"Come here."
Claude brought his arms to rest on her sides before pulling her down to settle on his lap. He made sure that she was comfortable with her legs dangling over the armrest of his chair while he hugged her body close to his chest.
His actions took Ayla by surprise, but she didn't find herself frowning over them. Instead, her stiff muscles eased under the warmth of his body.
"I know you only mean well, but I would hate myself if my presence ends up bringing you trouble, of any kind." He brought his free hand to her face, cupping her cheek before pressing a feather light kiss on her forehead.
"But it won't. It will, in fact, put my worried mind at ease." Ayla tried to reason with him only for him to turn her down.
With a shake of his head and a deepening frown, Claude shushed her by pressing his index finger against her lips. "Things have finally started to become normal between us even though we are
Ayla stared back at her own reflection with a deep frown etched in between her brows, causing them to almost meet in the middle. "Are you sure this is not too much?" She couldn't stop herself from voicing out her doubts as much as she was afraid of offending the artist. "Trust me, darlin', this is just perfect." The lady kissed her teeth and shook her head. She could understand the lady's concern, but she knew better. Despite it being a 'charity' gala, the elites of the society never backed down from showing off their wealth through the gowns and dresses of their partners. "You scream just the right amount of elegance and sexiness." She added with a wink, teasing the lady a little. "Thank you so much, Irene." Ayla looked over her shoulder and passed the woman a full blown smile before making her way to the table that was set up by the wall. "It's been my pleasure, Mrs. Carter." The make-up artist shook her head before following
"F*ck."Claude sucked in a mouthful of air through his teeth as he took the sight before him in. His eyes never wavered away from her figure. He opened his mouth a couple of times only to close it once again as his words failed it."It's too much, isn't it?" A groan followed Ayla's complaint as she eyed herself down.It was only then that Claude came out of his trance, a loud scoff forced out of his lips."Are you kidding me, woman?" He rolled his eyes before closing the distance between them. "It's nowhere near too much. On the contrary, actually." He huffed out a long sigh as his steps hurriedly covered the gap between them, bringing him to stand before her."You look perfect, Ayla." He mumbled in a whisper as he brought his right palm to cup the side of her face without applying much pressure. He would hate himself if he somehow ended up ruining her makeup. She was looking a little too perfect for him to allow that to hap
"You gotta be kidding me." Ayla mumbled out an annoyed groan as she eyed her surroundings. She was somewhat thankful for the privacy that the tinted windows were providing her and Claude.Their car was parked outside the main entrance of the hotel where the event was supposed to be held. Atkinson Corp. Two of the adjoining ball halls were booked for the entirety of two days so that nothing could go wrong."It's going to be alright, Ayla." Claude reached out to caress her bare shoulder, trying to calm her jittery nerves down. "Why are you getting so worked up?""There are so many cameras out there…" Her voice trailed off as she tried to gather her thoughts. Her mind was already hazy with how stressful she was finding it all. She was never one to do good in between a large crowd. Especially when she was the center of all the attention."That's normal for an event as big as ours." Claude kept caressing her right shoulder in slo
Claude watched her fiddling with the fabric of her dress as her eyes roamed around the wide hall which was filled with people. He wanted to make sure that all of his attention was on her, but it was really starting to get really hard. There were many people around who were waiting to have a conversation with him, and he had to entertain his guests even though he would rather get done with the night already.Another reason for his tolerance was the event itself. If it was some other high-end ball, he would have already left after making an appearance even if he was the host. But he couldn't do the same for tonight. Tonight's event meant a lot to him; it was more like a personal cause than bringing some good PR for the company."Hey." He leaned down and whispered next to her ear as his hold around her waist tightened ever so slightly. "You look like you are about to puke." Now that they were given some privacy, he decided to voice his thoughts out.
Sighing out loud, the bartender gave into her pleas and began preparing her a drink. "If you don't mind me asking this, why are you all alone by yourself." He questioned Ayla, bringing his face to rest on his propped up palms. "I am pretty sure you are someone's date for the night. Or at least you were." A frown began to appear in between his plucked eyebrows as he eyed the lady who was on her fifth drink. "I am still someone's date." Ayla corrected him with a roll of her eyes. "But that someone is busy talking about business with a whole lot of other someones." She chuckled lightly at her own words. "Must suck to be you if you guys are in a relationship." He disappeared from her sight after dropping in a comment to serve someone else. Within minutes, he was once again standing before Ayla with a tired look on his face. "Shouldn't there be someone helping you with the orders?" Ayla spoke up before downing on the rest of her drink, an
"There's one more thing though." He heard her mumble with her clasped hands. Before he could question or react, he felt her lips on his neck and her body against his.Claude hissed through his clenched teeth as his hands instinctively tightened around her waist, pulling her body flushed against his. Her arms were trapped in between their bodies."Ayla!" A warning growl left his lips as he felt her soft, plump lips move over his neck. He wasn't expecting her to start nibbling on the skin right then and there before the eyes of so many."Hmm…" Without bringing her actions to a stop, Ayla hummed against his neck. She would suck on the spot before grazing it with her teeth."What are you doing?" Claude mumbled next to her ear when she continued her sweet torture on his neck. He wanted her to stop with it just as much as he wanted her to continue torturing his souls."Don't you like it?" She mumbled a response withou
"That was some good show." Asher mumbled out as soon as Ayla settled down on a stool across the bar counter."I hope you enjoyed it." Even she herself couldn't believe the words which were flowing out of her mouth. Not only did her brain to mouth filter stop working, she had managed to reach another new level of shamelessness."I didn't know that my lady boss was such a little, feisty maiden." He remarked with a couple of low chuckles only to earn a glare from the woman."Why aren't you up there with him?" He continued, changing the topic of their conversation to a more serious one."I hate getting attention to myself. Moreover, I have had enough of being on the front page of the paper for one week." She recalled the recent events and couldn't help the shiver that ran down her spine. She brought her arms to hug herself, trying to provide some warmth to her exposed skin."Make me a drink, Asher." She looked up to meet h
"Can we go home already?" Ayla looked up at the man, her lips pursed together as she gave the man a pleading look. "We can't." Claude replied to her briefly in a whisper before turning his attention back to the people who were waiting to greet him on his way out. A few of them congratulated him for the success of the event, while a couple of others were more focused on getting to know the lady who was clinging to his arm as if her life depended on it. "Please." She leaned against his side and wrapped her arms around his neck before pressing her lips against his cheeks. "Pretty. Please." She punctuated each word with a soft kiss on his cheek. "Ayla!" Claude looked down at her, glaring. "Behave." He warned her with a shake of his head but his hand never left her waist, making sure that she didn't move away from him. The last thing he wanted to fret over were her whereabouts given how drunk she was. It was truly a wonder that she was able to wa