Levi sank onto his sofa, resting his bare foot on the coffee table as he made himself comfortable. He was settling in to watch the football, his beloved 49ers were playing the Kansas City Chiefs, in his sweats and vest. He'd spent most of the day doing laundry and other errands, now that he'd recovered from yesterday's hangover. As a journalist, he was used to working from home, but as he wanted to start working on his first novel, he needed things to be sorted so it wouldn't matter if he worked through the night. At the moment, he didn't really know what he wanted to write about, but he could feel the start of an idea bubbling up gently. Levi shrugged to himself; there was no point trying to actively force anything, as that would only make it harder to put his finger on whatever was swirling through the back of his mind. A sigh preceded his next swig of beer, during which the glint off the golden wedding band on his ring finger caught his eye. Levi put the beer bottle down on the coffee table and held up his hand to investigate the band again.
It was a simple golden band, a relatively cheaper one that they'd been to get a hold of last minute while drunk. And, apart from one night, he had no connection to Frankie. And yet, this simple golden band now bound them together by law. It was funny how something so small and simple could have such far-reaching consequences.
The tendrils of his wispy idea started weaving their way through and he quickly got up to head to his office to write everything he could down while it was fresh. As more and more flowed out of him onto the paper, the more he thought this fake marriage arrangement might actually not be the disaster Frankie seemed to think it was.
Candle light, wine and bubbles were supposed to help Frankie relax. But so far it wasn't happening. She'd asked Levi for a week to think over his proposal to go ahead with this fake marriage and actually live together. It was a lot to ask of him and she was in her final year of her studies, so this was a distraction she could most definitely do without. Frankie wished she could talk this through with someone, either JoJo or her grandmother, but she couldn't risk it coming back to her parents that this was indeed a fake marriage purely to gain control over her trust fund. What a fucking mess!
How was this her life right now?
Frankie let her head rest back to look up at the ceiling. She just needed to think this through logically. Her trust fund stipulated that she had to be married for a year before she was able to gain control of her money after her twenty-fifth birthday. Sadly, there was nothing she could do about that. She'd have to comply or risk her parents getting three-quarters of it. And she'd be damned if she let her mother use her money for more plastic surgery or to expand her already ridiculous wardrobe. Her only option therefore was to get married. Which she technically now was. But she didn't know Levi. At all. Except at the most basic, physical level. Her body tingled almost immediately at the memory of that physical act, which was not basic in any way, shape or form. Even with alcohol in their system, that had been one of the best sexual encounters of her life. One Frankie wasn't sure she could turn down again, if it did get offered to her, despite what she'd told Levi yesterday morning.
Fuck, why did she have to start thinking about that night? Frankie could feel her core throbbing with desire now and she wasn't sure she could ignore it. She took one last big gulp of wine before putting her glass down beside the bath and made herself comfortable again, one hand reaching between her legs. Imagining her fingers to be his fingers on her clit was not hard at all, the memory still so fresh. She closed her eyes, bringing back to mind how his lips felt kissing and nibbling her neck and nipples, his erection filling her with each thrust of his hips. Her breathing heavied as her body tingled closer to release. "Oh god," she whimpered, her back arching as her fingers continued playing her.
'Fuck, Frankie, you feel amazing. Tell me you're close', she could hear his voice grunt almost as clearly as if he were there with her.
Frankie's heavy breathing was started to echo around her bathroom and, with the fantasy playing out in her mind, it was becoming an erotic feedback loop that was sweeping her closer to her orgasm. "Oh... fuck," she gasped.
'Come for me, Frankie. I want to fuck your orgasm,' Levi's voice filled her head.
Her release came crashing over her, wracking her body as she let out a cry. "Shit." As she lay there in the rippling bath water, still feeling tremors moving through her body, she decided she couldn't do that again. That had felt too real. And she definitely couldn't have sex with him again, not if they were going to live together. Which realistically they were going to have to, if Frankie didn't want to face her parents and admit she'd tried to mislead them to keep her trust fund out of their hands.
Still having a few days before the lunch they'd planned, Frankie decided she wasn't going to let him know a second before she had to that she was going to take him up on his offer and go ahead with their original drunken plan.
"Shit. Fuck. Fuckity-fuck."
Levi couldn't believe it – the one day he needed to be up and out the door on time to meet his wife for lunch and he slept through his alarm. He was obviously still getting to know her, but he already knew that she would not appreciate being kept waiting.
The journalist had spent the last few nights coming up with a concept, characters and a possible plot for his first ever novel. He then slept big chunks of the day and going to the gym in his building after waking up to try to keep his creative juices flowing. His apartment meanwhile wasn't the tidiest it could be, but it hadn't reached distracting levels yet.
He brushed his hand through his hair and sprayed himself with his body spray. Checking his appearance quickly before shoving his phone, wallet and keys into his jeans' pockets, Levi then finally left the apartment to powerwalk the five blocks to the coffeeshop. They'd figured that this was one of those places that her parents nor anyone from their social circle were unlikely to go to so they wouldn't be overheard discussing their plan.
As soon as he burst through the door, his eyes roamed the coffeeshop and found her sitting impatiently towards the back. Fuck he'd forgotten how sexy she was. Even with the annoyed little scowl frowning her face when her blue eyes spotted him. Levi fought back a groan as he headed towards her and saw more of her outfit, a strappy top under a blue checkered shirt on top of jeans that he didn't need to see to know they would hug her curves beautifully. Damn he needed to stop thinking about her ass or those gorgeous thighs, before he'd start chubbing up. "I'm so sorry, I slept through my alarm after being up all night, and..."
"Ugh, I don't need to hear about your exploits," Frankie cut him off, making him almost drop into his seat in surprise.
"I was working," Levi said pointedly, annoyed she thought so little of him without getting to know him better first. He was satisfied to see the surprise on her face.
"Oh... sorry," she admitted her mistake. "I didn't mean to snap, I'm nervous," the blonde confessed as she ran her hand through her hair. "I've never done anything like this before and..."
"How about I get us something to drink, and maybe eat, first?" the journalist stopped her from launching straight into the discussion they needed to have. Levi could for sure use some caffeine first and she looked like she needed something to settle her.
Frankie looked a little taken aback, as if she hadn't fully processed where they'd arranged to meet, which told him a lot about her current state of mind. "Just a tea, please," the psychology student said after glancing at the board.
"Be right back," Levi nodded and headed over to the till. He'd already decided he was going to get a few different pastries for them to share. He was hungry after rushing down here and he knew that once she was settled, she'd probably appreciate some food as well. "Heya," he smiled at the petite brunette behind the counter before rattling off his order.
Ugh, of course he's flirting with the server, Frankie groaned internally when she saw the smile he aimed at the pretty brunette with the big brown eyes and the big boobs. She hated that she sounded jealous in her head, and she particularly hated that he could make her feel that way. They were going to have to set some ground rules if they were going to make it through the year unscathed with their sanity still intact.