The Millionaire’s Fake Wedding

“Shall I clean this up?” she asked.

“Don’t be ridiculous. The maid will take care of it.”

“Allen?”

“Yes, Bells?”

“I overheard Natalie say that the trick worked and…”

“And you’re wondering if this is a trick or not? No,” he said with no hesitation. “It may have started out as one, but now it is real. I don’t care what Natalie says or calls it.” His face was an inch away from hers now. “To me, this is becoming the most important thing in my life, and I have you to thank for that.”

She looked into his eyes, and then kissed him. There seemed to be an awful lot of kissing, but it was never enough. She said, “Thank you for being with me.”

He smiled. “I’d be a fool not to!”

“You sure would be!”

They laughed and kissed some more, and Belle’s mood was great again. She wasn’t going as far as to use the L-word just yet, but the way they were when they were together was really special and intimate. She loved the feeling, and by that point she was sure she loved Allen as well.

“So, what’s the plan for today?” she asked.

“There will be a practice game in the evening. Nothing major, just a friendly match with The Eagles. There will be few spectators, but a few dozen journalists. They need to pump next month’s big game… Don’t worry about it. So, do you feel like going?”

Belle didn’t need to think twice: “Absolutely! I had so much fun!”

“Great! Though I can’t promise you fun. Nobody to scream and cheer.”

“I will be there, so that’s someone, right?”

He smiled – the kind of smile, Belle noticed, that Allen reserved for private conversations only. It was kind and honest and not at all forced. She loved it.

“Look, I need to step out for a bit. I’ll be back in an hour or two and we’ll drive to the stadium, okay?”

“Yeah, of course, Al, I understand. I’ll hang around.”

“You sure? Maybe I can take you somewhere?”

“Actually, I think I’ll doze for a bit,” she said, and then whispered, “My legs are still shaking. Can you feel it?”

He put his hands on her thighs, which made them flex. Belle bit and then kissed his ear.

“Go ahead then,” she said and pushed him away, but not before landing one last kiss.

Once Allen was gone, Bell searched around the kitchen and found a scoop to gather all the trash from the floor. It was a terrible waste, but in the end it was absolutely worth it. She threw it away and washed her hands. Then she, too, went upstairs, taking off the dress on her way (freedom!). They met at the top of the stairs.

“Going somewhere, cowboy?”

“Wherever you are going, so am I.”

“Al, my legs are too weak…”

In reply, he swept her off her feet and carried her to her bedroom. The fifth time was slow and passionate, with a lot of whispering and kissing.

“Oh, Bells… You are incredible.”

“Let me guess,” Belle joked, “You really need to go now?”

He uttered a laugh. “I really do need to go now! But I’ll be back to pick you up!”

“Yeah, sure, heard that one before!”

Allen kissed her chest. “Have a good rest, okay?”

“I’ll do my best!”

He left, softly closing the door on his way out. Belle took her bra off, thinking of how unnecessary putting it on had turned out to be, and threw it to the floor. She then cuddled under the blanket, facing away from the window.

She caught nearly two hours of nice refreshing sleep, and woke up without an alarm. It was still daytime, which was good, but the house was still empty, which was a bit disappointing. She got out of bed and put the summer dress back on, no bra this time. Would that be appropriate to wear to a game of basketball? She thought so. She was feeling sexy and desired, and that was something that had to be treasured and taken advantage of. She didn’t even care about being judged. She figured people would speculate and crap talk her anyway, so it made sense to be doing whatever she wanted rather than trying to meet somebody’s expectations.

She had just time enough for a cup of coffee, before Allen arrived and sounded the horn. Belle rushed out and jumped into his car. Today it was a Cadillac – not a cheap car, but nothing out of the ordinary, either. Most musicians and athletes she saw on TV liked to put huge shiny rims on their rides, but Allen’s car was stock. She liked that about him, too.

“How did your meeting go?” she asked.

“Boring. I had to renew a contract with the cola guys, and they read me this long lecture about how my name was no longer a strong draw, and hence they had to pay me less…”

Belle took his hand. “You are a strong draw for me, Al.”

“Thank you, Bells, really. You don’t know how much it means to me.”

“I do. Because to me, it means just as much.”

They arrived at the stadium around 4PM. There weren’t many people at the back entrance this time. In fact, there were only a few people, and only one of them had a camera, but only he took no pictures as Allen took the car inside the parking garage. They stopped in Allen’s usual place, by the exit door, and got out. The Allen Belle was looking at now seemed to be a different man from the one she’d seen on TV all that year. He was confident and smiling (even when he wasn’t actually smiling). His movements were precise. He took his duffel bag from the back seat.

“Ready?” he asked.

“One more thing.”

She stepped up to him, and gave him a long kiss. “I am so happy, Al.”

“Me too, Belle.”

They kissed again, longer, and went inside the stadium. At the end of the hallway Allen turned left, to the changing room, and Belle turned right, trying to remember the way to the staff room Natalie had taken her to the last time. Walking through the narrow corridors and the inner workings of the stadium, she almost got lost once, and did get lost the second time. There were two locked doors on either side of the hallway, and a small window at the end, which overlooked the back parking lot and the dock, where delivery trucks unloaded.

“Lost your way?” Natalie asked from behind, starting her.

“Nat! You scared me!”

Allen’s manager stood in the middle of the corridor – an ominous black figure with a thousand-dollar handbag. She looked displeased, and Belle had an idea why that was. That, however, only sparked some unexplained jealousy in her, and the absolute need to spite the woman. Natalie said nothing either, not yet.