Husband With Benefits
Chapter 58: A Swim

Chapter 58: A Swim

Stepping out of the warm shower, Demetri wrapped a towel around his waist and made his way to the balcony. In truth, this was the first official vacation he had taken in almost a decade and already he could feel the urge to go back to work, to prevent himself from losing himself in the turbulent sea of his thoughts.

Clenching his hands, he gazed out into the dark night. However, before he could appreciate the scenery, he caught a glimpse of a lone figure walking towards the pool.

He raised an eyebrow as he noticed her choice of clothing. She’d actually chosen a dark-coloured spandex suit that was more suitable for professional swimming than here in this quiet pool. As she walked closer, he half expected her to take a running dive into the water, displaying her swimming skills.

However, she surprised him once again. Instead of jumping in, she extended one shapely leg and dipped a toe into the pool. Mesmerized even by this smallest action Demetri watched with rapt attention as she slowly settled herself at the edge of the pool, her legs dangling in the cool water.

She began to move her legs back and forth, creating ripples in the pool’s surface. His initial curiosity gave way to a soft chuckle as he watched her. The girl was a mass of contradictions. She was mature and smart at times while childishly innocent at others. And somehow, she’d wriggled her way into the small circle of people he felt the need to protect. He’d investigated the woman she called ’mother’.

That woman was not worthy of being allowed to raise skeletons! It was a wonder that Nora had survived with her innocence and happy personality intact.

Unable to stop himself and failing to recognize his own need to be close to her, Demetri walked out of his room. As he approached the pool, his bare feet making almost no sound on the cool tiles, he watched her lean back and look up at the peaceful night sky.

She was oblivious to his presence, lost in her own faraway thoughts. Her hair had been tied in a top knot and little tendrils of it escaped, framing her face softly. Walking forward, he pulled the long pin from her hair, causing it to fall freely and frame her face.

Startled she made a semi-mute sound and looked around in fear and confusion. He watched as she calmed down when she saw him and sighed," It’s you." She blinked as she finally caught sight of his attire.

Whenever she had seen all those adverts for men’s underwear, she had suspected foul play, but this man was perfectly carved. It had barely been a few hours since she’d had the shock of watching his back and now she was ’subjected’ to watching the rest of him. Quickly she turned her head and tried hard not to blush. She needed to start thinking of all the market strategies that she had learned in Economics...

Once he jumped into the pool, she would make her escape. Unexpectedly, he sat down next to her, dipping his own legs into the pool. All thoughts and theories took a nosedive into the pool with that one single move as well, as she was highly aware of his naked self, sitting so close to her.

Closing her eyes again, this time to stop them from roving over him and giving him the side eye, she leaned back to rest her on her palms and worked on controlling her thoughts. What she failed to anticipate was that this position highlighted her own beautiful shape, causing someone else to have problems with his thoughts as well.

They sat in companionable silence for a while, the only sounds being the gentle lapping of the water and their quiet breathing.

Finally, after thinking things through, he spoke," My grandfather is investigating the marriage."

The quiet sentence made her eyes snap open and she looked at him in confusion.

"I thought it was my mother who must be investigating. After all, she wants to break up the marriage so that she can get the inheritance. Why is your grandfather investigating? I thought you were going to tell him at your company’s big event..."

That is actually what he had initially planned. It had also been written into the non-disclosure agreement that while she could claim she was married, she could not reveal whom she was married to until he had introduced her as his wife. So, what had changed?

Demetri gave a long sigh and thought of words to explain. It had been so long since he had explained himself to anyone. "My grandfather values pedigree. Especially in the grandson who will be his heir. So, he is not going to be happy that I have rejected the person he chose for me."

"Oohh. So that is why you entered into a contract marriage! To escape marrying the person that your grandfather chose for you? Dam*."

He looked at her surprised expression and raised an eyebrow in question. And she explained with a grin," Well, actually I had a number of guesses why you would want to do that. I mean with your looks it was surprising that you did not have a girlfriend. Then I thought that maybe you..."

"That I swung the other way?" He asked with a shake of his head.

Thankfully, she shook her head," Uh no. If that was the case, then there definitely would have been some sign. I thought that you could not do it..."

As she finished in a rush, Demetri laughed out loud at this and complained," All those novels that you have read have impacted your imagination."

Nora blinked at the hearty laughter and stared at the man who was looking at her with amusement. "So, did you change that theory yet or would you like proof that I can in fact... do it..."

Still smiling, Demetri leaned closer to Nora, raising her fight-or-flight instincts. However, her poor flustered self forgot that her legs were in the water and not on solid land. With a loud splash, she slipped into the water, her arms flailing madly.

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