Chapter Three

MONICA

I flipped through the pages of the contract and I still couldn't wrap my head around any of this. Wedding planner to bride in minutes. Now I sat here with a pen in my hand, being pushed into a contract marriage I never imagined, not even in my wildest dreams.

I didn't have a choice, though. Mr. Blackwood had made that clear with his threats, and Adrian had simply picked up where he left off. The one thing keeping my hands from shaking too badly to hold the pen was the number sitting at the top of the page.

 Ten million dollars in six months! I could finally open my own bridal house with that kind of money. All my life, I had never once cleared a million in a single year.

"So what happens if you break the agreement." I looked up at him, at that face carved out of arrogance. "What happens then?"

"Sign it, and the transfer goes through in the next five minutes." He didn't even glance at the contract when he said it, like the money was an afterthought he'd already forgotten about. "I don't make promises I can't keep, Miss."

I flipped to the last page and signed my name before I could talk myself out of it.

"Good." He took the contract from me and handed it straight to Charles without another look in my direction.

 "Put a smile on your face. Act like you like being here. By the time this reception ends, I want every rumor out there to have died a quiet death. I paid good money for that outcome tonight, so earn it." His voice stayed cold the whole time he said it.

"Since I'm apparently a paid performer now, I'll try to hit my mark." I straightened my spine and matched his tone as closely as I could manage. "Though for ten million dollars, I'd expect a little more warmth from my scene partner."

He didn't answer that. Instead he looked at me this time, simply took my hand and led me into the ballroom.

A slow waltz drifted through the room. Couples around us moved in practiced circles, gowns catching the chandelier light, and when Adrian pulled me into the center of the floor, the crowd erupted into applause.

His hand found my waist and gripped it, pulling me against him, and I gasped before I could stop myself.

I felt something else too. A sudden tension in him, his whole body going rigid for half a second like he hadn't expected that either. His jaw tightened and some small, foolish part of me wondered if his heart had done the same thing mine just did.

"What are you..." The words came out before I'd fully formed them.

"Shut up and follow my lead." His voice dropped low enough that only I could hear it. "This is a performance. Act like you are into it”, He said as he spun me, and the deep vibration of his voice traveled straight down my spine. I hated how much my body reacted to him.

"I can't believe I got paid ten million dollars to dance," I said, half laughing, mostly to keep from thinking too hard about how tight his hand now sat against the small of my back.

The crowd cheered louder. Cameras continued flashing, catching us mid turn.

To sell it for the cameras, Adrian leaned down until his mouth brushed my ear. "Keep up. The world is watching us right now."

The vibration of his voice against my skin sent another violent shiver crawling down every inch of me. What is happening to my body right now? I shouldn't be reacting like this from being this close to him.

A reporter's voice cut through the music. "The couple should kiss! We haven't gotten a single kiss yet!"

"We need that shot," a photographer shouted from somewhere near the stage, already lifting his camera.

I turned to look at Adrian with every ounce of disgust I could summon. There was no version of tonight, or any night, where I planned on kissing this man in front of hundreds of strangers. He needed to understand that before the thought even finished forming behind those dead eyes of his.

His lips were on mine before I could say a single word out loud.

"Anything to kill those rumors." He murmured against my mouth. "My business is on the line here."

Then the kiss stopped being a performance.

It started soft, barely there, then in the space of a few seconds, it turned into something neither of us had planned for, deep and hungry, like some part of us had been waiting for permission this whole time.

 His hand tightened at my waist. Mine found the front of his jacket, fisting into the fabric like I needed something to hold onto. The crowd roared around us, clapping, someone whistled from the back of the room. The kiss continued, until my brain finally caught up with what my body was doing.

I pulled away from him so fast I nearly stumbled.

His eyes found mine, and for one unguarded second, I saw it plainly. He looked as shaken as I felt. Whatever had just happened between us hadn't been part of any script.