Chapter Sixty two

Damien's POV;

I watched her sleep. She looked so peaceful and so cute too, dare I say, angelic.

I moved a strand of hair out of her face as I watched her sigh in her sleep. I really wanted to kiss her so bad but I could not. I had to respect her wishes, she did not want me touching her so I had to keep my hands to myself.

I was going to take Aiden's advice to try to win her over and eventually confess that I had feelings for her so I was going to start by getting to know her better and maybe opening up on a few things about myself if she asked.

I picked myself up from where I sat staring at her and got out of bed. I had a few things to sort out in my study so I could take the day off and chill.

I dropped a small kiss on her forehead before exiting the room, slowly shutting the door behind me.

****

"Hey mom." I said the moment I walked into the living room. I saw that she was about heading out.

"Oh hi honey." She made me lean down as she kissed my cheek.

"Off to somewhere?" I asked.

"Yes, I have this event to attend. Where's Ariana?" She said, trying to arrange her purse as we conversed.

"She's upstairs." I said, shoving my hands into my jogger's pockets as I rocked on my heels a little.

"Asleep?" She prodded.

"Yeah." I said.

"Hmmm. Still asleep huh?" She wiggled her brows suggestively and I chuckled slightly.

"Still asleep mom." I stated, holding back a grin.

"Am I supposed to be expecting grandkids anytime soon?" She asked and my mood suddenly went off.

"Not this again mom." I said coldly.

"Oh Damien..." She said with a tired sigh.

"Well, I better be on my way. Send my kisses to Ariana." She said quickly, hugging me one more time before heading out the door.

I headed to the kitchen for a late breakfast and to see Ma Rosa only to see that Ariana was seated in the kitchen chatting animatedly with Lorenzo, the chef. And there I was thinking she was still tucked in bed.

I cleared my throat from the doorway as my eyes darted between them.

"Good morning sir." Lorenzo greeted but I did not respond, my eyes were trained on Ariana who looked startled by my presence.

"Damien?" She called out.

"I thought you had left for work or something." She said.

"Why would I leave for work without letting you know babe?" I asked, giving her a knowing look on my face. It's a good thing she caught on as always.

"I thought you were mad at me." She pouted as she strolled over to give me a bear hug. It was one of the cutest things ever.

"You know I can't stay mad at you for long babe." I said, dropping a quick kiss on her lips, I just had to seize the opportunity whenever I got it.

I held on to her even when she wanted to go back to sitting opposite Lorenzo on one of the stools at the kitchen island.

"Have you had anything to eat?" I asked looking down at her.

"No, I slept in so I missed breakfast." She said.

"Lorenzo, whip up something for my wife and I, will you?" I said.

"Yes sir." He said and got to work immediately.

I held her hand and led her to the pool where we sat and awaited our meal.

She stayed on her phone all the while and I did same, occasionally throwing her some side glances and she was so engrossed in whatever she was doing, she did not even notice my stares.

It was not until the food came, some minutes later that she looked up from her device.

"Ooo this looks so yummy." She moaned and my little guy twitched in excitement.

Stay down soldier, stay down.

I picked up my knife and fork and was about digging in when I heard a shutter sound. I looked up and saw that Ariana was taking pictures of the meal.

"Oh I'd like to do a snap video if you're okay with it." She said innocently.

"That isn't necessary." I said.

"Well, I 'm just doing my job here." She said with a casual shrug. I paused.

"Your job?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Uhmm, keeping to my end of the bargain. Being your trophy wife, and-"

"It's fine, I get it." I said, trying to contain how unusual it felt for me when she reminded me why she truly was here.

She made a quick snap with both of us in it.

"Any ideas for a caption?" She asked me as she took a bite from the toast and a scoop of oats.

I shrugged.

"You're the social media person, not me." I said before sipping on my juice.

"Then why do you have to keep up an appearance if you're not the social media type?" She prodded and I paused again, thinking of a suitable cover up.

Ariana did not know the exact reason why I had married her, she only knew of it as a deal to be my trophy wife and to off set her father's debt but it was way more than that but she did not have to know it, at least not yet.

"I just do not have the time to handle all my social platforms like I used to do so I leave it for my PR assistant to handle." I lied smoothly.

"Huh..." She looked like she was contemplating my answer but she eventually shrugged.

"Alright then." She dropped her phone and focused on the meal while I did same.

After breakfast we left for our separate rooms still walking hand in hand. I really just wanted to spend time with her but I did not know how to say so.

"Are you busy?" I asked.

"No, why do you ask?" She replied with her eyes still trained on her phone all the while.

"I just wanted to know if you'd like to do anything today?" I said nervously. This was hard for me.

"Anything like?" She asked, looking up from her phone to face me.

"You know, take a walk, go out, you know..." I shrugged nervously, I did not know how these things worked and I was really trying my best to not run and hide.

"Uhm, where do you have in mind?" She asked softly, obviously finding it strange that I was suggesting such.

"Anywhere you choose." I said, leaving it for her to decide.

"I know a place." She grinned widely.

She pushed me into my room so I could go get ready. It was November so it was somewhat chilly in the morning, I picked out a jacket to pair with my jeans and t-shirt.

I came out and saw that she was wearing something similar.

"Let's go." She said and took my hand in hers.

When we got downstairs, I was about calling for my driver but she stopped me.

"Let's take a walk instead." She opted.

"Okay." I agreed, letting her take the lead on this one.

I had three of my guards accompany us as we walked ahead.

We were out on the street heading to a location only Ariana knew.

"I hope you aren't going to take me somewhere quiet and kill me?" I joked.

"In as much I would love to, I won't." She said back sassily.

"For now." She completed with a sly smirk and my eyes widened.

"I better go write my will." I said and she laughed.

"You should." She nodded amid laughter.

"I'm so scared." I said sarcastically.

"You should be." She wagged her finger in my face .

I held her hand and flicked her nose, that singular action made her sneeze. I took out a handkerchief from my pocket and gave it to her.

"Excuse me." She said as she sneezed once again.

"You okay?" I asked as I held her by her shoulders.

"I'm fine, thank you." She nodded and looked like she was about to sneeze again but she held it in. She looked really cute while at it. I chuckled.

We continued walking for a few minutes before we got to a small cafe. She stopped in front of it and grinned at me.

"Here we are." She said and pulled me inside with her.

I looked around the place and nodded. It was quite impressive, small but really cozy and exquisite.

We sat by the window opposite each other and placed our orders. I decided it would be best if we made small talk while we waited for our orders to arrive.

"So how did you find this place?" I asked her.

"Oh, a few weeks back, I was bored and decided to take a walk, so there." She replied with a shrug.

"But here's the good part, while I was here, I met with Brianna Ellen." She said excitedly.

"She's so much more beautiful in person." She held back a squeal, I could tell. Then she gushed on and on about how their conversation went and how Brianna had dropped her off at the house when the paparazzi interrupted their talk time and finally how they had exchanged contacts and promised to hang out sometime later. I listened with rapt attention, enjoying every bit of what she had to say because I never got to see this side often.

Her childlike excitement was something I really wanted to emulate but I did not have it in me .

"That's really great, Ariana. You have all the fun without me." I said with a chuckle.

"You're the one who's boring, you never do anything fun, it's all work, work and more work." She said, demonstrating as she spoke.

"Touché." She was right but she would never understand why I drowned myself in work all day long.

"But I'm here now, I took a day off to spend time with you." I said before I could stop myself from letting the words roll off my tongue.

She paused and looked into my eyes for a second before looking away again. She picked up her latte and sipped on it, I mirrored her actions, thinking of how to salvage the awkward situation.

"So, uhmm, tell me about yourself." I said, changing the topic.

"I'm sure you already know everything. You had my file before deciding to get married to me, yes?" She stated.

Once again she was right. I did have all her details brought to me before taking contacting her but it would not hurt to hear from the horse's mouth. Not like she's a horse or anything, she's way too sexy for that description. No, sexy just sounds like a perverted way of describing her. You know what? I'm sure you all get the point. Now, back to her.

"I'd rather hear from you." I bit back the urge to say 'horse's mouth' aloud.

"Oh well, there's not much to tell. I'm Ariana Delaney,"

"Kingston." I corrected and she glared at me in a not so subtle manner. I supposed she was still not very cool with answering the Kingston name but who wouldn't be okay with such? Not Ariana, that's for sure.

"Ariana Delaney." She said emphatically.

"Okay sure, go on." I conceded just for the moment. She's a Kingston whether she likes it or not.

"Thank you. I'm twenty-three, twenty-four in about a month."

That was news, I had absolutely no idea her birthday was so close. I sure went through her file but it did not really click to me that her birthday was so close. I never fancied birthdays.

"When exactly is your birthday?" I asked.

"Tenth of next month." She said.

"Hmmm. Noted." I said with a nod then gestured for her to go on.

"I'm happily married to the hottest man alive." She said sarcastically with a teasing smirk as she flashed her rings in my face and I laughed heartily.

"I've never seen you laugh like that before." She said and looked like she found it surreal. I understood her reaction, I did not laugh very often.

It was no surprise that she saw me as a grumpy old man because I seemed moody or indifferent for the most part of all the times we spent in each other's company.

"I guess you bring out this side of me." I said with my eyes trained on her lips. She smiled. I leaned in but before I could get closer, camera flashes from all outside got in the way.

"Shit." I cussed under my breath.

Just great.