Chapter 8 - OUR ENGAGEMENT

ACE POV

"Ace, baby, come to bed! I have a surprise for you."

Upon hearing that, I opened the door and was left in complete shock. There on our bed was Bella, naked. Damn, she looked so hot.

"Baby, stop staring! Come on, I miss you. 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓸𝓾𝓬𝓱 𝓶𝓮, 𝓹𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓮."

With no second to waste, I was already kissing Bella—her lips, then her tongue. Her hands were pulling me closer to her. At that moment, my mind was blank, and in a second, Bella was gone. I woke up to my mum shouting my name to wake me up. Fuck, I knew it was too good to be true.

The last week, I had been having dreams about Bella and me doing some sexy things, but we never got intimate enough—just mostly making out. Afterwards, I would end up awake and hard as fuck. Thank God for cold showers; that's what I had been doing all week. Bella was messing with my head badly, and her kissing me just made it worse—in a good way, but bad too, I guess.

When I was done with my shower, I got dressed and went downstairs. I was expecting my mum today because she was going to go over all the details of the engagement party she and Mrs. Peterson, Bella's mum, were planning. The party was tonight, but before then, our parents had agreed to meet. My mum and Bella's mum had already met up to plan the party, but not our fathers.

I hadn't seen Bella since our date, but we did talk. From the conversation, I could tell she didn't want to talk about the kiss, but I couldn't stop thinking about it.

My mum went through the plan of the event with me, which was amazing. Our mums went all out for it. All I could do was nod and smile. Shortly after, like an hour later, we were done with everything. I got dressed to go out with my mum to meet Bella's parents. My dad had agreed to meet us all at the restaurant we had chosen.

Throughout the whole meal, Bella had been glancing at me the whole time—just small glances. I knew because I was straight-up staring at her. I really wanted to talk to her and kiss her too because she looked so hot in the outfit she was wearing. Our parents talked a lot, making some comments, but I was so lost in Bella's beauty that I didn't notice everyone could tell I was staring at her. My mum said something, and everyone laughed, including Bella. That was when I was pulled out of my staring, and I looked away.

At the end of the meal, the guys went to my house to get things set up while the ladies went back to Bella's home to get her all dressed up. My mum even said, "Now boys, don't miss us too much, okay? Especially you, Ace, okay?"

We all laughed at the joke and went our separate ways. I can't wait to make her mine. Bella, I can't wait.

Bella's POV

At home, my mother-in-law-to-be got me to sit down, and in a second, a whole crew of makeup artists and stylists was in the room. My mum, at the corner with Ace's mum, was also getting ready. Time went by so fast, and boom! I was all dressed up. I still couldn't believe that soon I would be getting married—not just to some boy or guy, but to my dream crush. I felt like I was still dreaming. "Wake up, me!"

I stared at myself in the mirror after my mum and Ace's mum couldn't speak but were breathtakingly amazed by me. My mum was even crying. She said, "I still can't believe that my baby is all grown up. I promised you I wouldn't cry, but I can't help it. I just can't."

With that, I kissed her cheek and went back to the mirror. There I was, looking stunning. My dress was beautiful, and the red in the gown had me stunned.

Ace's mum came up to me and said, "It's time, my love. My son must be waiting. Let's go, okay?"

I said yes and thanked her for everything she did. She just hugged me and said, "You're so gorgeous. My son is really lucky to have found not just a beautiful but caring and kind lady. I'm so proud."

I was about to cry, but I didn't. We all got in the car. It was kind of dull, but Ace's mum said, "Come on, ladies, let's not all be in the blues, okay? It's not yet her wedding day, okay? Enough of the tears, okay?"

With that, we just talked and laughed on our way to the party.

The first thing I saw was so many people—thousands of them. Thank God Ace's mansion was very big with so much space. As we walked inside, many heads turned. I could hear whispers, and I was feeling a little insecure about my looks. Like a mind reader, my mum said to me after taking my hands, "Don't let other people stop you from getting what you want. Just focus on why you're here, okay, baby? You're here for love, right?"

Wrong, Mum. My mum was wrong. I'm only here because I had to get married to Ace to save our family. I don't think I love him—not yet. Soon, I hope. I couldn't say that to her, so I just said, "Right, Mum," and smiled at her.

Inside, my dad and Ace's dad came up to us, and within seconds, they were gone, as were my mum and Ace's mum. Ace came up to me and said, "Bella, you look so amazing, so beautiful."

I smiled at him, also amazed by his looks. He looked just like those princes in all those fairy tales. I said to him, "You don't look so bad yourself, sir."

He smirked at me and came closer, saying, "Sir? How boring! Why don't you try calling me something else, like baby, my love, or even daddy? Anyone you like, but my favorite is the last one. What about you?"

He smirked again. Stupid. He's so mean! Ahh, I was blushing so hard, but I managed to say to him, "I prefer sir. Sir, are you done now? The guests are waiting for us. Let's go."

And with that, I took his hand. A few hours later, we met some of Ace's friends, business partners, clients, and some of my friends and relatives that my mum invited. It was nice, and the whole time, I was by Ace's side. Later on, Ace's dad gave a speech, thanking everyone who could make it and also talking about how happy he was about the joining of our families. Then came a toast, and the party was finally over. Thank God! Some questions were asked back then about us, but luckily we pulled it all through, and no one was suspicious of anything. I hope.

As the night drew to an end, we said goodbye to everyone, and our parents also said goodbye to each other. I told my parents to give me a few minutes because I needed to talk to Ace, which they did. I went to talk to him, impressed by everything and how our plan was a success. I said to him, "So tonight went well. So it's finally happening."

He said, "What is?"

I replied, "I mean us. We're finally going to get married. Are you ready, sir, to be my husband?"

He stepped closer to me and said, "I'm not just ready to be your husband; I'm ready to be yours. What about you, princess? Ready to be MINE?"

His voice became even sexier with the way he said "mine," and his breath—ooh God, I'm fucked.

I said to him, "I'm ready, sir. Good night. Don't think about me too much, okay? Really, get some rest. Okay, bye."

And with that, I was gone. Tonight was fun, and I left his house a horny mess. Fuck you, Ace! How am I meant to sleep now? Ahh!