CHAPTER <b>0012 </b>


    Meadow’s POV:


    The flight back to Seattle was quiet. The silence was unsettling. Infuriating.


    ric hadn’t so much as nced at me ever since we got in the jet. We were seated across from each other, but he was just focused on hisptop in front of him. Work, I suppose, but how could he act like he hadn’t just made me cum with his fingers while maintaining eye contact all the way<b>? </b>


    Because I couldn’t.


    It was all I could think about.


    I’d never been touched that way by anyone before, which waspletely absurd. Yes, I was a twenty- three year old woman who was in a rtionship with a man for two entire years and we never did anything except kiss.


    I did give Tyler a blow job once though, but he’d stopped me halfway and said I was really bad at it.


    And yeah, he never touched me. And I didn’t think anything of it because he said that he wanted to wait until we were married.


    Now that I thought of it, there had been so many red gs but I didn’t pay heed.


    I was so stupidly in love that-


    <b>“</b><b>Don’t </b>ruin that pretty face with a frown,” ric said, his deep voice pulling me out of my thoughts.


    <b>I </b>raised my head to look at him, arching my brow when I realized that he’d set hisptop aside.


    “What’s on your mind<b>?</b><b>” </b>


    “Nothing,” I replied too quickly.


    “Nothing?” he echoed, leaning back in his seat. “I find that hard to believe.”


    My lips pulled tight. “Yeah, but I don’t really want to talk about it, so why don’t you just focus on yourptop or whatever you were doing<b>?</b>”


    I didn’t mean to snap at him, I swear. But it’d been a rough weekend for me. A really rough one. And then came a man who had vowed to take care of me but just made mee and went back to ignoring me.


    “Ah, I see,” he muttered, his lips twitching as he leaned forward. “You’re upset with me.”


    <b>“</b>I’m not-”


    “Don’t <b>try </b>to deny it.” His tone was curt as he cut me off.


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    +15 <b>BONUS </b>


    I heaved a sigh, looking away from him. My teeth bit down on my bottom lip as I contemted telling him what was actually going on in my mind.


    And then I did. “It’s just… it’s been a rough couple of days, you know?” I shrugged. “I found out that my fiance whom I dated for two whole years wasn’t even mine to begin with. That my sister hates <b>me </b>so


    much that she had to…” I shook my head, the memories of them in the hotel room mming into me.


    Hard.


    Tyler driving into her from under, Juniper moaning like a crazed woman, kissing him in front of me-


    Juniper had hurt me in more ways than I could count. Her hatred for me ran so deep, and all for a reason


    that I had no control over.


    She literally vowed to ruin my life because she wanted to see me break.


    “And then I meet you on the same night and I’m supposed to just… marry a stranger because I want my virginity taken<b>?</b><b>” </b>


    ric didn’t flinch. Not even a blink. He just sat there, watching me like I was a wild thing unraveling in


    front of him.


    Because I was.


    I rubbed my palms against my thighs, breathing out a shakyugh. “I mean, who does that? Who trades one life–altering mistake for another?” I lowered my voice. “Who gets fingered in the backseat of a car


    and then boards a jet like nothing happened?”


    <b>“</b><b>You </b>did,” ric said calmly.


    I scowled<b>. </b>“That was rhetorical.”


    <b>His </b>lips curled only slightly. “You asked. I answered.”


    I wondered what he looked like when he smiled. Like a real, genuine smile with teeth. Not a smirk, or a


    lip twitch or a half smile.


    I hated how unbothered andposed he looked. Meanwhile, I was over here spiraling and aching and reying every second of that moment in the SUV like it was tattooed behind my eyelids.


    “Seriously, though… I don’t get it.” My voice softened. “I don’t think I’ll ever understand why you’d want to marry a girl just because she can touch you. What if I was… you know… a killer or something?”


    He let out a sharp breath, amusement swirling in his eyes. And I <b>was </b><b>so </b>lost in those ink blue orbs that I didn’t even realise I’d been staring until ric cleared his throat.


    “Clearly<b>, </b>you have a lot of questions that you won’t stop asking ” He paused, running a hand through his dark hair. “Fine. Ask me a question. But keep in mind that you have just one shot, and then no other


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    questions until I get back from work and you decide whether you want to sign the contract or not.”


    I froze. “Contract? What contract<b>?</b><b>” </b>


    His mouth twitched. “That was your one question, Meadow.”


    I crossed my arms in front of my chest<b>, </b>scowling at him. There had been something else I really wanted


    to know, but if he wanted me to follow his asshole rules, I would.


    “Whatever, ric. What contract are you talking about?”


    His brows pulled together as he frowned. “You didn’t think the only thing you’d be getting out of this marriage is the loss of your virginity and a couple of sex lessons, did you?”


    Heat creeped up my neck.


    ric leaned in even more. “Marriage is amitment, Meadow. And getting married to a stranger is an even biggermitment. You’ll be moving into my house, you’ll be tied to my name, and you’ll be under


    my protection. Thates with rules. And those rules need to be signed, in ink,” he paused. “With full consent. Sober consent,” he added, narrowing his eyes at me.


    <b>I </b>opened my mouth. Then shut it. Then I opened it again.


    Honestly<b>? </b><b>I </b>never even thought this far.


    <b>“</b><b>No </b>one said anything about moving into your house,” I finally managed.


    ric’s expression didn’t change. “Where did you think you’d be going?<b>” </b>


    I blinked. “Uh, my apartment?”


    God, Meadow. You are <b>so </b>fucking dumb.


    Why did I think I’d be able to go back to the same apartment where Tyler lived?


    “No,” ric said simply, like it was a full sentence. “From the moment I put that ring on your finger, you became my responsibility. You don’t live alone. You don’t pay rent. You don’t worry about your groceries or security or whatever fucking idiot from your past might try to crawl back into your life.”


    His voice went deeper. “You live where I live. Because you’re my wife.”


    I swallowed hard, feeling my chest tighten. “You’re very… uh… bossy.”


    His mouth twitched again. “I prefer decisive.”


    Of course he did.


    “And this contract,” I pressed, unable to wrap my head around it, and aware of the fact that I was crossing the line of his so–called one–question limit. “Does it include, like, a list of what I can and can’t do? Do you


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    expect me to cook? Clean? Bear children<b>?</b><b>” </b>


    I was kidding, of course. Well<b>, </b>only serious about the bearing children part. ric was a damn billionaire. I wasn’t going to do a damn thing in that house.


    But ric’s eyes shed with something I couldn’t read.


    “You’ll see the contract for yourself soon,” he said, suddenly sitting back and grabbing hisptop again like we hadn’t just been talking about the most life–altering legal agreement of my existence.


    “Mel has already prepared the guest suite for you.”


    “Mel?<b>” </b>I echoed. “Guest suite?”


    He gave me one final nce. “Until you decide what you want to be, that’s what you are. My guest.”


    And just like that, he was done talking.


    And… just like that, I came to a conclusion.


    ric Ashford was going to be the death of me.