A Deal with the Bossy Devil by Kyra Parsi

15

“Wow.”

I gawked up at the mansion in awe, my fingers going slack around the straps of my bag. The place was huge. And the exterior looked a bit like one of the classic Cloutier hotels, with dark shingles and light stones. There was also a large fountain out front and a ton of flowers and shrubbery lining… well, everything.

The whole property was lovely. Enchanting and picturesque and massive.

“Yeah, I know,” Adrien said, stepping up beside me. The car that had dropped us off made one last crunchy turn out of the property, leaving us alone with our luggage. And my ring.

I’d become hyperaware of it the second we’d stepped off the plane. It was starting to feel heavy and dense, like an anchor. There was a reason Adrien had waited until the very last minute to tell me what he was up to. The less time I had to think about it, the less time I had to realize how terrible of an idea it was.

I rolled my lips, apprehension washing over me. Was I just overthinking things or were there a hundred different ways this could blow up in my face?

“Don’t overthink it,” Adrien muttered, peering down at me like he could read my mind. “Keep it simple. We’re engaged, we’re in love. That’s it.”

“How did we meet?” I asked, keeping my squinting eyes on the house. Twelve bedrooms, that was going to be my guess.

“Through your sister. At the corporate Christmas party last year.”

“Where did you propose?”

“You proposed.”

“No, I didn’t.”

Ten baths. Two half, eight full. And I bet they had a theater, a wine cellar, a library, and more than one pool.

Were ballrooms still a thing? If they were, this house would have at least one. And maybe a secret dungeon or two as well.

Adrien let out a quiet laugh. “My buddy Ethan opened an Italian restaurant a few months back. It’s got a great rooftop patio. Let’s say I reserved the whole place, and we had a romantic dinner, then I popped the question. You cried. A lot. The violinist shed a few tears too. Because I did such a great job.”

“Isn’t the whole point of this to try and make it believable?”

“I can be very romantic, Sanchez. That’s a widely known fact.”

It was my turn to laugh. “Anything else I should know?”

Adrien clamped his lips, thinking. “My birthday’s January 9^th, my favorite color is red, I hate seafood, and I’m allergic to cats.”

My brows leaped at the last one. “Are you really?”

“Yeah. My throat, eyes, and nose all start to itch. It’s kind of a nightmare.”

That didn’t make any sense. “You were nuzzling the hell out of Toebeans when you met him.”

Adrien smiled again, dimples and all. “I paid the price for it, believe me. It was worth it, though. He’s pretty cute.”

I tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear, looking away. My insides were doing a skipping routine. Because of the nerves and absolutely nothing else.

“Anything else I need to know?”

“Nope.”

“Aren’t you gonna ask me if there’s anything you should know about me?”

“Nah.” He picked up his duffle bag. “I ran a background check on you after Halloween. I know everything I need to know.”

My eyes rolled. This was going to be the slowest week of my entire fucking life.

“You ready?” he asked.

“Not even a little bit.”

“Perfect. Let’s go.”

I suppressed a groan, dragging my feet to the doorstep with my heartbeat heavy.

Adrien shot me one last look before ringing the doorbell. I held my breath.

It’s going to be okay. You can do this. For Alba and Olive.

Steps echoed behind the door.

You can do anything for ten days.

The door ripped open, someone squealed, and Adrien was pulled into an embrace. “Addy! My sweet little darling! Hellllooooo.”

This must have been his mother. I didn’t believe for one second that anyone else would call Adrien Cloutier “sweet” or “darling” and mean it.

I released a shaky breath through my nose and forced a smile onto my lips. It felt more like a grimace than a smile, but fingers crossed it didn’t look like one.

Remember, you’re engaged and in love, which means you’re super excited to meet his family. So act like it!

“My baby,” Adrien’s mother cooed in her soft, tear-stained voice. She was tall, willowy, and had the same dark hair as her son. “I missed you, honey.”

Adrien chuckled softly, tightening his arms around her. “Missed you, too.”

“I’ve raised a liar. If that were true, you wouldn’t go seven whole months between visits.” And when she finally released him from her embrace, her hands moved to his face, cupping it lovingly. The skin underneath her eyes was slightly wet as she sniffled, her features oozing pure love and affection as she stared at him. Then he nudged his head in my direction.

“I have someone I’d like to introduce you to.”

Thu-thump.

Mrs. Cloutier’s big green eyes moved to where I was standing, crinkling in their corners as her face split into another soft grin. She let Adrien go, clasping her hands in front of her like she simply couldn’t contain her happiness.

“Hello,” she said. “You must be Ria.”

I tried to clear the ball of nerves from my throat and held out my hand. “It’s so lovely to meet you, Mrs. Cloutier—”

But before I could get to the end of my rehearsed greeting, Mrs. Cloutier’s arms pulled me into a big hug. I blinked, my hands frozen in the air as she squeezed me tight. “Oh, sweetheart, it’s so lovely to meet you. And please, call me Julie.”

Adrien arched a brow at me from behind his mother’s back, silently asking if I knew how hugs worked. I cleared my throat again and returned Julie’s embrace, patting her back awkwardly. She smelled like soft lavender and honey. It was… pleasant and comforting.

“Oh my gosh, let me look at you.” Julie let me go, hands moving to my upper arms to hold me in place as she assessed the situation. I averted my gaze, heat trickling up my neck. Her grin widened, and I swear her eyes were starting to get wet all over again. “Oh. Addy, you weren’t exaggerating. She’s such a beauty.”

I looked at Adrien, expecting his eyes to flick to the cloudy skies. But he simply pressed his lips together and dropped his chin.

It wasn’t a nod. I was pretty sure he was just super interested in the ground.

“You kids must be exhausted. Come in, come in. We can catch up and talk inside. Addy, you’ll get the bags, yes?”

“Oh, no, I can get those myself,” I tried to insist, but Adrien waved me off.

“It’s fine,” he said, moving for my luggage. “I’ll take these to the guesthouse while you get acquainted with everyone.”

A wave of panic rushed through me. He was going to leave me alone with his family? Already? For how long?

“Oh, honey, no. There’s work being done on the roof of the guesthouse. You can’t stay there.”

Adrien’s entire body stuttered before hardening to stone. “What?”

“A tree branch went through the roof during the big storm last week. It’s a mess. I’ve got the two of you set up in a room upstairs.”

Wait. Wait.

Wait.

I took a step back and shook my head at Adrien, my eyes flaring wide.

No. There was no way. I’d told him I wanted my own bedroom.

I wasn’t the only one panicking. For the first time since I’d met him, Adrien looked at a complete loss for words. He also looked like he wasn’t really breathing.

“I hope that’s okay,” Julie went on, turning back to me. “The room’s in the west wing, so you’re still secluded if privacy is a concern. I would have told you sooner, but with everything Addy was dealing with last week… Well, he had more important things to worry about.”

Adrien looked from me to his mother, lizard-blinking. I swear—Iswear—if he didn’t immediately tell her we were going to a hotel or something, I was out.

I’d walk back to Toronto if I had to.

“It’s okay,” he said, voice strained and thick. “We’re fine in the main house.”

Welp, time to call a taxi.

“Um, you know what, I’m actually not feeling all that—”

“I think we’re going to go straight upstairs and freshen up a bit before we say hi to everyone else,” Adrien interrupted, shooting me a look.

I glowered at him.

Julie looked between her son and I, the tension making her smile waver. “Yes, sure, of course. Take your time. I’ll just let the others know you’re here. Dinner will be ready at seven if you’re feeling up for it by then.”

Adrien offered her a smile. “I’m sure we’ll be down before then.”

She glanced between us one more time. “Okay. All right, let’s go. I’ll show you which room is yours.”

We grabbed our bags (I snatched mine up before Addy dearest could even think about reaching for them) and were led through the massive foyer of the house, up the stairs, and down a lavishly decorated hallway. I’d have been a lot more appreciative of my surroundings if I wasn’t seething.

“No,” I snapped the millisecond the door was closed.

Adrien pressed a finger to his lips, his eyes darting to the door behind me.

I didn’t give a fuck if his mother was still outside.

“No, Adrien. We had a deal. You said—” Adrien grabbed my arm before I could finish my sentence, cutting me off. “What the hell are you doing? Let me go!”

He did no such thing, not until we were both packed inside a small linen closet. Emphasis on the word small. We barely fit in the thing without our bodies pressed right up against each other. I could literally feel the heat radiating off him.

He sighed. “Okay. I know this isn’t what we talked about but—”

“No.”

“Just listen.”

“No.”

“Sanchez.”

“No!” How many fucking times did I need to repeat myself?

Adrien huffed a frustrated breath through his nose as he ruffled his hair. Then he stripped out of his jacket and threw it on the floor. I didn’t blame him. It was blistering hot in here already.

Except the space was so tight that the movement made a whole lot of his body press against a whole lot of mine. And since he was a freaking radiator, it meant that I now felt like I was on fire.

“I’m sorry,” he eventually said.

And I was so taken aback by it that my jaw went a little slack.

“I really didn’t see the roof thing coming,” he continued. “But I can fix it. We can probably put in an emergency patch or something within the next few days. In the meantime, you can take the bed, I’ll sleep on the floor.”

The proximity of our bodies was making it kind of hard to think. I really despised how good he smelled. “Not good enough,” I countered.

He sighed again before closing his eyes, and then his lips were moving like he was arguing with himself.

Not that I was staring at his mouth.

His throat bobbed, and when he forced his eyes open again, they were set with stubborn determination. “I’ll sleep in the bathtub and close the bathroom door. That way you have the whole room to yourself at night.”

“No.”

“I’ll—”

Oh my god. How was he not getting this? “Adrien. Stop for a second and just think about what it would be like if you and I were forced to share a room for just one day. Just one.”

His pupils were so dilated that I could barely see the ring of green surrounding them. They were mostly just black.

“Look at us. Right now,” I said. “This isn’t going to work. Even if I agreed, there is no way in hell we’re going to be able to pull this off. They’ll never believe us.”

All I needed to do was hold up a mirror in front of him. His eyes were dark and savage, his muscular arms flexed with tension, his cheeks flushed, his jaw strained and… shaved to smooth perfection. He smelled like, um, aftershave and soap and cedar and… a light, spicy cologne that made my fingers want to curl. With anger, probably.

His throat was bobbing now… and his lips weren’t pressed together anymore. They were parted and a little red. From all the rage he probably felt and… we hated each other, so… this was…

“Sanchez.”

Hmm?

“You’re staring again.”

I blinked a few times, pulling myself out of… whatever the fuck that was. Lack of oxygen, probably. This space was too small for one person, let alone one person and a giant fireman.

Not, like, an actual fireman. That wouldn’t make any sense. I meant he was a man on fire. Because of the heat he was radiating, and—

Fuck’s sake, Ria. Shhh.

God, it was so hard to think properly in here. The heat was melting my brain.

Adrien's expression had relaxed slightly, his eyes shimmering with an amused… something. I couldn’t quite decipher the second emotion.

“I wasn’t staring. I was observing,” I clarified.

The corner of his mouth slanted into a smug, dimpled smile that made my stomach flip. Again, with anger. Probably.

“It’s okay,” he said. “It’s not your fault. I’ve been told I have really great lips and excellent dimples.”

“You’ve been straight up lied to. Your lips are mediocre at best, and your dimples are hella lopsided and ridiculous-looking. Now let me out so I can call a cab.”

Adrien’s mediocre lips continued their amused curvature. “That was a lie. And I don’t think we’ll have any problems convincing my family that we’re a thing if you keep looking at me like that.”

I could feel the color start to blot my skin, but I refused to cower. “I’m looking at you like I wanna murder you. Because I wanna murder you. All day, every day.”

His lopsided dimples popped. “Sure, Sanchez. Let’s pretend like that’s what it is.”

I held his gaze. “I’m not doing this with you, Adrien. Not if we have to share a room.”

He didn’t miss a single beat. “I’ll double your sister’s maternity compensation if you stay.”

Jesus Christ. “You’ve lost your fucking mind.”

“So you’ll do it.”

I meant to say no, I really did. But nothing came out when I opened my mouth. It was just… he’d doubleher compensation? Double?

I knew she could use it, that was what made me pause. With twins on the way… the mortgage, daycare when she went back to work…

“We’re going to murder each other,” I promised him. “I’m not kidding. It’s going to be a bloodbath.”

“It doesn’t matter. Just as long as you can keep up the act in front of my family,” he insisted. “You can draw as much blood behind closed doors as you want.”

What the hell had gotten into him? Was this really just about the blind dates?

“And you’re positive you can do this?” I asked him. “And be convincing?”

“It’s not going to be a problem.” He said it with such cocky conviction that it pissed me off a little.

“Whatever, dude. It’s your funeral.” Quite literally. I felt very murdery around him. But if he wanted to learn his lesson the hard way, so be it. “I want it in writing immediately. Before dinner, and before I interact with your family. Otherwise, I’m out.”

Then I ducked under his arm and slipped out of the closet.

Finally. I could breathe again.