A Word of Praise — Chapter SIXTEEN

That woman was sent straight from hell to make his life miserable. She was progressively becoming his least favorite person to be around, earning several points at that race by causing him a hard-on in the middle of his favorite restaurant.

This time, unfortunately, he couldn’t say it was entirely her fault. He asked her to dress nice, and she kind of did with that blue dress and heels, and then said he’d fuck her. It was not the first time he’d been so blunt, but it usually caused the woman to blush and change the subject.

Not that incarnated devil. Oh no, she had to look him right in the eye and make the promise they never make. Just sex, no dating. To make things incredibly worse, it was all in the world of ideal forms, nowhere close to reality. In short, she dressed up, made the golden promise, and placed it just outside his reach. No man in the world could survive that triple kill.

“Are you ready to order?”

The waitress pulled him out of the daze and only then he noticed the victory look on Kiara’s face. Fucking hell she wouldn’t let a single thing pass. That was precisely why he wouldn’t even fuck her. The woman had one of the worst personalities he has ever had to deal with, always shooting sappy remarks to annoy him or throwing blades at his social status.

“I’ll have the steak and she’ll have the fish.” He answered, closing the menu.

“Actually, I’ll have the lamb, please. And could you get me a matching wine? Whatever your sommelier suggests”

“Of course, Madam”

The waitress walked away to take care of their orders and Kiara had the nerve to wink at him. Again. He wanted so bad to grab those damn eyes and clamp them open clockwork orange style.

“Already spending my money, darling?”

“Isn’t that what girlfriends are for?” It probably was. Either way, he was spending way less with that one than he was used to. If all she asked for was a bottle of wine, she would stay a few million below his last girl.

“Fake girlfriend”

“Amen, sweetie” She raised her water glass, toasting to their fraudulent relationship.

“No pet names” There was no way in hell she would call him sweetie in front of his family.

“What?”

“You call me Chris. I call you Kiara. End of discussion” He could only hope she would accept this one, he was beginning to notice she would fight over every little thing that was vital to him. Luckily, she only nodded.

“Anything else?”

“Yes. We met at a club you performed a while ago, and we had a few drinks. Then I saw you again at my house’s presentation and tracked you down. We went out a few times and we’ve been dating since the party”

“Did you think about all this during the car ride? Impressive. But I don’t do straight clubs”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t perform in straight clubs. Nor do I go to them”

“Are you a lesbian?” That was a possibility he hadn’t thought about. It would mess up his plan royally if she wasn’t able to at least fake an attraction to him.

“You don’t really pay attention to people, do you? No, I’m not a lesbian, I just said I’d fuck you not three minutes ago”

“Why don’t you go to straight clubs then?” He sounded like a curious boy and it was extremely annoying. Why the hell did he care what kind of clubs she went to or her sexual preferences? They just needed the story to last four days and a few random dinners after that.

“I just don’t. Can we get back to how we met? Why can’t it be a Tinder match or something?”

“I don’t use dating apps, Kiara” His voice came out harsher than he intended, but the woman was implying he needed technologic assistance to get laid and that was simply ridiculous. She was quiet for a moment, and the silence was nerve-wracking. He decided to keep it simple.

“Then we just met at the party at my parents’ place.”

“Why does it have to include the party? People were not paying attention; I doubt they’d recognize me” That was odd. Her voice was steady, and her stare didn’t falter but she had a hint of… hurt. Was it possible the artist’s nonchalant attitude was not as indifferent as he was led to believe? Now things were beginning to get interesting. A weakness to explore, if nothing else.

“My mother would” There it was again. Evidence that she not only cared but rejoiced on the attention. Her eyes acquired a new shine that was, for lack of better words, inspiring. It lasted less than a second, but he didn’t miss the passion in her eyes.

“Whatever. We met at the party then” She shrugged, trying to sound dismissive.

“Great. That way we don’t need to know that much about each other anyway”

“Won’t your parents find it odd that you are bringing a girlfriend you met less than a month ago to thanksgiving?”

That woman was in for a surprise when she met his parents. They were more likely to give him a hard time for not having proposed yet.

“It won’t be an issue” However, there was a slight possibility they would be unhappy about her manners. Thinking back to his mother’s last attempt to pair him up with a suitable bachelorette, it was clear she was searching for a less imposing woman.

“I expect you to be at your best behavior in their presence. Those sarcastic comments won’t sit well with them”

“Are you kidding me? I can’t be a Russian fugitive, but now I need to change my personality?”

“Yes. And also, use whatever acting skills you have to appear fascinated about me”

“I will not follow you around like a damn puppy dog, Chris” He had to school the amused smile that was crawling into his face. It would be a blast to see her trying to hide traits that were second skin to her. And he knew she would, even if just for the sake of performance. She was clearly dying to play a character, and now she could.

“That reminds me of something. I need you to come to my apartment before the trip. There’s someone you need to meet.”