A Word of Praise
Chapter 24

Chris was glad Kiara made herself scarce for the rest of the afternoon. He was not in the mood to face the know-it-all expression she was sporting when in fact she knew shit about him and his life. He knew she had a strong personality from the beginning, but he didn't imagine the amount of stress she'd put him through.

The reasons for choosing her as his fake girlfriend were getting blurred in his mind. Sure, she was hot enough for his parents to believe he'd date her and yet sufficiently different for them to see the breakup as inevitable. It would be a perfect situation if she were just a tiny bit more cooperative.

Perhaps she should learn a bit from the hole she was playing and accept his commands as she did with his parents... He chastised the thought as soon as it was fully formed. He had his fair share of obedient ladies and it tended to get boring really fast. Kiara was not his girl, and her personality was annoying as fuck, but he wouldn't wish on her a more docile profile. It would kill the fun.

It was almost eight when Chris decided to get ready for the party. His mother asked him to come down at nine because Kiara would have to take an early leave to get ready for the show.

He laughed, recalling the desperate look she threw him when his mother cornered her into performing. Truth was, his irritation was only one of the reasons he didn't intervene. He was captivated by her last performance and got excited about the idea of watching her again. It was only a bonus to have her worked up because of it.

The suit for the party was hanging in his closet, and Chris got in to check if everything was in order before taking a shower. Before he could head out, he heard a familiar voice coming from the room.

"Michael, stop bitching about it. I called you for support, not for a way out. I'll perform anyway, I just want you to let me throw my fit."

Chris chuckled at her words and almost forgot how mad he was at her. Was she talking to her manager? He didn't know they were that close but was curious to replace out more about that relationship. It sounded fun, so he stayed back to listen. She had pried into his life earlier, who was to say he couldn't do the same?

"I thought about performing that trashy routine with the see-through bodysuit just to hear the scandalized gasps of the rich prudes. But it would ruin all Chris's hard work on getting his parents to like me. You know what, maybe that's exactly why I should do it."

He was glad she was taking their arrangement seriously. That last part was clearly a joke, and his anger towards her had subsided considerably. But that sappy remark server to remind him what an annoying pain she was. Either way, he mourned over the scandalous routine he'd miss.

"Stop calling him sexy voice, it makes him sound like a phone-sex attendant."

Wait, what? He decided he had heard enough and opened the door from the closet to the room. Her comment on him was amusing, but he felt it was getting too personal for him to listen.

To his utmost surprise, the woman was laying on her belly in bed facing the opposite direction and had only a towel loosely wrapped around her body. He could sense that if she turned to face up, the towel could easily slide and show more than she intended him to see.

She didn't notice his presence and he certainly didn't want to be a creep and keep staring. But he also didn't want to scare her and cause a stark-naked accident. Or did he?

He cleared his throat, turning away to let her have some space.

"Shit! Michael, I'll call you later. Hi, Chris. Sorry, I didn't see you there." He laughed internally and turned around, considering any slip of the towel would be fixed by then. She got up from the bed and was still adjusting her cover. Damn, she was hot.

Her hair was wet from the recent shower and her sidecut was exposed. He wondered how she could ever hide it, considering it matched her personality so categorically. The towel was short, stopping around her midthigh and showing way more skin than he'd seen so far.

Proof of that was the beginning of a black and grey tattoo that climbed up to unknown parts of her body. Fucking hell, he wanted to see the rest of that tattoo so bad.

"Eyes up here, Chris." He would have felt embarrassed by looking at her body, but her voice was breathier than usual, which could only mean she was at least a bit turned on by the way he was looking at her. She was still out of limits, but it didn't mean he couldn't do some harmless play.

He took a step in her direction and looked into her deep blue eyes, noticing she wasn't cowering away from his stare even in her almost naked state. That damn woman didn't have an ounce of self-consciousness in her sinful body. Nor should she.

"I didn't know you were inked." His voice was low, and he was amused by the way her eyes glinted at his words.

"Unfortunately, it's not for your eyes to see, lover boy." She winked and strode to the closet, locking the door behind her.

That wink was definitely crafted in the deeper corners of hell. The woman was a tease and a fucking sexy one. Her dress for the party was inside the room she had locked herself in, so she would probably get ready inside. That meant the best course of action for him was to go on with his shower, since their playtime was over before it even began.

He turned the water cold in an attempt to cool down. She played dirty with that little trick and he could imagine her laughing it off in the closet. What made the situation worse was the desire he saw reflected in her eyes. There was also something else there, but he couldn't quite place it. Like she was annoyed to be attracted to him. He supposed it was fair, considering he was out of her reach just as much as she was out of his.

They knew better than to mix business with pleasure. If they got tired of each other before the deal was done, his parents would push him to get another girlfriend to assume the company. If it were the other way around, he would be encouraged to leave the exotic girl to replace someone more suitable. Trouble either way.

Nevertheless, his cock was still rock hard even after reasoning it out. Not exactly his fault considering the images of her newly found tattoo that kept popping into his head. It probably climbed up her thigh and who knew where it ended? Maybe she had other hidden treasures in that sensual body of hers, and he could imagine how soft it would feel against his hands. He wondered if her ass would bounce when she rode his dick. If, Chris.

Fucking hell, he began to stroke his cock with one hand while steadying himself on the shower wall with the other. She was probably right outside the door getting ready for the party and that thought got him going even harder. He once again went back to the first time they met. Her performance in that black outfit, her final drop from the silks. The way she looked right into his eyes, how she winked at him for the first time. He felt his release coming and increased the pace, keeping that image in his mind. So close. He thought about how he tried to catch her before she left and saw the ring that meant the world to him in her hands and...

"Fuck" he breathed out, feeling the spurts coating the wall in front of him. That was not the image he wanted to cum to, but hell, it was needed release. He cleaned the wall and went on with his shower, hoping it was enough to appease his desire for her.