A/N: Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy. Reviews are greatly appreciated.
Accidentally In Love - Chapter 8
Between his fingers, Jason held the key to his future: Alexis's engagement ring. The center stone was a 3 carat emerald-cut sapphire. It was surrounded by two smaller emerald cut diamonds. He'd never intended to pick it with such care. The ring reminded him of the necklace she used to wear. The necklace she wore when she told him how much she despised him at her sister's funeral. He marveled at how quickly things could change.
Of course, sudden change had always marked their relationship: one day they were friends; the next day they were enemies; the next partners in crime and if it hadn't been for Diane they would have been lovers. That thought alone was more than enough to scare him. It still surprised him how much she had come to mean to him. After all, she shared a child with the man that was once his best friend and his mentor. And she was the mother of his former fiancée. On the one hand, Alexis should be completely off-limits and feelings were the last thing they needed to complicate matters. On the other hand, he and Sonny were no longer best friends; he and Sam had long been broken up; and he genuinely enjoyed her company.
Now, he was supposed to enter into a sham marriage with her. The only problem was their relationship was starting to feel less false by the minute. So much so, he'd actually begun to plan his proposal to her. Thankfully, Alexis left with Diane after their meeting. He suspected she wanted to escape the questions they each had after they almost made love this morning. Generally, he liked to figure things out himself before he discussed them with anyone else. The problem was this time he had no clue where to begin.
The door opened behind him, startling him a bit. Alexis told him she expected to be gone all morning. He immediately shoved the ring in the box.
"Mr. Morgan, is that an engagement ring?" Graciella moved quickly to his side.
He nodded then opened the box once again.
The older woman inspected the ring. "Que bonita. Do you think she will say yes? "
"I know she will." Jason chuckled to himself.
"Good. She's a good lady. You don't let her get away." Graciella patted his shoulder. "She's good for you. I've never heard you laugh so much. And when you are with her girls...so adorable." She paused then she opened her mouth as if she were going to speak.
"What is it Graciella?"
"I don't wish to overstep my bounds."
"No, go ahead."
She sat beside him on the sofa. "I worked for Miss Davis for a long time while you were gone. I saw her and Mr. C together and I thought it would last. But Miss Davis, this one, she likes to run. So, you have to make sure she doesn't want to." She patted his hands. "Now, I have to get my cell phone. I forgot it here yesterday. If my daughter can't reach me, she gets very upset."
For the next hour, Jason contemplated Graciella's words. Apparently, Alexis had done some running from Sonny. He doubted he'd ever understand what had gone on between them while he was away. Whatever it was affected them both deeply and resulted in Kristina's birth. The bigger question was why he found himself wondering about it now.
Sure, he and Alexis agreed they had to get married, but they never agreed to like each other; but yet, somehow it happened. However, what went on between them this morning was well beyond them just liking each other, he wanted her...badly. The chemistry between them was intense and unexpected. And he suspected it wouldn't be controlled. But their situation didn't lend itself to romance or sentimental feelings, so he'd have to try.
After their dance at Harry's and his conversation with Graciella, he knew he could depend on Alexis to keep her distance. And he would do his best to keep his distance as well. After all, how could they get through their arrangement for a year if they couldn't even last a month without groping each other?
He came up with a master plan. They would go out tonight. Some place very public would be ideal. That way, he'd be able to steal a few kisses while they both maintained self-control.
The door opened. Alexis marched through angrily and slammed the door behind her. She stormed to the sofa where he was sitting. "I need you to take off your shirt and kiss me."
He stared at her, wondering where she'd hidden the candid camera. "What?"
"You heard me. Take off your shirt and kiss me. Hurry up."
There was nothing he'd rather do, but still, he was curious. He'd expected her to come home and tell him why they could never kiss again, not demand that he kiss her. "Alexis, what's going on?"
She sat next to him on the sofa. "I realized Kristina left here without lamby. I know she's a big girl now and doesn't always need him, but after Michael was shot, she began to rely on lamby more."
"This isn't about lamby."
"I got to Sonny's and Carly was there. I overheard them talking. She was freaking out about you being with me. And then he began to reassure her that it had to be some sort of a scheme because there was just no way that we could be for real. Well, little Miss Harpy decides to run with it. You're right Sonny. Who would want to be with Alexis? She got you when you were vulnerable..."
He laughed at the way she mimicked both Sonny and Carly.
"It's not funny. Am I so unattractive that it's hard to believe someone might want me? Granted both Jerry and Ric had hidden agendas, but I'm not so hard to look at."
She certainly wasn't hard to look at: the warm tones of her chestnut hair, the regal way she held her head, her dancing brown eyes. In fact, he was having a difficult time keeping his eyes off her right now. "You are a beautiful woman, Alexis. You have to know that."
She ignored him. "Anyway, I stayed a few more minutes. I heard Carly talking about how she was on her way over here to prove we were faking. Sonny volunteered to come with her. So, as far as I know they're on their way over here now, which is why we have to make us look believable."
"And this has nothing to do with sticking it to Carly?"
"It has everything to do with sticking it to Carly. She honestly believes she's the only desirable woman in this town."
"We'll just have to change that won't we?" He placed his hand on her cheek and placed a tender kiss on her lips. He pulled back and looked at her for a minute.
"You're okay with sticking it to Carly?"
He smiled, "She's my best friend, but she can be kind of full of herself." He got up from the sofa and opened the door. He told the guard at the door to let Sonny and Carly in, but only after he put up a little fuss. He then walked to the stereo. "But Alexis if you're going to fool to "pros" like Sonny and Carly, you have to set everything up just right." He put on Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On." He extended his hand. "Dance?"
She walked over and took his hand. He placed his free hand at the curve of her back.
"See, if I just took off my shirt and you took off your shirt, Sonny or Carly would notice that the buttons weren't undone. If we're going to do this, it has to look right." He began to undo the buttons on her shirt and simultaneously kissing her. He smiled when he felt her hands undoing the buttons of his shirt. Soon, their kisses intensified. In minutes, she was clad in a beige slip and he was shirtless. Now, he moved on adrenaline. He moved them backwards toward the desk; their arrival was announced by the falling of a pen holder.
As he attacked her neck, she whispered in his ear seductively, "Slow down, tiger or I'm going to forget we're supposed to be pretending."
"I've got your tiger." He slipped his hands under her butt and lifted her in his arms. Her legs complied as they wrapped around his waist. The kisses she placed at his neck almost made him lose his balance. He began to walk toward the stairs. Once again he kissed her mouth.
"Jason." Her voice was raspy. "Jason."
"Do you want me stop?" He was afraid of her answer, though he knew he had to ask.
She shook her head, "no." "I want you to lock the door."
He smiled and kissed her again. He moved them back toward the door, but it was too late. In the doorway stood Sonny and Carly, both puzzled and staring. Jason sighed and set Alexis on her feet. Embarrassed, she stepped behind him. He was the first to speak. "Whatever the two of you want, I'm sure it can wait until tomorrow."
Sonny just turned and left. Carly looked at Jason and whispered, "How can you do this to us?" She then left.
When the door was closed, he noticed Alexis immediately started grabbing for her clothes. "Well, I guess I got what I wanted." He could see the tears in her eyes. She ran up the stairs.
"Great," he mumbled to himself before he went to take his now customary bedtime cold shower. He was not surprised when he found his bed empty that night.
The next day, Alexis made herself scarce until just before it was time for the girls to come back home. Ric dropped Molly off first. He didn't say much. Jason didn't expect he would. The coward would much rather threaten a woman when she was alone.
Next was Sonny. He alternated between staring Jason down and not being able to look at Alexis. "You and I are going to talk about what's been going on, Jason."
"Anytime Sonny."
Jason expected things to be tense between he and Alexis the rest of the evening and they were. So, it was a good thing he had a back up plan. He had a surprise for his three favorite ladies, which he chose to unveil after dinner. Alexis sat on the sofa reading some paperwork while the girls played on the floor. He carried a medium-sized box with the blue bow into the living room. "Kristina, Molly, I have a surprise for you."
The two girls crowded him as he sat on the sofa. "What is it, Jason?" Kristina was already pulling the top off the box. All three of the ladies were surprised when an orange kitten peered back at him. Kristina gasped, "Ooh a kitty, what's his name?"
Without a blink, Jason responded: "Tiger." He smiled as he watched Alexis turn three shades of purple.
She whispered in his ear. "If you were trying to mortify me, you succeeded."
By this time, Kristina and Molly had Tiger out of the box and were completely and utterly engaged by him.
Jason smiled at her. "Would a present help me get on your good side?"
"Knowing you, it depends on the present."
He pulled the small blue box out of his pocket. With a flip, he opened it and displayed the sapphire and diamond engagement ring.
She removed the ring from the box. "Jason, it's beautiful. It matches..."
"The necklaces you and your sister used to wear." He finished her sentence. "So, what do you say about us making it official?"
She wiped a tear that began to form at her eye. "I say, what are we waiting for?"