"Honey, we're not married yet and here you are scolding me already." he said with a wink.
"Excuse me???"
For some reason her heart skip a bit 'dafuq am I suppose to feel about that?' this guy has smooth tongue she doubts that he didn't hook up with any girls before as rumors say with how shameless he is. She rolled her eyes at him before she held his hand and climbed out of the car.
"You are such a pro at this." She can't help but comment.
"My dear future wife, is this jealousy I sensed?" He retorted as he fixed her disheveled hair for her.
"Oh come on, get down from your high horse." she suppressed herself from rolling her eyes again "I was merely stating the obvious." She glared at him at first but ended up staring at his close up face instead. 'How can this annoying guy be this handsome? it's not fair.'
She cleared her throat after realizing what she was thinking. She wouldn't have him tease her for staring at his face. 'Tsk, he might have the wrong Idea again.'
he chuckled "Alright, alright. You are always right wife."
Leona almost dodge when she felt him snake his arm around her waist, not because it repulses her but because she somehow felt embarrassed being this closed with him, remembering how she stuck to him while asleep in the car.
She reminded herself about why she's here. She needs to be careful with her gestures and reactions, knowing that there are cameras pointed at them. The photos might not show their faces but their body language would be evident on the pictures. With that thought in mind she let Xavier usher her towards the boutique with his hand at the small of her back.
"You always make it sound as if I win the arguments all the time, yet you keep on getting on my nerves."
"Isn't that what husbands always do?"
She paused and gave him an exasperated look. "Why do you keep on acting as if we're getting married for real?"
"What's the difference? sooner or later, we are going to live in one house and sleep in one bed."
"For our cover! you are too dedicated Mr. King. You don't have to act this way now." She exclaimed, feeling defeated.
Seeing how she is getting more annoyed, Xavier is over the moon. The joy in irritating her is priceless. "Aren't you lucky to have a dedicated husband?"
She let out a deep sigh "I yield."
Leona decided to save her energy. This guy is not going to give her a peaceful day until they part ways. She would rather suck it in as much as she can, he would just find another ways to irritate her anyway.
The moment they entered the boutique, they were greeted by a posh and elegant interior. Every inch of the room screams high class and money. All the personnel of the shop bowed down after realizing who entered making Leona get ahead of herself again by thinking that this guy must be a patron of this place, bringing all kind of ladies to flaunt his money with. 'Well, it is part of my job to be skeptical and he doesn't really look like someone who would practice abstinence.' his secretary just mentioned that whatever is known online are things he allowed to be known, maybe it's part of his scheme as well to maybe attract more ladies. Afterall a little girl's wildest dream is to have her own prince charming groveling at her feet and hers alone.
Ladies should really be careful in trusting people, sometimes the most angelic, mild-mannered and sweetest individuals could be the ones who have ill intentions. She's been surrounded with different kind of men in her line of work that she witnessed and heard tragic stories more than she can fathom.
She herself has used her own charms multiple times to ensnare men into traps, hence let's just say it takes one to know one.
'And I don't like how he's trying to mix work with personal vendetta. Geez so vindictive.'
If only Xavier could hear Leona's thoughts right now, he would have given Sam a severe punishment for giving Leona more reason to distrust him.
"Xaviiiiiiiieer!" a loud squeal rang inside the Haute couture house and a woman around her mid twenties was running towards them like a sprinter and who appears like she's gonna pounce on them anytime now.
Leona was conflicted if she should dodge or not, She's having an internal argument with herself between the fact that Xavier has been avoiding women like plague these past few weeks that she knew him and her deductions earlier that he's just faking it and ended up reacting a second late because the woman succeeded on hugging him and she was pushed aside a bit.
Thanks to her fast reflexes she was able to stay on her feet regardless of the impact.
'Okay??' she thought. Seemingly amused but a part of her is also irritated, she should have sticked to her deductions and did not hesitate. Why would she even give him a benefit of the doubt?
'Well, innocent until proven guilty.' she reasoned out internally.
She remained quiet on the side as she slipped her hands on her pencil pants' pockets, observing the two with a nonchalant look on her face. The woman is happily updating the guy about her life while the guy has an unusual gentle expression on his face.
'See, this is how it should be. It's not normal to have zero female friends with his status and zero girlfriends with his looks.'
The woman is really pretty too, She has delicate features that men usually like. there is a pencil stuck on her messy bun and a tape measure around her neck, indicating that she must be one of the creators of the masterpieces in this place and the way she acted carefree. She might also be the owner of this boutique too.
She fished out her phone from her pocket and decided to play until both of them are done catching up. She's in the middle of hunting for a comfortable couch when she was suddenly pulled into someone's arms again.
This time, she can't help but really roll her eyes again. 'Geez why does he likes pulling me around? Can't he just call my by my name? Am I a toddler?'
"Oh, who is this lovely lady?" Leona wasn't sure if it was just her but she definitely heard a bit of disappointment there.
'Did she not see me enter her shop with Xavier?' until when is she gonna deal with jealous girls? she conjured a fake saccharine smile.
"Hi there, Arya." She held her hand out for a handshake and the girl accepted it gracefully.
"Kim." The girl replied with an equally sweet smile on her face.
'Oh great, not Xavier's typical obsessive fangirls.' Thank God, she doesn't need to deal with this pretty lady.
"Kim can you get her a white gown." Xavier went down to business as soon as the girls got acquainted, Kim darted a look from the girl to Xavier, a doubtful expression evident on her face.
"Sure, what's the occasion?"
"We--" his voice sounded muffled at the end, Leona jumped at him and covered his mouth with her hand.
She's more than happy to have one less problem to deal with and she's not gonna let him ruin it for her,
Geez she feels bad for whoever his girlfriend is. She definitely has to take care of a lot of women in their relationship.
"Just plane white summer dress please." She continued.
"Wha-" anticipating the incoming protest from the guy beside her, she tiptoed a little bit to reached his neck so she could hook her arm around. He is way taller than her so he ended up slouching down when she stood flat on her feet, she gave him a warning gaze before turning to the girl again.
"I'm sorry Ms. Kim I'll just have a moment with this guy right here." she surveyed the area and when she saw the dressing room she pulled the guy inside.
As soon as she pushed him in one corner, she locked the door and faced him with an irritated expression on her face. She puts her hands on her hips and let out a deep breathe as the guy just looked at her with amusement in his eyes, not even trying to hide it as he calmly leaned on the wall with his arms crossed, waiting for her to explode.
"Look here mister, we don't really have to explain ourselves everywhere we go and announce that we are dating and about to get a fake wedding. Do we?"
"Well, they will know eventually. It will be on the news." he rebutted.
she sighed in frustration, "Then let them learn it from the news." she could atleast dodge his fangirls' hostility for the meantime.
She just wanted to enjoy the peace and quiet as long as she can until their so called marriage.
"We'll just have a simple wedding, we came here for the paparazzi anyways. Now that they have the photos we could just do a lowkey wedding, maybe a simple beach one would suffice."
"I love how proactive you are in planning our wedding." he said with a grin on his face.
"Would you please stop being sarcastic?"
"But I am not." He said coolly. "What else do you want to do?"
"that's it."
"But I told you, I go all out on things that I'm committed with." he said playfully.