Darker The Forbidden Berry

Her stoic face relaxed a little and she sighed, resting her head on her shoulder, finally letting her body relax a little bit.

“Is that really the reason?” She asked softly, looking up at him.

“Yes,” he said softly, turning and kissing the top of her head. “I haven’t been able to get you off my mind since you came into my life, Aja.”

Her heart fluttered at the kind words and she could not stop the grin that spread across her face.

“I do need you to explain something to me, though?”

“Hmm?”

“If you were so interested in me, why did you obviously hook me up with Killian?”

Finn chuckled and pushed himself up on one elbow, smiling at her a little as he reached out and ran his fingers up and down her rich skin.

“I wanted to present you with some options. I figured if you weren’t interested in me, you would fall for him.”

“You did pick a really nice guy to try and throw me off your scent,” she teased. “I kind of want to introduce him to Jaleeyah.”

Finn perked up almost immediately.

“That’s a great idea! Maybe we should go on a double date?” He suggested.

“Now you’re all interested in going on dates, hmmm?” Aja asked, tucking herself back into his chest.

“Of course…! That cat is out of the bag now,” he said, reaching out and brushing his fingers across her cheek. “I want to spend as much time as I can with you.”

“What about your parents? I’m technically supposed to be making sure that this doesn’t happen,” she said, motioning in between them.

“Honestly? I don’t care,” he said, lying back in the bed, one arm over his eyes. “I do my job. The fact that they’re up my ass so much is a fu*king joke,” he snorted.

Aja pushed herself up and leaned back against the headboard, looking beside her. It struck her that they had not really talked much about Finn’s relationship with his parents. She’d heard about it from other people, but not Finn.

“Why do they insist on having me -follow you around anyway? I mean…A few people have kind of explained why to me, but I guess I’m more interested in finding out if there’s any merit to it. Have you ever done anything to worry them?”

“I like to party,” he said with a shrug. “I like going places and having a nice time with my friends.”

“Have you ever knocked someone up?”

“No.”

“Have you ever been like….? Arrested for your partying?”

“No. They just want to have a vice grip on me because I’m a little bit different from them. They think that difference is enough to ruin their empire. So every six months or so, they send someone to check up on me and they normally send them with a list of rules they want me to follow. I don’t follow the rules and the handler gives up.”

Aja nodded and reached between them, taking his hand gently.

“If they find out we’re together… Will they be mad?”

“I don’t think they’ll be super happy about it, but I also think they’ll be relieved that I’m ‘settling

down’. I think their biggest worry is that I’m going to marry someone and then they’re going to divorce me and take half of our estate.”

“Haven’t they heard of a pre-nup?”

“Of course they have, but they’re paranoid.” He let out a long sigh and turned to look at her. “I don’t really want to talk about them anymore, though. I want to talk about us.”

Her stomach did excited flips and it took everything in her to not squeal with excitement.

“I’d like that too,” she breathed.

Finn rolled onto his side and took her hand between his, running his thumb over the smooth skin.

“What are you looking for out of this relationship?”

It was easy to tell he was a businessman. He approached everything as if it were a negotiation. Aja had dealt with rich men her entire adult life, but that did not mean she was used to it. She was used to them telling her what to do and negotiating her salary…She was not used to them trying to negotiate the terms of a relationship. Aja bit her lip and looked up at the leaf-shaped bamboo fan.

“I don’t want it to be about money and I don’t want money to be the thing that separates us. Hell, I’m an artist. I signed on for a life of poverty.” She offered a soft smile. “I don’t really want anything. I just want to see where this goes. I want to enjoy the ride,” she said finally, curling up beside him.

“I think we can make that happen,” he purred, turning to kiss the top of her head.

Aja did not bother checking her phone. She knew it was early. The sun had crested the lake as they’d spoken. She was not that surprised she’d been up so early. She’d always been an early riser and despite her drunken state, she’d been put to bed early.

Once the other people in the house started getting up and moving around, Aja and Finn joined everyone in the kitchen. Killian was at the stove, whipping up some eggs and toast. People picked at a bowl of fresh fruit on the table, talking among themselves. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood with the exception of Allison, who was sitting in the living room by herself, glaring at the small group that were gathered around the butcher block island.

Aja had not had much of a chance to take in the decor in the rest of the house, though none of it surprised her. Everything was wood or faux thatched hay and small Polynesian style figures littered the home. Everything was dark wood with bursts of green that mimicked the verdant leaves of tropical places. It was classy, though it bordered on tacky. Aja liked it, though. Maybe she was just a sucker for a theme.