Chapter 13

“Yes,” I told James shakily.

I felt James’ heavy gaze drop to my lips before lifting back up to lock onto my eyes. He stood there for another long pause until he turned on his heels and headed toward the dining room. Had that been a look of disappointment in his eyes?

I wasn’t sure.

After breakfast, my day returned to how it normally would have, under regular circumstances—well to some degree, at least. Instead of actually meeting James at the office, he and I shared a ride over to the company which was kept in mostly awkward silence.

Whether I was aware of it or not, my gaze repeatedly found its way over to James. Unlike when I first saw him this morning, he was now dressed up in another impeccable suit that was very likely tailored to only fit him.

It was, indeed, a stark contrast compared to that thin towel he had wrapped around his waist. My mind began to passively wander back to the hypnotic way his hips were shaped and dipped toward his lower abdomen.

‘And those damn water droplets,’ I thought shamelessly. ‘How badly I wanted to trace the trail of them with my tongue.’

Good God...I needed to get a hold of myself.

I shifted in my seat, doing my best to cover up my budding arousal. I tried my best to work past our little shared incident in order to focus on the day’s scheduled events. I quietly took out my phone to pull up the calendar app, checking for any important meetings.

Against my better judgment, my finger glided over the news app and I took the unconscious plunge. My heart dropped into my stomach.

I should have listened to my initial instincts and minded my own business.

Unsurprisingly, James’ sudden marriage proposal made all the major headlines across various news outlets. Each one was attached to some kind of image that was thankfully too blurry to make out any real details.

I checked some of the comments readers had already made on the article’s release to discover that many were second-guessing the story's authenticity.

For the first time in over the past twelve hours, I felt a real wave of relief hit me. The events of the previous day had been so intense, that I was surely expecting my personal photo to have already spread across social media—maybe even find a video of James’ proposal on TikTok. But no.

Out of all of the reporters and other people who had managed to capture real photos of James and me, how was it that each one of them came out blurry?

It was as though someone had set up some sort of invisible wall that prevented people from posting anything truly revealing about myself or last night’s proposal. It left me puzzled.

“I can assure you, there’s no need to worry your mind about those news articles,” James announced calmly. “I am the one the media is currently testing to give out some sort of response.”

“Be that as it may, I’m not very keen on becoming the center of attention,” I told him honestly. “I would really appreciate it if you were able to somehow keep our relationship as private as possible. At least, for now.”

James took a big breath before letting out a long exhale. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Mia.”

My head snapped around to face him.

“As my wife, I do not intend to hide you as if you’re some sort of secret I’m ashamed of,” he clarified. “In fact, I was planning to officially announce our marriage sometime this week.”

“James, please,” I pushed earnestly.

He unclenched his jaw and gave a curt nod. “...Alright. For now, I will hold off on any sort of public announcements.”

I offered a small smile. “Thank you. You can also drop me off here,” I told him.

I wanted to enter the building like any other employee, because at the end of the day that was exactly what I was. Just another worker.

On my way inside, I couldn’t help but overhear some of the others talking about the current new issues about James. Thanks to those fuzzing images, none of them were able to instantly point me out.

I swiftly made my way to the front desk to scan myself in. I handed over my work ID which revealed the highest access level anyone could have in the company. The receptionist widened her eyes in utter surprise—this was clearly a privilege mainly reserved for the CEO.

Yet, there I was, being specially escorted to a private elevator, attracting stares and muttered whispers.

My shoulders sagged in defeat. So much for trying to keep things down low. Once again, James had clearly gone over my head and made another decision without my personal input.

‘I know his intentions are meant to be helpful,’ I thought softly. ‘But would it really kill him to simply talk to me first?’

Right as I made my way up to the top floor, I was finally able to properly start my day under the helpful and knowing eye of Daniel. I was quick to adapt to all of my responsibilities and efficiently managed to build James’ schedule and paperwork.

It came to my almost immediate attention that James had a multitude of documents that always needed his signature; so, it was up to me to make sure they were always in order at all times.

The day flew by and before I knew it, we were wrapping up the work day. James pulled a random-looking document from his desk and handed it to me.

My heart skipped a beat. It was a marriage registration form.

“Oh...” I let out a long tremulous breath. “Well, don’t you think I should, you know, read this first?”

James shrugged his shoulders, turning his attention back to the laptop on his desk. “You can. Although, I think it’s pretty straight forward.”

My stomach flipped due to his passive behavior toward all of this. Was this what he and I considered considered—nothing more than some business agreement?

I’d never expected my future to be ruled by a piece of paper...

I took a deep breath and signed my name at the bottom without so much as speaking a single word. It was official. James and I were now legally recognized as husband and wife.

I returned to my desk and tried to get through another task before my mind really decided to shut down. But right as I was in the middle of editing one of the documents, James stepped out of his office and turned to me.

“Follow me.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Don’t ask questions,” he said pointedly. “Just follow me.”

"If it's not something more important, I'd prefer to finish my work," I responded.

"Date," James replied.

I stopped short. Wait. What? Date? Was James inviting me out on a date?