MARRIAGE OF DUTY

ROWAN'S POV

The sound of muffled footsteps hurrying down the stairs caught my attention. With a piece of toast hanging from my lips, I raised my gaze from my cup of coffee to the redhead who had just made her way downstairs. 

She was late, as previously expected. 

Though it was early in the morning and cool out, sweat dotted her forehead. She pants softly in exertion and rounds I and the dining table towards the food that had already been plated for her 15 minutes earlier. 

It had gone cold, but I doubt she'd notice. 

I don't bother starting a conversation or raising the issue of her tardiness. I'd give her the benefit of the doubt being that we'd just gotten married yesterday and we'd both come home from the reception very late.

Piper tucks a strand of her disheveled auburn hair behind her ear and immediately begins inhaling her breakfast. I watch silently as she stuffs food into her mouth, not sparing me a single glance as she eats. 

Soon after she's downing her coffee, she stands up and away from the table, straightens her suit, and combs back her hair with her fingers. She gives me a pointed disinterested look, before waltzing back out of the dining area, a sway in her hips.

I fight the urge to crack a smirk at her behavior.  It wasn't like I wanted to marry her either. 

I simply was following orders I couldn't go against. 

Piper comes back into the kitchen just as I finish the last of my toast and coffee, her handbag slung over her shoulder, a perfectly carved eyebrow arched in irritation. 

Like I was the one who made us late.

"Are we going, or not?" She sisses, those dark brown siren eyes of hers glaring down at me. We didn't need to be early, after all, I was the boss, and my actual assistant was still going to work behind the scenes and coach Piper till she was ready to take on the job head-on. 

My father hadn't wanted her to sit at home and do nothing for fear that with all that free time she might have an affair or do something stupid.

He wanted to make sure he had eyes on her at all times of the day 

Hence she was to work by my side. 

I nod curtly, and stand, pushing away from the table and walking the short distance from the kitchen to the garage where my soon-to-be ex-assistant waited for me. 

Piper briskly walks beside me, her head held pretty high for someone who was so against working with me. When Hannah, my assistant sees her, she bows and offers her a tight-lipped professional smile. 

"Good morning Mr Archer...Mrs Archer." Hannah says slowly, as her gaze shifts to Piper, who seems to have a permanent frown pulling down the sides of her rosy lips. 

She opens the door for us to get in and when we do she rounds the car to the front and starts reciting my schedule. 

I nod along to the details while Piper sits beside me with her hands curled in her lap. 

Piper watches out the window as we roll down the driveway and out of the house. We get the remaining distance in silence until we reach the office. 

___

There were not a lot of perks to having Piper work for me, basically what I was meant to do was babysit her all day and make sure she didn't get in any trouble or try her luck at running away from me. 

So seeing her running about to fulfill every order I sent her scratched an itch in my brain I hadn't been able to reach since the day I burst into her home. 

Piper grumbles under her breath for the nth time as she balances my coffee, documents, and briefcase all in her hands. Hannah had long since left us to attend a clashing meeting on my behalf. 

"Too heavy for you?" The ding of the elevator punctuates my sentence and the doors slide open, I walk out and Piper stumbles behind me as she tries to keep up with my pace. "No, I'm just fine." She forces a smile as she spits out every venomous word. 

We walk the short distance to the board room, and I watch as she struggles to balance the items as she opens the door for me. She didn't need to, but I didn't stop her. 

There the executives had already been seated. Max, the COO and my best friend raises a brow at the sight of Piper. He'd been at our wedding, and he was well aware of our little situation. 

They'd set up the projector already and Max's secretary would be the one presenting the report on the feedback received on the unveiling of the Aurora cars. 

Members of the board stand as I walk in, bowing 90 degrees in greeting before the presentation begins. Piper sits beside me, her shoulders squared as she listens attentively to what is being said. 

I hadn't expected her to care much about the job, but obviously, she could pull her weight. Max who was seated beside me flicked a pen my way, drawing my attention away from the projector. He points in Piper's direction, his face pulled into a teasing smile. 

He leans into my side. "The blushing bride looks astounding today." He smirks and I roll my eyes at him. "That's my wife, Mr I don't know how to keep my dick in my pants," I whisper back at him, and he shrugs that stupid smirk never wavering from his lips. 

"Your wife that you didn't want to have anything to do with until 2 weeks ago."

"Nevertheless," I sneaked a glance at the subject of our discussion,  who had now begun taking minutes on her laptop I'd given her for work. "She's still my wife. At least on paper."

He shrugs once again and relaxes into his seat. "Whatever you say."

I shrug off the weird feeling from that conversation and focus back on the presentation. Every detail flying over my head as my eyes constantly strayed back to the redhead woman beside me, her chocolate brown eyes, her plump lips. 

Piper was my type, from head to toe, she checked every box in my book. Maybe in a different circumstance, we would've been good together, but I don't do well with the defiant ones, the stubborn ones that always had a sparky comment ready for whatever situation. 

Her eyes meet mine, not hers alone but the eyes of everyone else in the room. 

"How does this look to you, sir?" Charles, Max's secretary looks at me with an expectant look in his icy blue eyes. "Oh, yes." I cleared my throat, and the projector now showed a graph of our sales since the new car had been released. 

"This is good. It all looks good." I cough, "The sales seem to be going good, and it looks to have gotten a higher sale rate than when we released the Aurora X series."

Charles smiles widely, "Yes. Women are loving the design of the car and the speed is a great selling point for young male youths."

Charles jabbers about the car while I mentally pat myself on the back for being able to maneuver my way around that situation. I turn to Piper who now has her attention on Charles. 

"My coffee," I whisper to her, grabbing her attention. She scoffs and grabs the cup out of its holder, and just as she is about to hand it to me she fumbles and the entire cup of scalding hot coffee spills onto my clothes, the documents from before, and her laptop. 

"Oops."