. That's definitely one less thing I have to worry about.”

She picks up her cutlery and cuts angrily into the steak on her plate.

Anders drops his fork and throws his hands in the air.

“Great! Officially our first lovers quarrel.” He says in a flat tone.

“We are not lovers!”

“Right. You're just one angry pretend-girlfriend.” He smirks and continues to eat.

“It's a good thing this is all an act.” Her irritation fills her tone.

His mouth, too full to speak, he bobs his head in agreement.

“It's the perfect relationship.” He adds in a muffled voice.

The rest of dinner goes quietly. Electra continues to seethe and Anders finds it entertaining. Very entertaining. Most entertaining is the way she purses her full lips in anger.

He pays for their meal, refusing Electra's offer to split the bill. She loves to take care of things for herself.

“Yearning for our second fight, pumpkin?” He asks as he places the bill on the table.

Pumpkin?

She thins her lips and looks away. Her objection, gone.

“I'll drop you.” He tells her.

“You don't have to.” Stubbornness graces her features.

“You are a stubborn one, aren't you? Always gonna go against me.” He half-smiles. “Taming you is going to be fun, pumpkin.”

The amusement in his eyes tickles her rage.

“Stop calling me that!”

“What? Pumpkin?” He raised a brow at her.

“Let's go.” She agrees with reluctance. She didn't want to argue with him as long as he didn't call her that.

Once they step out of the restaurant, Anders leads her to his car and she falls into step with him.

The floodlight at the parking lot gives her a good view of him. Strong jawline with trimmed short boxed beard. A sharp strong nose that seems to have been broken a time or two. Thick full brow. He looks so young, but something about him seems to go against that theory.

He suddenly pauses to look at his phone. She takes one step ahead before stopping to wait.

She continues her assessment of him.

Square shoulders and a nicely toned muscled chest stretches the fabric of the black suit he wore. A hint that he hits the gym daily.

He lifts his head as soon as he finishes. He looks at her.

His eyes. Fox eyes with a striking greenish hue. Magnetic.

He begins to walk again, talking long confident strides.

He is handsome.

Electra bites the inside of her cheeks at the train of her thoughts. She shouldn't be feeding his ego even in her head. He's already cocky enough.

“I’m hosting an event next week. We'll have to attend.” He says, pulling her out of her head.

“We?”

He turns to her with a raised brow.

“As my girlfriend.” He reminds her.

Girlfriend. The word sounds strange to Electra's hearing.

“It’s a big event. Our first official outing as a couple and your first official assignment.”

“Assignment?” She asks.

He sighed. “Yes. You’ll play the good girlfriend. Would I always need to remind you, pumpkin?”

She eyes him as hisses. “What kind of event is it?”

“Work related.” He stops and looks at her, scanning the length of her. “I'll send you a dress… No arguments.” He says immediately as she parts her lips to protest.

She says nothing and clutches the sling of her purse tightly over her shoulders and continues to walk beside him.

They stop in front of a black, sleek Bugatti Chiron.

Electra's jaw drops.

“Is this you?” She asks.

He doesn’t respond.

She looks up at him just as he presses the car unlock.

“Who are you?”

He smirks. “I'm your boyfriend.”

She gaped at the car. Her love for fast cars. The mechanic in her kicks off, accessing the car and recounting its amazing features.

“Get in.” He orders.

Trying not to show her excitement, she hops inside.

The drive is exhilarating for Electra. Just how it loves it. Speed. Fast. Heart racing.

“Take the next turn.” She directs him.

She points to a building ahead and she tells him to stop.

He peeks through the windshield at the house. “Is this you?”

She looks towards the house. “Yes.” Her voice came out smaller than she intended.

Anders sights the blinds on one window shift.

“Looks like we've got an audience.” He says, his hands working the buckle of the seatbelt.

She doesn't look. She doesn't need to. Her cousins are standing by the window, watching them.

“My brothers.” She says in embarrassment. Electra has always seen them as more than just cousins.

“Well then, let's give them a show.”

Without warning, he leans in and crush her lips with his in a fiery kiss.