Contract marriage: My billionaire’s cure

I saw Marcus’s forehead creasing into a frown as he saw the messy blond hair walking through the entrance.

“Isn’t that Brandon Maitland?”

I nodded in surrender. My life couldn’t get any worse than it already was. Clara and Brandon, the two people I hated the most in the world were under one roof with me for one whole month.

“We met him in Florida right?” I nodded again to his question and scowled seeing the annoying face smirking at me while talking to the Harringtons.

“How do you know him?”

“He’s my ex” he snapped his head at me as the words left my mouth.

“How long did you date him? ”

“I don’t know. Probably for 3 months”

“Did you love him?” It was my turn to snap my head at him.

“Why do you care?” I asked while raising my eyebrows in amusement.

“Answer the damn question” he used his authoritative tone once again, his fist clenching in anger.

“Jeez calm down. I thought I did but later on I realized that it wasn’t love. I just had him because everyone had boyfriends back then”

I looked at Marcus to see his tensed shoulders relaxing at my words.

“What if I had loved him?” I asked curiously, a small victorious smirk playing on my lips. I got him.

“He’s a piece of shit that doesn’t deserve love”

“How do you say so?”

“Men know men”

“And women know women too”

“How does it relate to this?” He asked while crunching up his nose in confusion.

“Because I know that Clara is not nice”

“Oh my god. I used one word and you are still thinking about it”

“Yes because you described her incorrectly”

“That-” We were interrupted by Brandon who stood before us beaming at me.

“Hey love” he said with a mischievous smile playing on his good for nothing ugly lips. When I furrowed my eyebrows in anger he gave a wink in return.

“What do you want?” Marcus spat angrily glaring at Brandon.

“Ugh the fake husband again” Brandon said with an eye roll and I looked at Marcus to see him shaking in anger, his hands balled into fists, ready to punch whoever provoked him.

“What? Can’t handle the truth?” Brandon gave a lopsided grin.

At his words Marcus’s face hardened, a vein popping out of his neck.

His hand suddenly gripped Brandon’s neck, squeezing it tightly, suffocating him. Brandon clutched on to Marcus’s hand, trying to yank it away but failed miserably.

“Say it again” He lowered his head to Brandon and hissed through gritted teeth.

“Marcus there are people here” I tried yanking back the hand he had around Brandon. But he was too strong for me.

“Marcus” I whispered in panic.

He slowly removed his hand from Brandon and held mine instead.

“Talk to her and you are dead” with that Marcus dragged me back to our room.

He shut the door with a loud thud and sat on the couch. He kept his head on his palms and inhaled sharply, anger fuming through his body.

“God I hate him” he mumbled quietly.

I walked towards the couch and sat beside him, hunching my shoulders slightly so that I can look at his face hidden under his hands. “We can’t be in the room right now. We have guests”

“I know. Just let me calm down for a second”

He then leaned his head on my lap and closed his eyes, nuzzling his face on my stomach. I brought my hand to his hair and stroked it gently, a small smile forming on my lips as I raked my fingers through his soft curls.

His hair was something I could never get enough of. I wondered how the rest of his body parts would feel under my touch. Suddenly my cheeks blushed at the wild thoughts creeping up my mind.

God I have such a dirty mind. Have mercy on me.

“Marcus we have to go”

“Hmm” he murmured and wrapped an arm around my waist, snuggling closer to me.

“Marcus”

“Uhh fine. You’re so annoying”

He sat on the couch leaving me cold without his heat on my lap. My vulgar mind whimpered in pain asking Marcus to come back to me but I quickly pushed the thought away.

“Let’s go” I started to get up but he grabbed my hand and pulled me back.

“What?”

Marcus leaned in and pecked the side of my neck.

“I don’t want other men looking at you” he mumbled quietly shocking me with each word. I didn’t know what to do so I kept my hands on my lap holding them tightly to keep myself steady.

Marcus looked at my face through scrutinizing eyes, his gaze lingering longer on each feature.

“What happened to you? You hated me when we first got married” I joked to clear the awkward heated atmosphere around us.

“True, I hated you ” My face fell at his words. I didn’t hate him just disliked him. Hate is a strong word and it hurts to hear it from him. “But not anymore”

“What changed?” I asked curiously.

“Lot of things. Maybe starting from the night at the elevator in Germany”

I rummaged through my brain trying to remember what had happened back then. It was the one of the days his nightmares got out of control. But I was confused. I didn’t do anything extraordinary for him to hate me less. Just consoled him with some cheap words.

“I didn’t do anything that day”

“You did and you don’t know how much it meant to me. I can never repay you for that Camilla”

“Um-” I was unsure of what to say because I didn’t know what he was talking about.

Before I could say anything he grabbed my arm and pulled me off the couch. “Let’s go now”

The Reeds and the Lesters were already here waiting at the lobby. I drew my brows together, giving Marcus an accusing look. Our guests had already arrived and we couldn’t welcome them. It was very disrespectful of us to do it.

Marcus rolled his eyes and quickly joined in a conversation, lightening up everyone’s mood. Seems like he has this magical air around him which made the guests forget that we had just stood them up. Lucky.

We walked to a room with a long table and talked till late evening about the programs that would be happening within the month. I was surprised of how well Marcus had adapted to my business world. He was used to hotels, not clothing brands.

He contacted his company often to check on how his hotels were doing. To handle other stuff in Anderson Cooperations Steve left the ship on the very first day.

Marcus thought that it was dangerous for me to be by myself so he didn’t leave and helped me with my work. I doubt he would leave me with all the males on board.

After a long discussion we went to the restaurant to meet our models.

Andrew quickly looked away guiltily seeing us. Marcus sat at the head of the table while I sat beside him.

“You look very pretty Mrs. Anderson” the boy who sat in front of me said.

“Thank you Luke”

“I like what you wear. You really knows how to dress fashionably” he continued talking even though I gave him a uninterested look knowing that the volcano beside me would explode any moment.

“I think you have better things to do than focus on what my wife is wearing” Marcus spat angrily while glaring at the poor Luke who looked scared out of his shit.

“C’mon he was just being nice to me ” I teased earning an angrier glare from Marcus.

“So people enjoy the food. You won’t have time to rest after the contest starts. Each and every one of your will be pairing up with someone from another team. You are not allowed to have any romantic affairs with someone in your own team. But you can with a person from another team for the purpose of creating drama since it’s a reality show” I said cheerfully.

“So other reality shows where couples fall in love are also for the purpose of publicity?” Luke asked astonished.

“Well most are. It all happens to a script. Maybe you can find your true love or whatsoever but it shouldn’t cause any problem for the contest. I’d prefer if you don’t have any affairs with anyone since it will only hinder your chance at winning this”

All nodded their heads in agreement.

“You will be having a photoshoot tomorrow and the theme is the beach”

…Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

“Ma’am look at him. He looks so hot without his shirt”

“Oh my god look, water droplets are dripping down his torso. God I think I’m dying” Sarah groaned in excitement.

“I like that guy better. He even has dimples. Look!” I said pointing to the male models who were having the photo shoot.

“I’m getting a tingly feelings between my thighs” Anna said while taking a long breath to calm herself.

“Ma’am 10 o’ clock” Sarah whispered in my ear in a rush.

“What?”

“Look”

I look to my left and I saw Marcus in the corner of the room, his jaw clenched in anger as he stared at me with fire burning in his eyes.

I closed my mouth with my hand as I tried to stop the giggle escaping my lips. I liked seeing him jealous. It made me feel reassured that he at least had some kind of feeling towards me.

We kissed but he didn’t confess. He’s been doing all the sweet things that lovers do but he hasn’t confessed. After all this is over I would asked him for the reason behind all these complicated gestures.

I hopped over to him merrily for the purpose of mocking him.

“What? Possessive much?”

“Can’t help it” He said in a very serious tone looking ahead.

“It was supposed to be a joke and you were supposed to deny it”

“Why would I deny something that’s true?”

“You have no humour. So annoying” I said in accusation with irritation evident in my voice.

“I have been getting lot angrier since I came here” he sighed and closed his eyes, inhaled loudly to compose himself.

“Then you shouldn’t have”

“And then what? Let you continue checking out other men?”

“So what? There’s no harm in that. Just because I’m looking at them doesn’t mean that I’m going to go to them”

Marcus gave me a “really” look and stomped towards the female models who were giggling as he approached.

He joked about something and they all started laughing while I stared at them with my mouth hanging open.

He looked at me through the corner of his eye and smirked. I huffed angrily and walked away from the shoot.

I strode to our room and closed the door with a loud thud. Removing my trench coat I jumped on to the bed and draped the sheets over me angrily.

I took in a deep breath to calm myself. Before my eye lids fluttered shut, I heard the door open and close.

The bed dipped and someone wrapped an arm around my waist, snuggling closer to me. Marcus nuzzled his nose in my hair and inhaled my scent while running his hand along my hips up and down.

I didn’t turn as I already knew whom this familiar touch belonged to.

“I’m sorry. Let’s not fight please” he mumbled into my hair and kissed my ear lobe. He slid his hand under my blouse and caressed the bare skin of my stomach, making small circles with his thumb. I shuddered at his touch and leaned my head back on to his chest enjoying his warmth.

He then gave me another small kiss on my cheek. Before he could do anything else I slowly turned and wrapped my arm around his torso, burying my head in his chest.