The familiar tall skyscraper came into view as soon as his driver took a turn into a busy street leading to the building. Eric had dragged Cassidy out of Cupid's Curse and into his SUV for the sole purpose of getting back to work before the schedules he had became too tight and to discuss with Cassidy. While in the car, he tried all his best to ignore the woman sitting beside him but he hated himself for not being able to ignore her.
The woman had to be the most attractive woman he had ever seen and that was rich coming from him who barely had time to date. She was like a goddess with her long curly hair which framed her face that was bare of makeup. One of the features on her body that attracted him to her was her plump rosy lips, lips that made him want to know if they felt as soft as they looked, followed by her hazel doe eyes which were enchanting when they stared at him. She was sexy yet cute.
Apart from her features, he was surprised that she had not gushed over him like almost every woman he had met. His wealth and status was one of the things that attracted women and greedy businessmen to him. While it was refreshing that a woman as beautiful as she was, didn’t try to flirt with him, he was also still uncertain of if she was pretending.
"Are we getting out of this vehicle or you're just going to sit down there and stare at me?" Cassidy asked, interrupting his train of thoughts.
Embarrassment filled his being when he realized his head was turned and his eyes were on her. He cleared his throat and faced forward then motioned at her door.
"Let's go," he said and waited for the driver to do his job.
His driver got out and pulled his door open and before the man could run around the car to get Cassidy's door open, she had already got off. The action surprised him as he had expected for her to wait her turn. He blinked and got out then went around the car to where she was.
"What are we doing here?" She asked and stared into his eyes.
Eric hated her doe-like eyes and how they stared up at him, almost in a demanding way. Eyes like hers would make her get whatever she wanted and he was not going to let her get into his head.
"I have a meeting in a few minutes and I'd like you to wait for me in my office. The meeting will only last for thirty minutes."
He watched as her face contorted into a deep scowl before she blinked hard. An incredulous expression masked her face before she rolled her eyes.
"I didn't follow you to sit in an office. Whatever meeting you have, forget about it. We have far more important things to discuss."
Eric could not easily forget about a meeting that would guarantee that his company was a hundred million dollars richer. The woman before him was not of great importance and he wished she would understand and wait in his office as she was told.
“Listen, I will have someone take you to my office and after thirty minutes, we can talk. I am sure you can do that,” he said and she frowned again.
"I will—"
"Eric?" The sound of Vivian’s voice cut her off.
Eric turned around and saw Vivian by her car looking confused. Immediately, he remembered why he had left work to Cupid’ Curse. With that in mind, he marched up to Vivian who was staring past him before she looked up at him.
"So, I spoke about not wanting a relationship or anything to do with a partner, emotionally. You and Hideto went ahead to get me a wife. A wife! Out of everything, a f*****g wife! What is wrong with both of you?" He demanded while Vivian looked over his shoulder to wave at the woman behind him
"Is that her? She is so beautiful." Vivian brushed past him and rushed to Cassidy's side.
He blinked in disbelief then turned around. She was already cupping the woman’s cheeks and smiling at her. Eric was fully pissed.
"She's so beautiful, Eric. For a moment we thought they would give you someone different, someone not in your league but this one can make you fall head over heels."
"Uh, ma'am. You realize you're talking to a human being and not some toy," Cassidy said and moved away from her.
Eric was fed up with the display before him. Seconds were going by and he had no time to mingle with them. He approached them and glared down at Vivian.
“You and I have a serious discussion about this. The same way you put me into this, get me out of it. There are limits you should not cross, Vivian,” He said in a terse one then walked away.
As he walked away, images of the woman he was supposedly engaged to filled his head and he hated it. He hated the way a feeling in his chest grew the more he imagined her as his wife.
^^^
Cassidy’s POV
Cassidy watched as Eric walked away with anger visible in his strides. She saw a point in what he had said and wondered why Anita had crossed her limits to force her into a marriage she didn’t want.
“I am sorry for the inconvenience or whatever Eric did before now.”
Caasidy shifted her gaze to the red haired woman beside her and smiled. At least she was certain there was someone with manners around.
"Thank you," Cassidy said and looked back at the entrance to the building. "I can't believe I have two years of my life with that man."
"He's not that bad, you know," Vivian said.
Cassidy stopped herself from rolling her eyes.
"Nope. I don't want to know. This happens in every movie and books where someone who knows him tells the female lead that the man she's to end up with isn't bad," Cassidy replied and tucked her hands in her jacket's pockets. "It doesn't work for me and I am not interested in this sham of a marriage."
Feeling that she was done with the conversation, she turned her body to leave.
"Maybe you two should just give in to the marriage. I mean how long is two years?"
Cassidy’s right eye twitched at her words. She was getting more irritated by the second and the woman was not helping.
"Two years with him sounds like a decade and more. So, no thanks. I'll just live alone," Cassidy replied and took two steps away from the woman.
"Did you not read the terms and conditions when you applied for a partner?"
Her question forced her to stop walking. She took a deep breath and slowly turned around to glare at her. She was not liking where this was going.
"You see, that's the problem. My sister did that without my consent because I told her that I don't want anything to do with a man or woman even," she replied in a high voice. "And why do you ask?"
Vivian nodded. "Okay, but you should understand that one of the terms and conditions are that you two have to live together. You're under the married couple contract not the dating couple contract. The ones who applied for the dating category can live separately but the married couple have to live under the same roof together. Not doing so would get you two huge penalties such as an extra year and or legal punishment."
"Kill me now!"
^^^
Eric’s POV
"What?!" Eric barked out in shock as soon as Hideto narrated the terms and conditions of the contract marriage.
"Yes, you two are getting married and you have to live together. What's the worst that could happen?"
"Don't say that," Eric reprimanded. "Once someone uses that line, the worst happens."
Hideto shrugged. "I don't see any bad things happening in the future."
Eric sighed. "I don't want to have any feelings for her, that's the worst that could happen. I am human and I can develop feelings of worry, care and love. I don't want any of those things in my heart. Especially not to someone I'll be living with or getting married to."
He heard Hideto sigh sadly before he walked up to where he stood, looking out the window of his office. Hideto placed his hand on his shoulder and squeezed.
"I understand and it was wrong of us to do such a thing to you. We were just worried and we only did this to have someone who can be your equal and even help you. You can still be a workaholic but your new relationship only serves as a comforter for you. That girl could be nice and everything but you don't want to see it for yourself. Just do it for a change or look at it like a business contract," Hideto said softly and backed away from him.
Eric mulled over what he had said and pictured scenes where he was married to her. He thought of what he could benefit out of the relationship and got nothing. He thought of his s****l urges and wondered if she would agree to such a term then thought of her becoming a trophy wife who had a billionaire husband. She seemed stubborn and coupled with his, he didn’t know how long it would last.
Someone cleared their throat, making him snap his head toward the door. Cassidy stood at the door, face blank and hands behind her back.
"You must be Cassidy," Hideto said while walking up to her. He opened his hand out for her and she placed her hand in his. "I am Hideto," he said and kissed the back of her hand.
Eric looked away from them and stared at the skyscraper across.
"I'll leave you two alone," Hideto said.
The sound of the door closing made Eric aware that Hideto had left and that he was alone with his soon-to-be wife. He heard her sigh before he stepped away from the window to his desk. He avoided looking in her direction as he had nothing to say to her. Eric sat on his seat and finally looked up at her.
"Cassidy, I really don't know what to do anymore. I'm out of options and I don't think there ever will be solutions until maybe we just go with the flow. Trust me, I don't want this relationship or anything soon. I don't even plan to ever settle down." He paused for a sigh. "My plan was to simply hire a surrogate who would just carry my child or children that will carry on my legacy."
Erci didn’t know why he was saying such to her but he believed that if they were going to get married, she should know.
"Why would you do that? Are you a monk or you've got some weird religious beliefs?" She asked and came closer.
"No, I am not. I have a lot of responsibilities in this company and adding to it isn't what I need," he replied and she rolled her eyes with a shake of her head. "And I'm not a virgin."
He had s****l partners over the past months. Even though he did not believe in settling down, he still had urges and paying s*x workers to satisfy them was all he did. His s*x life was good and secretive, even to Vivian and Hideto, hence the reason they thought he wasn’t sleeping around.
"Who cares about that?" She scoffed. "Listen, Eric. I don't want any relationship either."
"Why?" Her words intrigued him as she was too beautiful and sexy to be single. He was certain she had people wanting to date her.
"None of your business," she retorted.
"Hm, alright. So, what now?” Eric asked.
"But I can't live with you," she aired her decision, making Eric exhale in exhaustion.
"My house is big enough which means that you are moving in with me and that's final, Cassidy. You have a job, right? If you do, we can both go to work, come back late, go to our rooms and repeat the same thing every day. We don't even need to see ourselves for breakfast or dinner," Eric responded with a blank expression, which he used to mask the unusual feeling he was getting about having a woman like Cassidy living under the same roof with him.
Living with her was going to be hard. It would be hard to know he had such a woman as his wife and not be able to touch her or do anything to get his attraction out of his system. He was sure that the only reason the odd feeling in his heart existed was because she was gorgeous and would be a good f**k.
"I don't even have a job yet. I just graduated," Cassidy said.
"That'll be arranged. You won't work in my company but I know a friend of mine who has been looking for an assistant. You'll start work once he accepts you and I won't get to see your face for two years. Are we done?" Eric asked, hardening his tone.
"Deal."
"Deal."