A Word of Praise
Chapter 25

Kiara was out of the room by the time Chris left the bathroom, and he wondered where she might have gone without him. She knew they were supposed to arrive together at the party and hoped she didn't spoil his mother's entrance plans by getting down to the main floor too early.

He was fixing his hair when he heard the door opening, and almost choked on thin air when he saw her. Why dear God would allow that vision from heaven to be standing in front of him was beyond his comprehension. He had literally jerked off to her almost naked body not half an hour before, now he was just as willing to do it again to that fully dressed image in front of him.

His secretary was the one who chose the dress, and he would have to give her a raise for the choice. Kiara was wearing a dark red lace gown that screamed beauty. Chris wasn't a makeup expert, but the woman definitely was. Her face was breathtaking.

"Like what you see?" She was smiling mischievously, fully aware of her allure.

"I do, actually. You look stunning." There was no point pretending she didn't, so he called it as he saw it. Her reaction, however, was something new. She was taken aback by his lack of a smart retort and actually stood a bit stunned for a second. That was all it took to rend her speechless? He could definitely have some fun with that new intel.

"Can we go now? Everyone is there already."

"Where were you? My mother is expecting us to do a grand entrance or something, I hope you didn't show up without me," he joked.

"I didn't, I was just checking with Gloria if all the safety measures were in place, so I don't have to do it right before the show."

"Oh, right. I didn't know you had to do that."

"You don't want your beloved girlfriend to fall and break her neck because of a faulty carabiner, do you?"

They both laughed, but Chris made a mental note to ask about those safety measures later. Was she always her own safety team?

The ballroom was meticulously organized by his mother's party planners, and he was surprised to see the guests had arrived already. The ones from lunch never left and were assigned rooms around the mansion to prepare for the party. The others came on two private planes his mother chartered for her beloved attendees.

It was a comparatively smaller party in comparison to the one they held back at the continent but still had too many people for Chris' comfort. His friends were probably there already, and they'd be the only ones to stay the night. The following day was when the real party began.

Chris felt Kiara's arm entangling his own and proceeded to walk down the stairs towards the crowd. The music switched to a slower one to create a Cinderella effect and he rolled his eyes at his mother's antics. It was so like her to create a scene to introduce her poster child and his beautiful woman to society.

At the same time, he felt Kiara stiffen by his side. The room was eyeing her from head to toe and not all looks were amicable. He turned to her and whispered into her ear.

"Can you imagine their faces if you performed that scandalous trashy routine you mentioned?"

It did the trick and she laughed heartily, throwing her head back a little.

"You heard that, didn't you? I can assure you we'd have at least two heart attacks and a lawsuit if I did that one."

"Now I have to see that routine. Perhaps you can give me a private show one day." He winked, glad she was more at ease.

It was interesting to see how they went from an unspoken battle of getting under each other's skin to a back and forth of sexual innuendos. This new game they had going on was way more interesting. Considerably more dangerous too if his urge to touch her was any indication.

The beginning of the party was much like lunch earlier. Lots of business talk, discussing company matters with important associates. It was a bit pathetic how the guests would throw away their plans for the longest US family holiday to suck up to the Wrights. If he were in a similar situation, he'd never comply with such an invitation. But then again, he also hated to host the party, so perhaps that kind of social event just wasn't for him at all.

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Kiara was brilliant in her hole, entertaining the guests and staying out of the business talk. He noticed her grip on his arm getting tighter when certain topics of discussion came up but didn't do much more. There were times he regretted cutting off her wings on behalf of social diplomacy. It would be incredibly entertaining to see her biting the head off of some chauvinistic bastards.

There was a time he would snap at that kind of remark as well, but that was back when he was in business school, where having ideals didn't make him lose real money.

When Chris deemed his needy guests had enough of his attention, he decided to go replace his group of friends. He saw Marcus and Luke a while back and knew their most likely location. He nudged Kiara in the direction of the pool table outside the party premises and just as predicted, his friends were playing snooker.

"Careful there, I might have you arrested for wandering in a private island outside allowed premises," Chris joked and greeted his friends.

"What's up Chris and... lovely lady in red. I'm Marcus." He caught Kiara's hand and placed a kiss on top of it. Always a charmer, that bastard.

"Hi, I'm Kiara. Glad to hear I'm not the only one Chris threatens with jail from time to time" Oh fuck. Damn woman, she didn't need to bring it up. Now he'd have to explain himself to his friends.

"I'm sure there is a lovely story behind that introduction. I can't wait to hear it. I'm Luke, nice to meet you" Luke was decent, and didn't touch his woman when introducing himself. Not his real woman, but still.

Chris didn't tell them about the pretense status of his relationship, but he probably would. There was no point hiding it from them, the pair knew him too well to fall for it.

"Tell me, Kiara, how did you manage to get that man-whore under your spell?"

"Shut up, Marcus"

Kiara smiled and looked up at him with a loving expression.

"I'll let him tell you that story" Smart girl. They didn't discuss the approach to his friends, and she was letting him stir the pot in the direction he wanted, keeping all options open.

"You know what, I'll tell you the whole story tomorrow when it's just us. But you'll have a preview of my first sight of her tonight. Kiara, I think you should get ready."

She looked at the clock on the wall and widened her eyes.

"Shit, I'm late. Will you watch it?" Was that hope in her eyes? That was sweet, not at all like what he'd seen of her so far. Was that part of the act so his friends would think she was nice? "Of course."

She walked back to the ballroom and out of his sight.

"Damn Chris, that is some sweet arm-candy you got this time."

Chris punched Marcus' arm but laughed at the comment. He knew his friend meant no harm and Kiara was indeed easy on the eyes.

"Come on, you don't want to miss her show." He wouldn't miss it for the world.