The Billionaire’s Hidden Heiress
Chapter 64

Grayson POV

To my surprise, Timothy was already in my office the next morning, despite the early hour, looking quite rejuvenated and perky in comparison to me, who no doubt looked like a trainwreck. It had been difficult to persuade my body to want to climb out of bed when there had been a gorgeous warm body next to mine, thoughts of kissing Flair and touching her so prevalent in my mind that I'd been forced to hold back a groan as I entered the bathroom. I'd been forced to do something I hadn't done since I was a teenager, using my hand to replace my release underneath the cascading water of the shower as I pictured myself with my wife. It wasn't as good as the real thing, but I was loathe to wake her, knowing she needed her rest. Unfortunately, it did not tame the desire I had for her as I left for work, leaving me grumpy and irritable.

"Good morning, Grayson," Timothy chirped, thankfully handing me a coffee with a large amount of caffeine in it.

I sniffed it gratefully, placing my briefcase down and sipping away, inhaling the steam rising from it and grateful for the hot liquid pouring down my throat as I studied my assistant nonchalantly. He was cheerful, his clothes were immaculate but there was an undeniable sparkle in his eyes. The man couldn't hide his luck if he tried. I smirked at him.

"Looks like things went well with Rachel then," I commented drily, raising a brow.

Timothy flushed. "Well, um, I mean, that is to say," he blustered as I sat down at my desk and crossed my ankles. "Yes, it went well," he confessed as I chuckled.

"I'm glad, Rachel seems lovely," I murmured, glancing at my laptop and opening my emails "But spare me the sordid details," I said hastily, remembering Flair's innate ability to chat about anything and everything "I'm happy for you and let's leave it at that," I said, seeing Timothy's confused look.

"Yes sir, ah how did things go for you and Flair? We didn't really get to say a proper goodbye to you two at the party" Timothy said awkwardly.

I grinned. Memories of holding and touching Flair in the limo, the way she had looked as she moved up and down on me, flashed in my mind and I shifted on my seat, glancing away for a moment "A good time was had by both of us" I answered cryptically. "That's good," Timothy said with relief.

I nodded, clicking on an email and opening it without thinking. The image of a newspaper popped open, along with the telling headline and a photograph of myself and Flair taken only the night before. "Playboy Bachelor Grayson Oakes finally marries the love of his life in a secret wedding."

I studied the photograph. "Timothy," I said sharply, causing my assistant to halt in his errands and stare at me "Could you go and fetch the papers from downstairs, all of them? I'd like to see what has made the front page news."

He looked confused but gave a nod and rushed from the room. I studied the picture of myself and Flair, a small smile curving on my lips. We looked, exactly as a couple in love should look, I thought a little surprised. There was a gentleness to Flair's lips, her body was soft and relaxed, and her eyes were sparkling like brilliant gems. She was gazing up at me as though there was nobody else in the room. But it was the look in my eyes that shocked me the most. I was staring at her as though she was the most beautiful woman in the room and like I couldn't bear to let her go. I had developed such strong feelings for my wife already, that it had surpassed my expectations for this marriage.

Timothy came back in, holding a variety of newspapers, a concerned expression on his face. "I have the papers Grayson, but um" he swallowed hard, and then proceeded to place them gingerly onto my desk as I motioned impatiently to him.

I spread them out. Without fail, each and every single one of them contained the identical picture of Flair and me, along with roughly the same headline. I fought back my laughter. It was incomprehensible that Flair and I had managed to obtain such interest from the media. That had not been the intention with our declaration last night. Not at all and yet, without attempting to, we had managed to take the wind out of Charlotte's and Johnathon's sails.

"The papers are all about your and Flair's marriage sir" Timothy murmured, moving closer to me "There is speculation as to who Flair is, as there is not a lot of background information on her, as we well know the reason and there's a lot of gossip about the reason you've married her."

I glanced at him wryly "What kind of gossip?" I asked arching a brow and looking interested.

This was much more interesting than the paperwork awaiting my signature and perusal.

He gulped "Well there's speculation that Flair is already pregnant with your baby and you married her so that the baby wouldn't be born out of wedlock. That she has been your mistress for the last year and you finally decided to tie the knot" he shrugged "that sort of thing."

"Huh" I snorted "I thought you had to be married already in order to have a mistress" I muttered "Isn't that how it works?"

Timothy looked lost "I don't know, it also says that you were meant to be married before and then decided to leave the bride at the altar," he said, pointing at another paper.

I narrowed my eyes "That one is slander and defamation of character. I have never once in my life left a woman at the altar. I'll be contacting them to do a retraction" I said, eyeing the paper with disgust "Along with the others, but my sister is going to be thoroughly put out" I added with amusement. "You mean Charlotte Deluca?" Timothy asked, "Why would that be sir?"

I glanced at him. Poor naive Timothy. He always thought the best in people. I sighed. The man was too innocent for his own good sometimes. "Well, think about it, Timothy," I said patiently. "Charlotte deliberately had members of the press at her engagement party last night so that they could take pictures of herself and Johnathon. She was meant to be front page news today, not myself and Flair. Do you think she's going to take it well when she discovers that not a single newspaper has posted any news about their engagement or her upcoming wedding to Johnathon Rourke?"

Timothy's eyes widened and he gave a low whistle. "Oh my goodness" he exclaimed "she's going to be fit to be tied. I thought you would be angry at being plastered all over the papers but you're relatively calm in comparison to the nightmare she's likely to be. Do you think she'll realize it's not your fault?" he asked.

I chuckled "I don't think it will matter whose fault it is. Charlotte Deluca is a force to be reckoned with when she thinks she's been wronged" I said, beginning to carefully fold the newspapers back up "and that photograph was taken by my grandfather's photographer last night, which can only lead me to assume that Grandfather organized this, or the photographer was bribed to share it with the other papers" I concluded with a shake of my head.

"It is a nice photograph of you and Flair sir," Timothy said respectfully.

"I agree," I said evenly, "I plan on getting the original framed and put in the house. I want to make it a bit more homely for Flair. She hasn't complained but I don't feel the interior of our home suits her personality. She's too nice to say anything" I murmured, "but I know that my home is too masculine and cold." Timothy was silent for a moment "What would you like me to do sir?" he asked eagerly.

I pointed at the paper "Draft up a letter demanding a retraction and stating defamation of character for this one so I can sign it and then email it. I want another one, a general one demanding that an apology be made to be sent to the others. Oh, and Timothy," I said, thinking about it. "The likelihood is that Flair has no doubt seen the papers by now, considering that Rachel probably gets the papers sent to her house. Do you think you could arrange some more of those rainbow flowers she loves so much to be sent to the home as an apology of sorts?"

Timothy looked astounded. "You mean the rainbow roses that Mrs Oakes loves? I can do that, but Sir what's with the apology? The news in the papers isn't your fault" he protested.

I smiled grimly at him "Perhaps but nonetheless, I do feel somewhat responsible. I insisted we go to that damn engagement party due to a certain conniving Grandfather of mine, so in retrospect, what's occurred is partially my fault."

He sighed "I'll arrange the roses immediately. Should I organize some for Miss Charlotte?" he suggested.

I paused. Part of me wanted to scoff at the man. Flowers for Charlotte? She wasn't exactly being wronged. Still, perhaps it would go a long way to soothe the woman's ruffled feathers. Then I paused. I had promised Flair something else when we had gotten married, had I not? Something which I had yet to deliver.

"Actually Timothy, I need you to make a phone call to this place," I said, opening a web page on my laptop and showing it to him "I don't care how much money it takes, get them to stay open late tonight. I promised Flair that we would rescue a pet and I intend to do that with her. I hate not keeping my promises," I said grimly, "and this was meant to be done when we first got married. Forget about the roses " I told him "this is far more important and will mean a lot more to her."

Bless my wife for not bringing it up, but I was a man of my word. Timothy was grinning "I'll get on that right now. Flair's going to be ecstatic when you tell her."

I grinned "If I know my wife, she's going to be over the moon."

I couldn't wait to see the expression on her face when she realized where we were going and the reason for it.