Chapter 7 A Shocking Condition
1439 Words
Water spurted out of Grace’s mouth at Colton’s casual statement. He shocked the hell out of her.
Internally, she cursed herself for not remembering about protecting herself from pregnancy. Thank God at least one of them still had their senses and memory intact.
The two small pills that Colton held out to her suddenly seemed threatening because of what happened to her last night. Was it what he said it was?
“I…” She hesitated.
“Take it. Now,” Colton said to her with a frantic look on his face. His lips were pressed together and his hands began to shake a little. She understood his dilemma though. The more time that passed, the less effective the pills would be.
A realization dawned upon her. Did he think she would get pregnant on purpose to extort money from him or trap him?
She snickered at the thought, because she was nowhere ready to have a child.
Quickly and willingly, Grace took the morning after pills from him, put them in her mouth and swallowed them down with some juice. She held out her tongue and lifted it to show him that the pills had gone down.
“There. Are you pleased now?” She asked, though she was happy to take them.
“How old are you?” He asked, purposely ignoring her question. She discreetly rolled her eyes, but answered his question nonetheless.
“I’m twenty-five. You?”
“Thirty,” he replied.
They continued eating in silence before he started speaking again.
“What did you do before you lost your job?”
“I didn’t tell you that I lost my job,” Grace’s brows furrowed when she remembered that she never told him this detail.
“It was in the media.” Colton answered despite her not asking a question.
“Oh…I’m an executive assistant. ‘Was’ an executive assistant,” Grace mumbled.
“Mhhm.”
Something Colton said had caught Grace’s attention.
“Wait, you said ‘was in the media’. You emphasized the word ‘was’.”
“I did.” Colton answered but did not elaborate, peaking Grace’s curiosity.
“What does that mean?” She asked.
“It means that the information about you on the internet has been erased.” Colton replied.
“But how?”
“Simple. Because I’m me,” Colton said and smiled cockily.
It was the first time Grace had seen Colton smile. Attractive was not a worthy enough word to describe him.
They stared at each other for a minute before Grace averted her eyes. His smile had disappeared, replaced by an intense look. It was as if he was attracted to her. Was he?
He cleared his throat and spoke, the look suddenly gone from his face.
“Speaking of the media, your ex-fiancé threatened to make Allen Incorporation bankrupt if you don’t transfer your shares to him,” Colton informed her.
“That will never happen,” she replied decidedly.
“He couldn’t get a hold of you so he put it in the media.” That was just crazy and uncalled for.
Suddenly she remembered her phone. She wanted to see what was in the media about her. She hadn’t even noticed it wasn’t with her until Colton spoke about Andrew trying to get to her.
She rolled her eyes finally remembering where she last had it. It was at the Allen house in her purse. She left it along with her suitcase at the house when the police took her. They could have it for all she cared because she was never going back to that damned place.
“Andrew can go to hell,” Grace said. His name left a bitter taste in her mouth. She never imagined that they would have been in this position and that Andrew would be the one that put them there. “He’s one of the persons responsible for this… incident between us”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m sure the media didn’t display this, but my sister, Josie, and Andrew planned this. They drugged my champagne, then Andrew instructed me to come up to the penthouse suite via text. That was why I thought it was him, ” Grace told Colton all that happened at the police station and when she went back to the house earlier.
“Your family is a piece of work,” Colton commented.
“I never expected my father to treat me the way he did,” Grace said, shaking her head, somewhat still in disbelief.
“Do you want revenge against them?” Colton asked.m, a determined look on his face.
She thought about his question, stuck between doing the right thing and taking vengeance against them.
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly.
“When you do know, I’ll be here to help with whatever you need.” Colton told her, looking into her eyes and showing her his sincerity.
There was a question on the tip of her tongue but she didn’t know how to ask him. What was he getting out of helping her? She didn’t have anything to offer in return.
She kept quiet. She would ask him another time.
“I think I need to rest now,” she said instead.
“Let me walk you to your room.”
When Colton held out his hands, she placed hers in his. It was strange how automatic her response was because she was less hesitant this time.
They walked hand in hand up the stairs. It felt intimate to her. Too intimate.
Her cheeks became heated thinking about last night. It couldn’t get any more intimate than that.
A thought occurred to her. If Colton was hoping that she’d go to his room tonight, he was going to be disappointed. Even if she wanted to sleep with him again, a certain body part of hers was still throbbing from their night together.
She sighed in relief as Colton stopped at her door, watching as she walked in but didn’t enter the room with her. She turned and faced him.
“Good night, Grace.”
“Good night, Colton.”
Closing the door, she leaned against it and groaned. She’d forgotten that she didn’t have anything to sleep in. The dress she had on would have to do.
Shortly after, there was a knock on her door. She opened it to find Colton standing there with something in his hand.
“I thought you’d like something more comfortable to sleep in.” His eyes roamed her body and oddly, it didn’t creep her out. In fact, it did things to her.
“Thank you.”
She stared at his back as he walked away before closing the door. She changed into the shirt that smelt so much like him. Intoxicating.
As Grace lay in the bed, she remembered her mother. Grace wished she was there with her to give her some guidance. Some advice as how to move forward.
She died because of Henry’s negligence. Grace’s grandfather
Before her mother died, she had transferred her shares from Allen Incorporation to Grace’s grandfather trying to gain favor because he hadn’t approved of the relationship between them. Her grandfather’s instinct had been spot on.
With the memory of her mother on her mind, she dozed off. She only realized this as the bed dipped beside her and she opened her eyes.
What was Colton doing inside her room? A brief look on clock on the bedside table told her was two in the morning.
“Are you awake?” Colton asked softly.
“I am now,” She tried to normal but her voice croaked.
“I’m sorry to invade your privacy but I heard you crying. Grace, are you OK?”
“No, I’m not. Will you help me get my life together?” She sat up.
“I will help you. But there will be conditions,” he told her.
He wanted something but she was OK with that because she wanted something too, so it wasn’t fair to say he wasn’t going to help her out of the kindness of his heart.
“What are the conditions?” Grace asked nervously.
“I want you to move in with me,” Colton told her.
That was a reasonable request. She was already there anyways and didn’t have anywhere else to go.
“Is that all?” Grace asked, knowing it might not be.
“No, it isn’t all.”
“What else do you want?” Grace swallowed, unprepared for Colton’s next words.
“Marry me.”
- Writer
