Page 52 of The Wife Deception
Aelin was just as eager as I was, which made the entire act that much more erotic. My orgasm followed hers and I slid out of her and came into the sink next to her. As I washed my hands and cleaned up the evidence of our encounter, I realized that this was the first time I had sex with her without protection. It's not that I thought she was unclean or anything, but I've never in all my adult life risked it like this with anyone. In fact, I don't remember having sex without a condom. And I did not like how good it felt. How I almost didn't pull out.I've never felt this before. This need for someone else to finish some uncompleted puzzle within me.I wanted to claw back some control, some hold on my sanity. "That was payback."
Aelin had gotten off the counter and was standing beside me. A mischievous smile played on her face as I watched herfix her clothes. She had planned this. She wanted me to come here and take her like I did. And I wasn't even mad.
"I don't have my makeup," she said as she tried to fix the smudged lipstick, which in my depraved mind, looked hot. I took a tissue from one of the stalls and helped remove some redness that had smeared at the corners. "You look beautiful."
"Yeah, but I don't want the mark 'thoroughly fucked in a bathroom stall' on my forehead."
Satisfied that the smudges were off, I threw the tissue into the bin on the far end of the row of sinks. "Nothing wrong with a husband wanting to have sex with his wife."
She turned to me, a frown wrinkling her forehead. "You seem to be loving calling me your wife all of a sudden."
I was about to rebut her statement and then recalled that she was right. It meant nothing. "Well, aren't you my wife?"
"Yeah, but..." she looked as though she was in deep thought. And when I was sure she was about to tell me what she was thinking, she shrugged and said, "Let's go."
27
Aire
Nolan took me to a restaurant overlooking a grand, old building. We went there soon after we left the fashion show. I felt sorry for leaving Bianca alone, but when I called her to apologize, she had sounded excited at just having the opportunity of going to fashion shows. She had been a great companion throughout the day and took me to the best shows. And since we had our pick of invites, we were spoiled for choice. The whole fashion thing wasn't my thing, it was more Aelin's arena, but I could not deny the art and creativity that was put into some pieces on display, especially the Avant Garde collections.
The only thing that made me uncomfortable were the photographers and the paparazzi that were there only for celebrity gossip. I had been out of the spotlight, deliberately so, but attending the Fashion Week had put me right at the center. A few had even tried to get a response out of me as I was entering one show by suggesting that my marriage to Nolan was fake and only for business purposes. Which it was, but even I was smart enough to know not to say anything to them and just walk past. And when Nolan came, I was relieved I didn't have to deal with them alone. And funny enough, when I was with Nolan, they barely bothered me.
The restaurant was old, grand and made me feel like I had traveled back into the Renaissance era.
"Anything you like?"
I jerked my head from ogling at the painted ceiling to the menu in my hand. It was in Italian and I knew only a few of the words. "I'll have whatever you think is best. I've never been here before."
Nolan frowned. "Really? I thought this place was your favorite. Wasn't there a famous picture of you with the chef?"
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I racked my brain, trying to remember what he was referring to. There had been a story of Aelin saying she went to some restaurant when she was in Italy. Was it this one?Between the fun I had with Bianca and the incredible dicking I got from Nolan, it had slipped my mind.
"I-uh. It was an endorsement deal." I shrugged. "Didn't even taste the food. But the money was good."
"Oh." Nolan seemed to accept the excuse, which was a relief. "Do you do a lot of those?" Nolan added. "Endorsements I mean."
"I used to, but haven't gotten offers since..." Since the infamous boyfriend poisoning scandal. I couldn't exactly say it without sounding either callous or unaffected, so I let it hang in the air. And it was true. Kenneth had given me access to some of Aelin's finances to get up to speed with her life, and most of her money had vanished. She wasn't getting modeling contracts, brand deals or even social media sponsorships. Her star had been waning for some time and the scandal had been the nail in the coffin. No wonder she had used substances so much that even grandfather, a man who hates rehabs and thinks they're for the weak, had sent her to one.
"That bad, huh?"
"I've survived worse. And don't think I married you for your money."
He smiled at the joke. "Well, your endorsement wasn't off the mark because this place is actually good." Nolan gestured his hand, and a server materialized beside him a few moments later. Heordered two plates of the same dish and, when the server was gone again, he asked. "You've never told me about your career."
I snickered. "Doing some modeling, hanging out at places and getting photographed there so I can get paid is all I did. It can hardly be called a career at all."
"Is that why you turned to painting?"
I nodded, silently thanking him for threading the needle for me. I studied for it, so why not use my degree, right?
"I would love to see your paintings one day."
"You can," I said and took out my phone. I opened the phone gallery and showed him the folder with all of my artwork saved. Nolan scrolled through the phone, expressionless, and I seemed an overconfident hack for wanting to show him what was at best mediocre art.
"I'm still finding my style, of course. And I'm nothing like the greats."
Nolan shook his head, and my heart sank. When he lifted his head to face me, though, the look of wonder startled me. "They're beautiful. You're really good." He slid my phone over the table back to me."Have you thought of doing an exhibit?"
