Husband With Benefits

Autumn stared in the mirror at herself as she straightened her clothes . A week. Only a week had passed and yet so much had changed. She’d gone from almost marrying Pierce and being thrown behind the bars for ’illegally detaining Arabelle’ by that man’s schemes to being married to Gabriel Frost, getting rid of the criminal law suit and being promoted to being the night manager of the resort. It almost seemed like a dream that she did not want to wake up from.

Gabriel Frost was an enigma, that was for sure. She’d thought that it would be difficult to live with a man. But Gabriel Frost made it seem... effortless. He’d somehow seamlessly blended himself into the house and the routine. Most days, by the time she returned home from the night shift, he would have prepared breakfast for her and Arabelle and be ready to leave for the day.

And when he returned in the evening, he would make it a point to spend it playing with Arabelle, until it was time for them to leave. She could hardly believe that she was considering leaving Arabelle in his care in her absence instead of bringing her to the resort to hand her over to Mrs Norman. This ease with which he had secured her trust somewhat scared her. So, she reminded herself that she needed to be extra careful.

But she could understand why he had been assigned to bring this resort out of the flunk. That man and his assistant worked like a machine. The changes they had brought about in ten days... she would have deemed them impossible in ten weeks! The renovations were going on in a flurry. Employee dues had been cleared. Old employees had already been summoned back and offered their jobs at better rates and were being prepared to be sent for training. His arrival seemed to have brought the entire B-town back to life.

And her life, back on track. Suddenly she seemed to feel as if this was the end of the dark endless road that she had been treading. It almost seemed magical..

Shaking her head at her own fantastical thoughts, she stepped out of the changing room, her uniform in her hand. Her first night as a manager had been perfect with no problems. Of course, there wouldn’t be any problems because more than half the resort was closed for the general public.. but even so.. it was a success.

But just as she turned the corner to head towards the staff lounge, her smile faded at the sight of a familiar figure standing in the hallway.

Pierce.

Her ex-fiancé was leaning casually against the wall, his sharp features softened by an uncharacteristic look of regret. Autumn’s heart sank, and she instinctively tightened her grip on her uniform, the fabric creasing under her fingers.

"Autumn," Pierce called out, his voice hesitant, lacking its usual confidence. "Can we talk?"

Autumn stiffened, her body language defensive. "There’s nothing to talk about, Pierce. We’ve already made things clear," she replied curtly.