We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.
-
Abraham Lincoln

_____________________

"What the hell?"

A scream flies from my throat and I whirl around to find Daniel standing right behind me. Bits of scrambled egg fly off the spatula in my hand as I turn, smacking him right in the chest before plopping down on the hardwood floor.

I forget how to speak as I stand here staring right at his chest. His naked, muscular chest, which looks like it was carved from marble. He's wearing nothing but a pair of grey drawstring sweatpants, which sit dangerously low on his hips. I knew he was built just by looking at the way he fills out his T-shirts, but not this built. That gorgeous chest connects to washboard abs that taper down to . . .

Sweet mother, he's got the V.

"You must work out a lot," I whisper in awe.

"My eyes are up here, Allison." My name on his tongue feels heaven.

My heart is beating so fast inside my chest I'm surprised he can't hear it in the quietness of his kitchen. His body leans even closer to mine until I'm surrounded by his scent. It's nothing but clean and soapy, and I've never been so turned on by the smell of a man.

"What're you doing here, in my kitchen?" he asks, leaning away from me.

"Cooking? The only thing I know to cook without burning the kitchen is eggs and I'm pretty damn hungry that I decided to cook it," I tell him with a smile.

"Go to your house, Allison. This is my place and I wanna stay alone."

I pout. "Oh c'mon, you're my fiancé and you're gonna fall in love with me soon so we should spend more time together."

"Get out," he grits, glaring at me.

I grin. "Only if you feed me. I'm hungry and you owe me, I'm the one who made you look human again."

He rolls his eyes. "Fine, sit there on the couch while I cook for you."

"What're you planning to cook?" I ask, smiling at him.

"Shepherd's pie."

I frown. "I don't know about it. I have never tasted a shepherd's pie." Though I love pie, this one is something that I never tried.

A few minutes later, Daniel and I are in my kitchen, waiting for the shepherd's pie to finish baking so he can evict me and get back to his alone time.

I sit at his kitchen table with apple in my lap, absentmindedly eating the apple while watching him. The man has an atmosphere. His gaze has actual weight, like a touch. It's unnerving. Like one of those haunted oil portraits, my eyes follow his every move.

"Stop staring at me-you're freaking me out," he grouse, watching the timer on the oven and willing it to speed up.

Look at his abs... Hmm..

Perverted inner mind!

"How long have you been in trouble with Annabelle?"

"None of your business."

"Oh, c'mon, you can tell me, hubby. It's not like I'll ever meet the girl. Besides, I go back to my work in six months when the divorce is done, and you'll never have to see me again. Get it off your chest."

He shoot me a glare, then go back to staring at the oven. "Why do you care, anyway?"

"I don't really, but I guess I can't understand why a woman is so hung up on you. You aren't that beautiful anyway." I wink at him.

Liar... Liar...

"We had a fling which lasted for seven months and I decided to stop it just before three months."

I raise my eyebrows. "That's almost an year."

Jealous already?

No!

"What's your plan?"

I smile. "I don't know. I have to do some research but I can assure you that by the end of our divorce, she'll be out of your life."

"When is the wedding?" He asks, not moving his gaze from the oven.

I chuckle. "Eager aren't we? I haven't decided it yet. We have to talk to our parents and get them off our backs."

"Did they hurt you?" he asks, staring at me with his blue eyes. My whole body freezes. That's the first time someone is asking me that question.

Well.. it's always the opposite. You're not the one who gets hurt but the one you meet are the ones who rushes towards hospital.

"Who?" I find words jumping out of my mouth without my permission.

"Your parents? Did they hurt you?"

I blink at him. "Where did that come from?"

He's learning things, Ally. Just one day and he's reading you.

I'm neither a book nor syllabus.

"You frown every time you hear or tell the word 'parents.'" He doesn't look away from me, his gaze penetrative.

I grin as if he's telling something funny. "Hubby, you really have a wild imagination. I assure you, my parents have never abused me physically. They aren't such parents."

He smiles. "What about emotionally, Allison? Did they hurt you emotionally?"

"Why are you asking me so many questions? Are you planning to write an unauthorized biography about me? I know I'm great but you don't need to go to that heights."

"Don't avoid the question!"

I sigh heavily and rub my temple.

He's smart.

Okay, so he's smart . . . ish. But he's also on my last nerve, and I know if I admit it, all I get will be pity so I decide to tell a teensy white lie.

"No, my parents just irritate me."

After a short pause, Daniel sighs. "You lie for shit, woman."

My eyes widens in shock. How in the world did he realize that I'm lying?

Maybe because it's actually a lie?

Shut up! I always got the compliment for the best liar in this world. I'm sure I'll be in the top ten if you make list of greatest liars.

"What makes you think I'm lying?"

"I just know it."

I resist the urge to stick out my tongue and simply stare at him instead.

"Okay, your eye color changes," he mutters.

Really?

"What?" I rise to my feet.

"Why are you shouting?" His gaze fixed on me.

I shout, "I'm not shouting!" I move towards him and stop when I'm a feet away from him him. "No way! My eye color doesn't change. It's pure grey," I snap, glaring at him. He stares at me with a different expression which might be something in between amusement and anger.

The oven timer dings. For seconds that feel like nothing, Daniel and I stare at each other in bristling silence, neither one willing to back down first. Finally I can't take the tension anymore and turn away, cursing under my breath.

As he wear a pair of oven mitts, I sit down again. He removes the bubbling dish from the oven and set it on the stove top with a clatter, then rip off the oven mitts and toss them on the counter. "Here's your shepherd's pie. Now go back to your house and leave me in peace."

"Don't get your panties in twist. Let me finish eating and I'll be out of your hair." I wink at him. He scowls.

The moan coming from me would do a porn star proud.

"Sweet Jesus. Oh, for the love of all that's holy. That's so bloody good. Oh, it's like a party in my mouth. Like a heaven has originated in my mouth! If I died at this moment, I'd be happy, because I would've finally discovered the meaning of life."

He bites his lips as if trying not to smile. "What's the meaning of life?"

"The meaning of life is in shepherd's pie. Oh Jesus, it even smells so good. If you would cook me like this every day then I'm ready to marry you hundred times."

"It's just a pie, Allison."

Eyes closed, I wave my fork in the air like I'm the God performing a blessing program. "Doesn't matter. My point is that it's purely amazing."

I open my eyes only to find Daniel's eyes sparkling with laughter. "Purely amazing?"

"Yes!" I smile at him. "Don't you want to have it?" I ask him. He shakes his head.

"I'm not hungry."

I scowl. "You suck at lying too. You didn't have anything since morning so better bring your ass here and eat the food. Do you understand?"

He looks at me as if I'm being ridiculous but he pushes away from the wall and walks across the room, not answering the question until he sits down next to me on the couch, leaving only a few inches between us. The warm weather outside that heated his skin radiates off him and brings with it the faint woodsy smell of his cologne that rendered me stupid and speechless earlier today

"You smell sexy," I mumble under my breath.

One corner of his mouth tips up but thankfully, he doesn't say anything about my comment. With the way he’s got me all jumbled up in the head right now, there’s no telling what would have happened if he said something cocky.

He grabs the fork from my hand and takes a bite from my plate. He's still giving me that cocky little smirk, and I start wondering if he's doing it because he knows it annoys me.

Seriously, why does he have to be so hot and smell so good? Your brain has frozen with all the hotness radiating from him.

After two more bites, he rises to his feet and moves towards his room leaving me perplexed. I didn't waste a second, I got up from the couch and followed him to his room without his permission. I find him in his room — gorgeous and sexy — standing near the glass window, staring at the view. I move towards him and stand beside him. He watches the view so that I can stare at his profile as much as I want without it being creepy.

Standing this close to Daniel and studying his face, I immediately see how exhausted he is. His hair is all messed up on top of his head and I can picture him running his hands through it in frustration and worry.

"You've had a long week too, huh?" I ask softly, turning away from the window to face him.

"You have no idea…" Daniel trails off, finally lifting his head up to gaze at me.

His blue eyes stare right into mine, and even though they look tired and like they've seen way too much for one day, they're still mesmerizing and I have a hard time looking away.

I take a step back when he gets right up in front of me, a little freaked out by the serious look in his eyes, but he quickly leans in and wraps one of his arms around me, yanking my body to his.

"What are you doing?" I whisper in a garbled voice while I stare up at his face and his arm tightens around me, pulling me up on my tip-toes and as close to him as possible until my breasts are pressed against the rock-hard wall of his chest.

He doesn't answer me as his eyes trail slowly down over my face and his free hand comes up between us. I swallow thickly and let out a shaky breath when the tips of his fingers ever-so-lightly feather across the skin of my throat.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to know that you're gonna loose all the your hard work within a day and I just want to runaway from all this," Daniel said in a rough, low voice.

I blink twice. "That's why I'm here, to help you."

He growls. "I've spent years working on the company and one wrong move can destroy all of that but still I'm not ready to bring you into this mess. I'm feeling helpless right now but it is nothing compared to knowing that someone else is going get hurt because of me. I don't want that. Think Allison! This is your last chance to escape from me and get back to your life," he tells as he continues to stare down at my neck and graze his fingertips over the skin.

I can't speak, I can't think, and I can't move. I don't know what's happening right now. All I know is that there is nothing hotter than Daniel holding me against him, saying all the things I needed to hear from him and then some.

He flattens his palm lightly against my throat, then slides his hand up to my jaw, holding my face while he brushes the pad of his thumb back and forth across my cheek.

"Don't spoil your life, Allison. Live your life the way you want. Annabelle and my family is too much to handle. You'll end up getting hurt, whatever maybe the reason you're doing this it can wait." He has got me there. Ashley can wait. It's just two more years and she would be hurt knowing I decided to keep my life at risk. It's just one more year and then she can come back to me.

You are going to change your decision?

No!

I'm not ready to back down from this no matter what. Now, it's not just about Ashley, it's also about the challenge that thrown towards me and I never back off from a challenge.

I finally remember how to speak, swallowing a few times before I open my mouth to make sure my words don't come out with on a high-pitched squeak to echo my nerves.

"My decision is final, hubby," I reply, grinning at him.

He growls again. "Stop calling me hubby. I'm not your husband."

"Yet," I tell him. "You're going to be my husband soon so why not practice." I wink at him. My eyes narrow slightly and he brings his face closer, pausing when his lips are hovering right over mine, almost touching but not quite.

I step back, escaping from his hold. "Tomorrow we'll meet at your company. Our parents and my partners will be there. We can discuss the remaining things later. Go and sleep." I turn to walk away from the room before shouting over my shoulder. "Don't forget to dream about me." I hear his chuckle before I walk out of his room.

Hey guys!

How are you all? I hope everything is fine. Take care of yourself.

Well...how's the chapter? Is it nice? Don't forget to comment and vote.

Love you all

Allison ;)