Chapter Seven-Escapes

I park the car where gravel meets grass and turn off the engine. I turn to look at Ana incredulously. She grins.

"Where the hell did you take us?" I ask her. "This is all forest."

"Well since you asked, I was planning on killing you and burying your body out here."

I look at her. She has a serious expression on her face and for a moment I honestly think she's not lying. I feel a small frisson of fear race through my blood. I knew this girl was fucking evil.

She bursts into laughter. "You should totally see your face," she laughs, pointing at me. "C'mon." She opens her door and leaps out. "I'm not gonna kill you. I wouldn't want my favorite spot tainted by your toxic blood, now would I?"

I roll my eyes as I step out of the car. She begins walking through a tiny path surrounded by tall trees and bushy shrubs. I follow her, secretly hoping she knows where she's going. It feels like ages since we've been walking and we're still completely surrounded by forest. I'm just about to ask her if she knows where she's going, when the trees open up to a grassy cliff. I stop at the threshold of the forest and gaze out over the sparkling pacific. Ana stops at the edge of the cliff and sits down, her hair gently blowing in the wind. She turns around and smiles at me, patting the grass beside her. I feel my heart race when I realize I've never seen a more beautiful scene—or woman.

I sit down next to her, staring out over the water, admiring the sun as it floats over the horizon.

"How did you find this place?" I ask after a few minutes of silence.

She doesn't say anything for a minute. She lets out a long breath before she speaks. "It was two weeks before Prom, and I still hadn't gotten my dress yet. All my friends were bragging about how they had already found the perfect dresses, and how their moms went dress shopping with them. I was so jealous. They had a chance to go pick the perfect dresses with their mothers and mine was dead." She stops for a moment and just gazes out at the water. I stare at her. I've never heard her speak so candidly about how she felt about her mother's passing. "Then I got to thinking about how I will never be able to do a lot of things with my mother. Never get to share the joy of celebrating holidays or birthdays. Never get to ask her questions about boys. Never get to ask her opinions about which career path I should take . . . Never get to go shopping for my wedding dress." She glances at me and give me a small sad smile. "I was so sad, and I just didn't want to think, so I just drove. I drove and drove until I came to this place. I decided I wanted some fresh air, so I just walked and thought about nothing, trying to deal with the pain I was feeling. I ended up finding this place. And I thought it was the most beautiful place I've ever seen. I sat here for hours and hours. Doing nothing, thinking about everything . . . talking to my mom." She takes a deep breath and shakes her head, looking down at her feet. Shrugging her shoulders, she adds, "Now whenever I want to think or just be alone for a little I come out here."

I don't say anything for a moment because I'm not sure what to say. I've never been in this situation before with Ana—or with any girl, really. I end up just grabbing her hand and squeezing it. I smile at her when she looks at me.

"Thank you for bringing me here. I agree, it's the most beautiful place I've seen." She nods and smiles, then turns away, slipping her hand from mine. "Your mom would be proud of you, Ana," I blurt, wanting to cheer her up. I can't stand it when she looks so sad.

She turns to me with tears in her eyes. "You think so?" she asks.

I nod my head enthusiastically. "Of course, it would be impossible for her not to be. You're graduating a year early, with honors. You already know what you want to do with your life. And you're smart and caring and generous and loving—well when you want to be." That earns me a small giggle. I smile. "I'm sure your mother's looking down on you in heaven every day, beaming with pride and happiness that she created something so wonderful."

She gazes at me, her eyes burning a bright blue. "No one's ever said something so nice to me," she whispers.

I gaze back at her. "I meant every word."

She bites her lip. My eyes fly to the spot her teeth are holding the plump skin captive. I have the unexplainable burning desire to kiss her again. So I do. I lean over and press my lips against hers, surprising her. She's stiff against me, but when I hold her head in place and move my hand around to her waist, she softens under me. Before I know it she's kissing me back, her lips firm but soft against mine. And so delicious. I've never enjoyed kissing anyone as much as I do kissing her.

She opens her mouth to me and I immediately stick my tongue in her mouth, groaning when she buries her fingers in my hair. Her tongue rubs deliciously against mine, and she moves her body closer. I dig my fingers into her flesh, feeling myself grow hard and hot for her. The thought terrifies me. So much so that I immediately pull back with panting breath. I glance at her but her gaze is avoiding mine.

"I . . . I don't think we should complicate this more than what it already is," she says, her breathing still irregular.

I nod my head.

She takes a deep breath. "Plus, I really can't stand the thought of being . . . intimate with you."

I turn and look at her with a raised brow. She's still avoiding my gaze. I wouldn't necessarily say I couldn't stand the thought of having sex with her, it's just a thought I've never had before. A thought I'm not sure I'm comfortable with having at the moment. I mean it's Ana. I never thought about her in that way. She's always been this bratty little snot in my mind. But as I look at her now I can definitely see her as something other than that bratty little snot I'm used to her being. Now I see her as a woman. A woman I think I'm attracted to. And that scares the shit out of me.

"Yeah, I feel the same," I mutter. I'm not too certain if that was a lie or not.

She clears her throat and straightens her hair, still keeping her gaze away from mine.

"So, um, what's our story?" she asks me, finally looking at me. She looks guarded. There's another emotion hidden in her eyes but I don't know what it is.

"What?" I ask dumbly.

She sighs. "You know, our story. What we're going to tell people about when we got together, how long we've been together, when we fell in love. We need to sort out the details so we're on the same page and not making blunders like you did this morning." She gives me a pointed look.

"I already apologized," I murmur.

She shakes her head. "I don't even want to talk about it. Let's just get this over with so we can get on with our lives."

"Okay," I say slowly. I think for a moment. "Well we already established that we got together when I left for London. We've been together ever since. I proposed to you yesterday. Um, as to when we fell in love . . . uh, we can say something like, during spring break . . . the spring break you went to, what was it? California?" she nods her head. "How long ago was that?"

She thinks about it for a moment. "Um, about two years ago?" She nods her head. "Yeah it was definitely two years ago. Well over two years ago now."

I nod my head. "Okay, so we can say you told everyone that you were going to Cali for spring break when actually you were going to fly to England to see me. Um, we can say I took you to, um, Rome, maybe? Or France for a few days. I wined and dined you, and the night before you flew back home, after making love for hours, we told each other we loved one another."

She pushed her wind-blown hair from her face, nodding her head. "Not bad," she says, slightly impressed. "And let's say France, you know since it's the city of love. And how about we leave the 'making love for hours' part out when we tell our families."

I shrug. "I only added it because I know how much you women love details."

She frowns then sighs. "Ugh, that's true. It's going to suck being all alone with Mia and your mother and they're going to ask me detail upon detail of how it feels like being with you. Or how romantic you are." She groans. "I hope your mother doesn't ask me how good of a lover you are. Mia told me your mom asked Elliot's girlfriend that one time."

I laugh. "My mother would never ask you that. My grandmother on the other hand . . ."

Her face contorts in disgust. "Why in the world would your grandmother want to know how well of a lover you are? And if she does ask me that what am I supposed to say? 'Oh yeah, he's the best I've ever had.'" I laugh again. "I would die of mortification."

"I doubt Nana Beth will ask you that. She'll be too busy hounding you to get pregnant to ask how well I'm satisfying you." Her face goes white. I can't help but laugh again.

She slaps my arm. "That's not funny. I haven't even graduated college yet, I'm too young for kids. Plus you'd be the last person I would ever want a kid with."

"Trust me, the feeling is more than mutual. I don't think I would be able to stick around knowing it would be half human half anti-Christ."

"Ha ha. You know you're the only one who thinks that about me. Everyone else thinks I'm the sweetest thing they've ever met."

I laugh. "Yeah, because that's what you lead them to believe. But I know under that cute innocent act you play is a little demon begging to get out."

She glares at me. I beam at her. "We're getting off topic," she mutters.

"Apparently so."

She takes a deep breath. "Well, actually that's a good point. What are we going to tell people when they ask about kids?"

I swallow apprehensively. The thought of being responsible for a tiny human makes me extremely nervous. "Not for a long, long, long, long time."

"I need an actual frame of time."

"I don't know at least like, five or ten years," I mutter.

"Five or ten years?" she gasps. I look at her and astonishment colors her face. "How long are you expecting me to stay married to you?"

I sigh. "Well it has to be believable. I can't let my family think I'm marrying you just to get my hands on money . . . even though that's what I am doing. But, um, I'd say at least a year."

Her eyebrows shoot up. "A year? Why not six months?"

"Because that's not long enough. My family—mainly my dad and grandpa—would figure out what we were doing. They would know it was a sham of a marriage."

She's quiet for a minute. "Do you get your money right after you're married, or is there like a period you have to wait to get it?"

I frown. "I don't know." I groan and fall back on the grass. "Fuck. I didn't think about that. I'm sure since Papa's the one who opened the trust fund he'll be the one to decide when I get it. Damn it. He could hold it for however long he wants to."

And knowing him he'll be a dick and he'll probably keep it until we can mark our first year anniversary on the calendar. What the hell am I supposed to do then? I was hoping to get my money right away and get started on building my company. The thought of having to wait a year or longer depresses me.

"Well, we'll have to make them believe that we're actually in love so that doesn't happen," Ana says, pulling me from my thoughts.

I take a deep breath and blow it out slowly. I turn my head and look at her. She lies down next to me.

"You think we can really pull it off?"

She shrugs. "Wouldn't hurt to try."

I nod my head and turn my gaze to the sky. I close my eyes and just let the serene calmness flow over me, the harsh sounds of the waves hitting rock below me.

God, please I know I've done some very bad things in my life, but I want this so bad. Please, please just give me this one thing. I won't ever ask for anything else. Just please give me this.

Sorry for the delay, I came down suddenly with the stomach flu so I've been in recovery most of the week.

Thank you all for the reviews, follows and favorites. You guys brighten my day.

SS&G xoxo

P.S. who's excited for the premiere of 50 shades darker? Eek! I'm practically giddy with uncontrollable anticipation. I hope it's as good as the trailer looks. Happy watching, I know I'll be having a good time ;)