Chapter 7 YOUR PLACE OR MINE

Sia Jenkins

I pushed open the door to Alex's suite and walked in, closing the door behind me. My heart was pounding non stop and I tried to wrap my head around what was going on but my brain was too sluggish to do the math.

Alexander Luis-Diaz just told the whole world that I was his fiancée, what were the odds? Except this didn't feel like a disaster. I couldn't put my finger on what I was feeling precisely. I was probably just too overwhelmed.

I clenched my fists tightly as I paced back and forth the room. I was angry at him for putting me in this situation without considering my feelings or the potential consequences for my life and privacy.

Within seconds, I would be all over the news and become a victim of sadistic stalkers. I would be hated by some, envied by some while some would have high expectations of me. I didn't want this, I didn't want any of this.

The door swung open and Alex appeared, slightly disheveled.

"What the hell were you thinking?" I fired immediately he walked into the room. He was panting and I waited for him to catch his breath before I spoke again. "Did you not even think of what I thought about this before announcing to the whole world that I was your fiancé?"

He didn't respond, instead he walked across the room and took a seat on the armchair by the window, placing his palm in his hands.

There was a moment of silence before he raised his head up to look at me, "I'm sorry things had to happen like this." he finally said.

I scoffed, "You're sorry?" I walked over to where he was seated and leaned against the wall. "You couldn't have asked me first?"

He smacked his palm on his lap, "How could I have?"

"I don't know, with words?" I snapped.

"Oh, I should have been all 'hey Sia, I'm about to lie to everyone that you're my fiancé. Can I?' "

I gave him a hard look, "Then why did it have to be me?"

"Well," he huffed. "Because you were the only person I could think of."

"Really?" I threw him a blank smile, "Out of your many one night stands, you happened to remember just my name? Why?"

"Because none of them has left a great impression on me like you did."

"In terms of sex?"

"Yeah, the sex was amazing," he admitted, his cheeks flushing a shade of pink in embarrassment, "But I meant in terms of everything." he added.

I pursed my lips and thought of what to say next. He just admitted the night we spent together was amazing and I felt my thigh clench.

I shrugged, "Well, what do you intend to do?"

Alex stared at me for a moment and his gaze lingered for way too long before he spoke, "How about we draft a contract? Be my fiancée for some months and we can break it off after and tell everyone it didn't work out. What do you think?"

Before I could voice my concerns, he spoke again, "You light brown wondering what's in it for you? Well..." He rose to his feet and walked to the side of the bed. He pulled out a drawer and reached for a little bank book. Then he walked across the room to sit on the armchair once again.

He pulled out a pen from his breast pocket and flipped open the bank book. I watched him sign a sheet of the paper and tear it out, then hand it over to me.

"Here's a signed blank check. You can write how much money you need," he smiled and gave me the just-take-it-already look.

I thought scenes like these only happened in movies but I was wrong. He was giving me a blank check to write any amount of money I wanted. As tempting as it was, I couldn't accept it, it felt wrong.

"I can't accept this," I managed to say even though part of me wanted to say the opposite.

'God, Sia. You'll forever regret this,' that inner voice told me.

He narrowed his eyes at him like he had just heard a funny noise, "Are you sure?"

I nodded, "Yes. I guess I can help you and you don't need to pay me."

He dropped the cheque on the table, and asked why I decided to help him. This was concerning both of us now and whether I liked it or not, he had already dragged me into his business and there was no way I was peacefully getting out of it without helping him. So, it was safe to say I was helping myself.

"So, you have to pretend to be my fiancée for six months."

Six months was a long time!

"Two months," I objected.

He frowned, "You can't expect the public to buy our relationship if we end it after two months. It'd be too obvious," he smacked his lips. "Five months then."

"Four," I objected again.

"Fine," his jade-green eyes scrutinized me for while before he spoke again"I guess we have a deal now. I'll have my lawyer send you the contract tomorrow but in the meantime..." he reached for a napkin and a pen and started writing something on it.

"You do realize you're drafting a contract on a napkin, right?" I asked in amusement.

He gave me an uncertain smile, "This is just a sample contract," and continued scribbling on the napkin. When he was done, he handed it over to me. I stared at the napkin for a while, trying to make decide out of what he wrote. The only thing I could see clearly was his signature

"There's no way I'm signing this," I replied, dropping the napkin in the table. "I would be happy to wait for the real contract."

I glanced at the clock on the wall and realized it was almost midnight. How the fuck did time pass so quickly?

"I think I'll go now," I said.

Alex got on his feet and smiled, "Okay. There's a secret passage out of here. I can help you get out of here without being noticed if you want,"

"Yes, please."

He took my had and led me out of the room. The smooth touch of his palm against my wrist made the top of my fingers and toes tingle.

Alex didn't let me go until we reached the underground parking lot and stopped by his car. He pushed the button on the automatic locks and opened the door for me.

"Hop in, I'll give you a ride," he said

"It's okay. I don't like getting rides from people I'm not close with," I replied and I could see the corners of his lips twitch.

"We'll probably become close soon. Might as well get used to it.

I sighed and climbed into the car. It smelled of leather and of Alex. Alex walked around the car and slided in next to me. Without saying anything, he pulled out of the parking lot and turned on the radio.

*****

The car pulled up blocks away from my apartment building and from that far, I could see reporters milling around the building.

Oh my fucking Christ! These reporters really worked fast. How the fuck did they find my home address in such a short period of time? How could reporters go after a fellow reporter? Couldn't they think of the job-hood we shared?

Alex turned to me in his seat, "I don't think the reporters are gonna leave anything soon." I didn't reply and he continued, "Do you...perhaps want to stay over at my place tonight?" he added, his eyes searching mine and there was this hot intensity in his gaze.