A Word of Praise
Chapter 19

The nerve that girl had was simply out of this world. She might be right about him holding her arm, and Chris got the message, but talking about his parents was a step too far. It was just a fucking car door; he didn't ask her to walk two feet behind him or whatever. Chris held her judgmental stare for a bit longer until she looked down and... bowed? Fucking hell, she was choosing to get into a damsel character now. To make it worse, he knew his mother was spying through the window and would be pleased with the gesture.

For a brief second, he considered why he was going through such lengths to get his parents to like her. Truth was, the threat his mother made only involved a girlfriend, she didn't say a word about her being well-mannered or appropriate. But he knew her atypical job and humble background wouldn't go unnoticed and perhaps wanted to compensate on the other side.

Regardless of their opinion, the lie would only last for a month or so, when he would miraculously replace out something that would kill the relationship. Something his mother would stand by like she was barren or something. Yes, that would do the trick and buy him some time to take over the company before she determined he was ready for another girlfriend.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, he got around to where the driver was standing with their bags. Batman was already out of the transportation cage and, much to Chris' delight, he was peeing all over the garden around the fountain. If he couldn't escape his parents for forcing his hand on a girl, he could at least get his mother mad about something harmless. His father wouldn't care, so he could stay out of trouble.

The door was opened by Gloria, but he wasn't surprised. It was almost expected his mother would fly in their home's chief maid to the island to oversee the thanksgiving party.

"Welcome home, Mr. Wright" He knew she was only keeping the formal stance to please Patricia. But as soon as they crossed the doorstep, he watched her wiggling her eyebrows indicating Kiara. He laughed silently; glad the old maid liked his date. Her opinion was golden, even if that was not an actual relationship.

"I see you brought Batman. Is he staying in the room with the two of you?"

"Yes, Kiara won't mind him," he answered absentmindedly, recalling how she connected with the dog in the weirdest of ways. But still.

"You might want to check with her, Mister." Gloria's voice was low, but she indicated something with her head. Nate followed her gaze and noticed Kiara had an odd expression as if she was mad or something. But why would she be mad at sharing a room with Batman when... shit.

He didn't think about the shared room situation. It was obvious to him that they'd share, considering the relationship status they were faking. Perhaps he should have cleared it with her first. He approached her in a gesture that would seem cute from the outside and whispered just for her.

"Don't worry, I'll figure it out. Let's just go upstairs." He thought he heard a chuckle, but it was most likely a sneer from her.

Then he held her by the waist and turned back to Gloria "It's alright, Batman will stay with us. We'll head upstairs to freshen up."

"Alright. Don't take long, dinner will be served at eight."

When they reached his room, he tried to gauge her reaction. The space was perfectly organized, and he hoped she would keep it that way. He disdainfully remembered the mess she made back at his parent's house and hoped she'd behave better. He dropped her bag on the floor, realizing he was holding the same one he found in his childhood room. Didn't the girl have other bags? Jesus.

Unfortunately for him, she had no reaction whatsoever towards the room and her expression was simply annoyed. Maybe he'd have to reinforce the rules for keeping a neat environment after they sorted out the impending issue. "We'll figure out the sleeping arrangements, I can sleep on the couch."

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She kept staring at him impassively for a whole minute and he began to think this wouldn't be so easy to solve.

"I can maybe sneak out at night and get another room, then I come back early and..." He hated having to cave and try that hard to come up with a solution, but she was probably within her right to want some peace in her sleep and... A sudden burst of laughter broke his train of thought. She was staring at him as if he had just cracked the funniest joke in the world. Great, now the woman was crazy too. "What the fuck, Kiara?"

"I'm sorry I really wanted to keep in character and see you sleeping on the couch but then I imagined your sorry ass tiptoeing around the house and couldn't hold it in." She was still laughing, and Chris was failing to understand her point, so he just kept staring at her with his go-to expressionless face.

"Chris, you have a king-size bed and enough pillows to make the Great Wall of China between us. We'll be fine."

"I don't... what?"

Just a heads up: Narugi.com is the only place to read the complete version of this book for free. Don't miss out on the next chapter-visit us now and continue your journey! "Oh my god, you should have seen the look on your face."

"What are you, twelve?" He couldn't decide between being mad at her for making him look stupid or glad the issue was solved. There was also a bit of confusion in the mix as to why she didn't care about sleeping in his bed. "If I were twelve, it would be a big problem for us to sleep on the same bed. So be happy I'm not."

Chris was a quick thinker but even he had to admit the woman kept him on his toes. To avoid looking at her smug face, he strode to the bathroom to brush his teeth after the long flight. It was half-past seven already and dinner would be served in a few.

Looking at his wrinkled airplane clothes, he decided to leverage the situation to win back his advantage. He stripped off his dress shirt and finished his business in the bathroom before walking out with an exposed torso. There was a reason behind his regular work-out sessions, and it wasn't to ace his blood tests.

Usually, he wouldn't resort to such petty techniques to throw someone off their game. But that was far from a regular situation for him and he was not unaware of the effect he had on women. Granted, that woman was different from the ones he was used to. For starters, she seemed to despise his money instead of craving it.

And he was rewarded after all. She tried to hide it, but he could see how her eyes widened in surprise and a light redness climbed towards her face. She looked towards her bag in a failed attempt to avoid staring, but he saw when her gaze diverted down his body for a second.

But then, he was glad she turned away because his shot at her almost backfired when he noticed that involuntary moment of distress. The woman was always spiting fire and she had agreed to sleep on the same bed as him. He just thought she would yell at him or something, but instead, she became... shy. And damn, he lived for it. He could almost fantasize her cheeks blushing if she saw his girth and...

He had to readjust his hard-on inside the tight dress pants since it was becoming uncomfortable. Luckily, she was too distracted looking through her bag to notice.