Husband With Benefits

Autumn was distracted and sleepy. As she moved around the pots and pans, putting everything back in its place, she just couldn’t concentrate. She could hear the voices coming from the room upstairs and knew she should not worry.

Gabriel Frost was very perceptive. He had deliberately left the door to Arabelle’s room open so she wouldn’t worry. And yet, she could not relax. It made her feel odd, to think of living with a man, she barely knew. But she could recognise his laugh, for sure. The man had a hearty laugh and with the way he seemed to be eating at Arabelle’s pretend restaurant, a hearty imagination for food. He’d kept her busy making all sorts of things in her pretend kitchen, much to her enjoyment.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, breaking her thoughts. Autumn wiped her hands on a towel and walked to the door, checking to see who it could be. No one visited her usually. Whoever it was, after attending to them, she was going to sleep. The one good thing about having someone she trusted living with her was that she did not have to wait for a sitter or go to leave her to Mrs N’s place. She could catch a nap right here...

Her thoughts crashed when she opened the door to see the man standing at the door. "Pierce."

The man stared at her and suddenly, his presence, which would have comforted her in the past, made her feel uneasy. Cautiously, she stepped out and closed the door behind her,"What do you want?"

"Aren’t you going to invite me inside? I came to talk to you. Clarify things."

Autumn frowned and shook her head," No. We have nothing to talk about."

"Yes. We do. Autumn, I need to apologize and explain things. I.. I really didn’t plan all this with Bianca. Things just turned out that way."

Autumn crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing. "And you think an apology will fix everything? That it will erase the hurt and confusion you caused? Also, what exactly do you mean by ’things happened’? Did you suddenly wake up in church and find yourself saying ’I do’? You are the one who two timed me, so why don’t you just accept that and leave me alone."

Pierce winced, taking a deep breath. "I know it sounds bad, but Bianca’s family and my family pressured me. There were business deals and expectations. I didn’t have a choice. It is why mum tried told you to sign over this house to me. Our business needed the money. When you refused, she had no choice but to accept their offer. There was also your reputation. It would not have helped us much so.. I had to make a sacrifice. But I miss you already, Autumn."

Autumn stared. Did he really think that explaining these things would make her forget that he had deliberately tried to humiliate her... When he saw that she remianed quiet, he continued eagerly, "We can still be together. We can see each other in secret while I work on getting a divorce."

Autumn stared at him, her eyes wide with disbelief before she let out a sarcastic laugh. "Wow, Pierce. That’s some plan. So, let me get this straight. You want me to be your secret mistress while you sort out your ’complicated’ life with Bianca? How romantic. You must think very highly of yourself if you believe I’d even consider that."