Page 46 of Meeting the Billionaire Boss

Or is she simply too good to be true?

Chapter47

Ava

Joe is tucked up in bed. It was a busy but wonderful day and now Edward and I are in the lounge. The fire creates a warm, cosy glow and we’re sitting at opposite ends of the sofa cracking nuts and drinking mulled wine. Outside, snow is falling and the land beyond the window is pure white, lit by the moon that sits high above the house. After we’d tucked Joe in, I gazed out of the bedroom window for ages, unable to tear my eyes away from the beauty of the estate. There is so much space here and it allows me to breathe, something I never had at the flat. Edward and Joe are in my heart now but this place, this land, this home is too. I feel like I belong here and that is scary because I know that this could end once I’ve met the terms of the marriage contract. Edward said that we will have to stay together for at least a year after the spring wedding and I wanted to ask,What then? Will I be asked to leave?

Polly and Jeff have retired for the night and so it’s just Edward and me. He has Christmas songs playing on the Bluetooth speaker and I am completely relaxed. It’s easy to pretend that this is my life and we’ll see in the new year as a real couple, will marry for love in the spring.

‘I have something else for you, Ava,’ Edward says, sitting upright.

‘You do?’ I push myself to the edge of the enormous, squishy sofa and take another sip of warm, spiced wine.

‘Hold on.’ He gets up and leaves the room then returns with an A4 envelope that he hands to me.

‘What is it?’ I ask, although I already know as I peel back the seal and reach inside. It’s the marriage contract.

‘You don’t need to read it now but I wanted you to have it so we both know where we stand going forwards,’ he says, not meeting my eyes.

‘Edward… I…’ There are things I want to say and yet I’m not sure how to vocalise them. ‘This is necessary, I know that, and yet it’s… so formal.’

‘You signed a contract before,’ he says.

‘That was different. It was for a job.’

‘This is a job,’ he replies. His tone is slightly off, as if he’s put his business hat on and it saddens me. I don’t want it to be like this between us. He sways sometimes from being the man I adore to a hard-headed businessman and it knocks me off balance. I don’t know how he can be two such different people, although I do suspect that he uses the businessman to protect himself like a suit of armour. I wish I knew what it is that he’s so scared of. He lost Lucille, I know that, but she didn’t choose to leave him. We’ve had such a lovely day. I’ve never spent Christmas with a man before and Edward has been the perfect companion. We’ve had fun, laughed lots, eaten too much food and I felt like we were a family.

Placing the contract and the envelope on the coffee table, I shuffle closer to him.

‘Edward… just for tonight can we be two people who like each other?’

‘What do you mean?’ He eyes me warily.

‘Can we be Edward and Ava, not people conducting a business transaction. I know you’re my employer but can all that wait until tomorrow?’ Perhaps it’s the wine or because it’s Christmas but I feel brave and I want to act on it.

I stroke the side of his face and he shivers before turning to me. ‘Ava… I don’t want to hurt you.’

‘You won’t,’ I say with surety, ignoring the tiny voice at the back of my mind telling me to take care.

His chest rises and falls, rises and falls then he seems to make a decision. He takes my wrist and pulls me onto his lap, squeezing my behind hard enough to make me jump. Before I know what’s happening, his mouth is on mine and his one hand roams over my breasts while the other winds itself in my hair, holding me in place. I am caught, held fast, and I like it. No one has ever made me feel this way and I am glad. I want it to be another first with Edward, to be possessed by him and to possess him right back.

When he pulls away, I groan but he says, ‘Are you sure? I don’t want to take advantage of you.’

‘I’m sure.’

‘Say it.’

‘I want you, Edward. I want you inside me.’

His eyes are dark pools of desire and when he stands and drags his jumper over his head, I gasp at his beauty. His chest is sculpted, his arms muscular, his abs defined. His trousers hang low on his hips and I admire the fine muscles that lead down to his groin. He pushes the trousers down and his thick cock bobs free, already hard.

For me.

He wants me too.

I lie back and ease my trousers down but he’s on top of me before I can remove my jumper, pushing it up to my chin and feathering kisses all over my breasts. He squeezes my nipples hard, rolls them between thumb and fingertip, creating that delicious jolt of sensation between nipple and womb, then he reaches down and slides his fingers inside me.

‘Wet already.’ He emits a low growl. ‘Wet for me.’

---