009

KRISTEN~

An hour later, after dinner, Billie was pacing in front of me, her face contorted into a deep frown. I had a feeling it had something to do with the event I refused to pull out from. It certainly did.

But I made no move to stop her pacing. I merely leaned on the cabinet, my ankle crossed and my hands folded across my chest— one hand technically. I used the other to balance my chin as I stared pointedly at her. 

Her glass heels were clicking furiously on the tiled floor with each step she took and damn! They were disturbing the peace and quietness in the room.

I let out a loud snort, but that didn't seem to get to her. With one hand placed on her waist and the other pinching her lower lip, she paced from one end of the room to the other.

I let out a sharp exhale, deciding that I needed to stop her else we wouldn't be getting enough sleep tonight. Speaking of sleep...

Today would be the first time we would be sleeping together on the same bed. And somehow, my body pulsed at that thought. Not in anticipation, but in a subtle dread. No sparks yet. And I wasn't so sure whether there would be any as time went on.

"Is that what we would be doing all night, Bill?" I asked, raising my forefinger and thumb in askance.

Billie halted her pacing in front of me, meeting my questioning gaze with hers.

"Why did you object to our leaving?" She placed a dramatic hand on her waist. 

I sighed and rubbed my temple in frustration. Dramas! I always did everything I could to avoid that. Now, I had conveniently walked into one. All thanks to my father's taste for mergers and acquisitions.

"You are going to be with another lady for a week." She continued, not minding the frustrated look that I didn't try to hide. Perhaps, she was the inattentive sort.

"One week! Kris. And you gladly accepted." She went on. "What happened to the time we were supposed to spend together, huh?" 

I sighed again. "You made a fuss about us coming here." I reminded her. In case she had conveniently forgotten." You read the terms and schedule of the getaway before signing, didn't you?" 

She huffed and resumed her pacing. I let out a groan. Would she ever stop that pacing of hers?

"I didn't read the terms because I didn't think they would pull this kind of stunt!" Her voice rose a fraction at her last words.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I usually got the urge whenever my frustration was reaching its crescendo. This young lady was trying to rile me up. And damn, it's working.

"It's a game. Not a stunt. Besides, the rest of the couple agreed to their games. There are others who got ‘fake dating' like I did. Why are you making a big deal out of nothing?" My voice kept rising with each word despite how much I tried to be cool, calm and collected.

I caught her rolling her eyes before she scoffed. "Like the way I was paired with a said Brandon for a week to go skiing and play other games. No thanks." She finally settled on the bed opposite the cabinet. A wave of relief washed through me. No more pacing. Thank God!

"It's not a bad idea." My voice had surprisingly returned to its calm nature. "It's not like I will be sleeping with her every night... Well, except for the last two nights." I couldn't explain the feeling of disappointment that suddenly settled in the pit of my stomach as I said that.

I was supposed to be relieved that I would be torturing my heart by sleeping with Regina on the same bed. But was I?

Heck, a part of me was even looking forward to the time we would spend together. But Billie didn't need to know that. 

Besides, I wasn't planning on letting the event of yesterday repeat itself, even though my heart wasn't quite agreeing with me.

"... better?" 

I snapped out of my thoughts at Billie's words. Gosh! I missed what she said because my mind went into overdrive in the middle of our conversation.

I blinked severally before refocusing my attention on her.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" 

She let out a huff and raised both hands with a hint of frustration.

"Great! You are already thinking about her, aren't you? You are zoning out of our conversation!" I resisted the urge to chuckle at the way her eyes flashed with jealousy.

Holy hell, she was even right. Clearly, I was thinking about her, but I didn't want to humor Billie. No thanks. 

I managed a warm smile to at least quieten her down. "What did you say, Bill?" 

She bit her bottom lip as she regarded me for a few seconds before responding.

"I said, is that supposed to make me feel better? The two of you spending time together at all." 

I eased away from the cabinet and bridged the little distance between us by settling on the bed beside her.

"You have to be okay with it. Besides, it wasn't my doing, neither was it Regina's." 

Her head reared backward. "Oh! You already know her name?"

I let out a soft chuckle. God! This lady could be very dramatic. "Yeah... Our host called her name, remember?" Clearly, I already knew her name before then.

"Plus, she's Karina's friend. I know her... Fairly." 

Despite not wanting to act on my growing fondness for Regina, I wouldn't want to deny knowing her. She was too special to be denied. Plus, I wasn't that type of guy.

I could feel Billie's eyes on me, probing, searching.

Only God knew what was going through her mind. I mentally shrugged. She could think whatever she wanted. I would be going along with the game and there was no stopping me.

After gazing at me for seemingly endless seconds— while I pretended to be busy with the channel playing on the plasma TV on the wall— she let out a frustrated sigh.

"You really are going along with this, Kris?" I saw the frustrated look on her face and I felt a little bad for her. Bad that my heart wasn't leaning in the direction it was supposed to.

"Yes, Bill." I couldn't tell how the next few days with Regina would pan out. Or what the future held

for me and Billie. I just had to let fate take its course. 

Just like always.