Marriage by Law (14 page)

I turned over, or tried to, but felt gentle hands pulling me close. They were gentler than I remembered, but I didn't know why I was dreaming about him. Surely it doesn't take this long to get over an ex-boyfriend? I don't understand why I kept thinking about him. It was his loss.

The warm hands enclosed me and pulled me into a hard strong chest. I never knew how strong James was either. He was always one of those scrawny kids and it wasn't till he went to Uni that he decided to shape up. But even then, that barely did anything to him.

I snuggled closer, embracing the warmth. Oh, this beat ducted heating any day. I could feel his chin on my head, tucking my head between the gap in his neck and chest, like a perfect jigsaw piece. I took a deep breath, letting his scent intoxicate me. James even smelt different. He never had this rich masculine spicy smell. Maybe he changed his shampoo again?

He did that way too many times than a girl, which annoyed me how long he took to get ready and still ended up looking like a twerp most times. 

I stretched my right arm out, wrapping it around his waist as I felt his hand on my lower back. It felt so good that when I rearranged myself on the bed, I ended up with my upper half on top of him. Somehow, it was more comfortable than sleeping on this soft bed. His chest was soft but hard, being the perfect pillow, while the rest of me just fit into him like a puzzle.

How come I never noticed this before?

Suddenly, I felt him jerk and pull away. It was like the warmth escaped and I felt the cold air assault me. I shivered, but only for a while before I felt the warmth return as he embraced me. A finger traced my eyelid down my nose and to my cheek and I frowned.

"James, stop that," I whispered. The hand stopped its journey. I sighed, taking a deep breath and letting the sleep envelope me. God, I hadn't slept like this in ages.

 What was that sound? It was like the sound of horse hooves on a barren country road pacing themselves and going to the other side. It was steady and...was that a heart beat?

Why on earth can I hear a heart beat?

I opened my eyes, blinking a couple of times to clear my vision, and found myself looking at the curtains. My neck cracked from sleeping in an immobile but comfortable position. I tried sitting up and realised I was sprawled all over Darius. Oh my god! Sprawled like a blanket all over Darius!

Well, this was very awkward.

He was still asleep. His dark hair was ruffled messily and somehow I had used him as a human pillow, teddy bear or bed last night. Oh shit. 

I placed a hand on the bed to push myself, but to no avail. Irealizing noticed that his hands were on my lower back, holding me in place, like he was hugging me or something.

"Oh shit," I swore. I have to wake him immediately! I though this idiot was on the floor? Does that mean the dream -

He moved; I froze and stared at his face. The sun was just rising, its rays shining through the curtains and hitting his face and highlighting his perfect features. Some people are just so perfect. 

His eyes opened and he looked around before his eyes met mine. I felt my cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

"Morning," he said, closing his eyes again, still holding me in this frozen state. 

What the...

"Eh, hi?" I said lamely. I watched as his eyes remained closed. Don't tell me he hadn't noticed where I was or the fact that he was holding me down.

"Eh, Darius?" I asked. He opened his eyes. I never really realised how mesmerizing the color was. It was like staring right into the gemstone malachite and you just can't look away.

"Can you let me go?" I asked, clearing my throat. 

"You smell nice"

"Yea, okay n-what?" I asked, doing a double take. Who on earth smells nice in the morning? He leaned forward and I leaned back, placing my hands on his chest to distance myself but I didn't manage to go far as he sniffed my hair.

"Your shampoo, it's nice."

I stared at him blankly. Well, this was new. He was never like this.

"Okay, let me go now," I said as I tried to get up. It was his turn to blink and realise what I was talking about as my face probably turned another shade of red, which looked hideous against my dark skin tan.

"Maybe," he said closing his eyes.

My jaw fell open as I stared at him. "What?" I snapped.

"You weren't complaining last night."

My face turned even redder, if that was possible, and I could feel the heat rise in my body.

"I-I did not!"

"Exactly you didn't," he said and I bit my lip, narrowing my eyes and trying to pull away as his hands tightened. 

"Stop moving and sleep," he muttered and I punched his shoulder. He groaned, opening his eyes.

"I would like to get up now, please."

He stared at me and I stared back, holding my gaze, refusing to look away, but there was something in those eyes that captured me. It was an illusion, I told myself, but somehow I couldn't pull away. 

The door banged open and I yelped. I was so surprised that I leaped away from him and onto the other side of the bed, hitting my head against the bed side table in the process. I let out a very unlady-like swear word.

"Good morning," said my mother, walking in. I glared at her as I tried to sit up, leaning against the headboard and rubbing the side of my temple. This was going to leave a bruise. 

I could see Darius from the corner of my eye, looking just as surprised as me. I glared at him.

If he had just let me go, we could have avoided this awkward moment. My mother, oblivious to the tension, walked in carrying a tray of food and placed it near the foot-board and smiled at us as she folded her hands.

"I hope you guys had a nice sleep. The ducted heating must have switched off or something. It was rather cold," she said, the smile never wavering from her face.

I glared at her. Somehow, I had a feeling that our parents were up to something and they had switched it off on purpose. Oh god, this was embarrassing.

"Have some breakfast and get ready. We have something planned for today." With a wider smile and one last look at us, she turned and walked, elegantly, out of the room and closed the door. The second she was gone, I dropped onto the bed and pulling the blanket higher. The bed seemed hard and uncomfortable, but I'd rather stay here than face a day planned by our 'lovely' parents. 

 Coming down the stairs a while later, I wasn’t in the best of my moods.

Not only did I wake up on the wrong side of the bed, literally, but all five of them were staring at me smugly. All the parents up to something, and Darius just being Darius.

"Took your time," he muttered quietly as I came down and I shot him a look. Not any look, but the look. It was his fault I had a massive bruise on the side of my head that was a horrible color of purple. 

I just loved how our parents took up all the seats, forcing us to sit next to each other. Were they playing cupid or something, or did they not realise they already got us married so it's not exactly like we need help. Right?

"We have a brilliant day planned," said my mother, eyeing me carefully. I could get two things out of that look. One, she hated my outfit. And hey, I actually wore a pretty decent dress when I could have kept my pajamas or jeans on. Two, it said, “be on your best behaviour.”

"What’s this great plan, then?" I said, earning a look from my mother and smile from my father. Oh, it had been ages since I had seen them.

"Why, a charity event, of course!"

"A what?" asked Darius and I at the same time.

"We have planned a small women's club where you both will volunteer today and give out cupcakes and meet people. This will be your first date as a couple!" said Darius's mother. I should really stop calling her that and start calling her by her name, Michelle. But I kept forgetting.

I exchanged looks with Darius as our parents got up and we stood up as well.

"Go on,” mother said, shooing us, “we have selected clothes for you. They're in your room. Go change so we can go." 

I groaned in protest as I headed back upstairs.

Walking into the room – I mean the master bedroom – I looked at the dress on the bed and stopped in my tracks while Darius let out a loud laugh.

"There is no way I am wearing that!" I protested, but somehow I felt that I have no choice.

Chapter eighteen

Darius broke into a loud laugh, even bending over as he grabbed his stomach, and I glared at him. I tried to ignore how addictive his laugh was as it echoed in the room. 

"Shut up," I snapped, looking over at his normal every day suit placed over the chair. Why did he get to wear normal clothes? I walked over to the bed, wrinkling my nose in disgust as I lifted up the hideous bright pink dress and turned it around in my hands. I knew it.

My mum did this on purpose. 

Darius looked up and turned around, still laughing furiously.

It looked like a dress that stepped out of a cupcake factory with the five shades of pink everywhere. It had hideous puffed up sleeves that had a tight elastic near the elbows and was ankle length with matching white and pink socks and pink belt and shoes.

The bodice was a white square with the five shades of pink splattered over it and there was a bonnet to complete the look.

"There is no way I am wearing this."  

 I wore it.

The fact that Darius was  trying not to burst out into laughter was just making me hate him even more. He must have found me, in my pink gown, very funny.

He, on the other hand, got to wear a normal black suit with a black tie. Not even pink. It was black and damn he looked fine. It just wasn't fair!

And then there was me dressed like a five-year-old holding a basket filled with pink cupcakes to finish it off.

"Come on," said my mother, grabbing my arm and tugging me behind her. I looked over my shoulder to see Darius start laughing again and I glared at him.

Oh, I will get my revenge soon, very soon. As soon as we stepped into the massive backyard of the community centre, we were ambushed with people in pink. It was like all the pink in the paint shop ended up in here. Only my mother can manage to wear a hot pink ankle-length dress and look good while the rest of us wore apron and cowboy mixed dresses.

"Can I have another piece?"

It was a solid hour and a half later and the whole time I spent cutting up slices of cakes for kids who wouldn't stop eating.

"You've already had three," I said, looking down at the little guy. He frowned, but still held his plate out for another serving. Whatever.  After giving him a slice, I wiped my hands on the dress. If he ruined his appetite for dinner, that was hardly my fault. 

I was feeling a bit rebellious. It isn't like anyone would possibly wear this pink dress again, I thought as I looked at the stains I 'accidently' got on it.

I walked inside the empty kitchen and grabbed an ice-cream carton. Sitting on the floor against a shelf, I took off the lid and sighed in delight. Of course, the ice cream was also pink, but hey, it was ice-cream. I took a spoonful.

I could stay here forever. Forever it was.

Or a couple of hours later, when three quarters of the carton was empty and my lips were feeling numb. That's how Darius found me.