Unwanted Heat

My initial reaction is anger-I’m angry that she could even think that I would hurt her or anyone else. I take several deep breaths trying to process what she just said, when it finally hits me why she’s adding this clause. It’s not because of me; this is because of that fucker who hurt her before. My anger doesn’t diminish, but it is no longer focused on Kenzie; instead it is on the piece of shit who hurt her. I make a mental note to follow up with Carter to determine where the fuck we are in finding out who this shithead is.

“I will agree to that.”

“Really?” her eyes find mine and I see the surprise in them. I guess she expected a different response; she likely expected me to be angry at her suggesting there was even a need for that clause.

“Kenzie… I hope you know that I would never, ever intentionally hurt you. I am not him; I am nothing like that asshole, I swear to you-”

“I know you’re not, Nicholas. You need to understand: when I met my ex, I thought he was the nicest guy I had ever met. He charmed me completely; looking back there were tons of red flags that I should have seen but I didn’t. By the time I finally realized what was going on, it was too late; he had already taken complete control over my life. He made me quit my job, which meant I had no money of my own; I couldn’t leave him even if I had wanted to. When I was finally able to leave, I swore I would never allow myself to be put in situation like that again. I never want to have to choose between my safety and having a roof over my head. I need… I need this in there for me. I need to know that I’m not trapped if things suddenly turn and everything I thought I knew about you ends up not being true.”

“I understand, Kenzie. I’ll have your out clause added to the prenup. I don’t want you to ever feel trapped with me, especially if we move forward with this new arrangement.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that.”

“What other questions do you have?”

“How would this look? I mean… who would know that this wasn’t a real marriage?”

“No one; just you and me. Well, I suppose Carter and Julie would piece it together eventually, but it is not something that should be disclosed to anyone. Just like our current arrangement with Bridget, the less people who know the better.”

“Speaking of Bridget, how exactly would that work? I mean, surely she would be upset with this? We’re essentially taking her money away, right?”

“I’ve spent a lot of time reviewing the contract we have and there are several termination clauses in there. One such clause allows for us to engage in a romantic relationship outside of the contract with her. I would meet with her, explain that you and I have fallen in love while spending time together under her contract and will be moving forward with our relationship.”

“That’s it? She would just let us break the contract?”

“Not exactly… as with most business contracts, there’s a penalty that would be paid to break the contract with this clause.”

“A penalty?”

“More of a fine I guess you could say. I would make a final payment to her in exchange for the termination of both of our contracts.”

“Oh…”

“I don’t expect any problems to come from terminating the contract; the clause is in there for a reason, so I’m sure this is not the first time that clients are requesting to terminate the contract to engage in a personal relationship.”

“That makes sense. I remember her saying that some clients have fallen in love, even if that wasn’t the intention of the arrangement.”

“Don’t worry about Bridget, if you agree to this new arrangement I will take care of her.”

“Your family… they wouldn’t know about… this?”

“No, they would believe, like everyone else, that we are getting married for love. Does that bother you?”

“I… I kind of feel like we’re deceiving them.”

“We are… but they won’t get hurt from it.”

“I like your family; I’ve enjoyed spending time with them. I don’t want them to hate me when this ends.”

“They won’t, Kenzie, I promise. We will present the dissolve of our marriage as an amicable one-we’ll come up with something so neither of us are at fault for the ending. I won’t let your name get dragged through the mud by anyone, including my family.”

“I just don’t want to hurt them.”

“You won’t. My family would be thrilled if we were to get married; they adore you as it is. You won my mother over when you stayed the weekend with me. Even my mother said, what you did that weekend was something my ex never would have done.”Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

“She wouldn’t have taken care of you if you were sick?”

“She wouldn’t have cancelled her plans and given up her entire weekend to take care of me. That just wasn’t the type of person she was. If there wasn’t something in it for her, she didn’t want to be involved. My family knows you’re not like that, which is one of the reasons why they like you so much. When the time comes, we will find a way to explain the end of our marriage to everyone so that neither of us is to blame.”

“When we do end this arrangement, what happens to us? I mean…”

“I would hope we could remain friends, Kenzie. I’ve enjoyed spending time with you, and I don’t expect that to change just because we are no longer in an arrangement together. I’d like to remain friends with you after this is over; maybe go to dinner or something to catch up.”

“I’d like that too.”

Noting her glass is empty, I refill it without asking. I’m determined to slowly undo all of the things that the asshole did to her, especially the rules he put in place, which she still subconsciously follows. I have no intention of getting her drunk, especially when we need to have a serious discussion, but I want her to eventually become comfortable enough to have more than one drink with me. Although, part of me can’t help but wonder what she’s like when she has a little too much to drink. Does she get silly? Flirty? Does she speak her mind?

“So, there’s one other thing…”

“What is it, Kenzie?” She suddenly looks nervous again.