Chapter 13: Chapter 13

I LOOKED at my wristwatch. It was already thirty minutes before five.

It was Friday. Tonight, Adam and I were going to have dinner with my parents at home. I am going to formally introduce Adam to them.

And Adam hasn't arrived yet. We had decided to meet in a restaurant near my office. I needed to brief him first. We couldn't make any mistakes tonight.

Damn. I told him not to be late.

I took out my cell phone and decided to call him. Last night, we exchanged contacts.

I was about to dial his number when I saw him at the entrance of the restaurant.

My lips automatically parted as I watched him walk towards me.

He was wearing a white polo shirt, black slacks and black leather shoes. His hair was neatly pushed back.

I blinked a few times. Adam looked different from his usual getup. But damn. He looked more gorgeous with his look right now.

"Hi," Adam greeted me with a smile. "I'm sorry I took so much time. I got stuck in the traffic."

He glanced at his leather watch. "Shall we go?"

I continued to stare at him. "What's with the new look?" I asked him, curious.

He shrugged at me. "I'll be meeting your parents, right? I wanted to make a good impression."

"Oh." I muttered, finally standing up from my seat. "But you didn't have to do this Adam."

He just smiled at me. "But I want to, Claire. I know how important your parents are to you. You even said that you didn't want to disappoint them, right? That's why you're doing this scheme?"

I cleared my throat. Then smiled at him gratefully. "Thank you, Adam. I appreciate this."

We left the coffee shop and went to the parking area.

"By the way, I brought a car," Adam said as he pointed out a black Aston Martin.

Oh. That's the reason he got stuck in the traffic. He brought a car and not his big bike. I looked at him. "Is this yours?"

He pursed his lips. "Nah. Just rented it. Figured this look isn't suitable for big bikes."

I blinked. He really did make an effort, huh.

He opened the car door for me.

"Thank you."

"About our deal, Claire," Adam said to me while we were on the road. I was sitting in the front seat.

"Yes, I still have some things I need to clarify with you." She glanced at him.

"Okay. You first."

"I have another set of conditions.” She turned to him. “First of all, you can't tell anyone about our setup. No one can know that we're not really in a relationship.”

He nodded. "You can count on me, Claire."

“Let’s make everyone believe we’re in a real relationship. And none of this was fake." I cleared my throat. “That means we need to act like a real couple.”

He pursed his lips. "Sure. I can do that. We're going to live together, right? I mean, after the wedding?" He glanced at me. "You still live with your parents, don't you? Am I going to move in with you in your parent's house?"

I shook my head. "No."

He frowned. "No?"

"We can't live with my parents. They will surely discover us. I have a unit here in the city."

"You had already planned this out, huh," he commented, there was an amused smile on his face.

I cleared my throat. "As I was saying, we're going to move into my unit after the wedding. I'll tell my parents that it's yours."

"I'm curious. Did you buy that unit just for this scheme?"

I frowned. "No. I bought that unit two years ago. I just… can't leave my parents at home."

He nodded. "I have my own conditions, as well."

"What are they?"

He cleared his throat. “About the baby, I want us to share custody. I know you're loaded and you can raise our kid on your own without asking for anyone's help. But I still want to provide for him."

"Him?" I raised my eyebrows at him.

He grinned at me. "I wanted our baby to be a boy."

I felt like something had touched my heart with what he said. Just the other day, I still remembered the horrified look on his face when I told him he got me pregnant.

But now, he looks different from Adam a few days ago. I could feel that he wanted the baby just as much as I wanted it. And that makes me happy.

“Alright. There’s no problem with that. You have to trust me, Adam,” I assured him. "We'll share custody of the baby. Anything else?”

"I want our child to bear my name.”

I nodded. "Of course, I'll give him or her your name."

He cleared his throat. "About our marriage. Am I not allowed to date another woman while we're married, right?"

My lips parted. I hadn't thought of that. Of course, Adam was a playboy. He was used to women by his side.

I can't expect him to stay celebate for the next few months!

"Well, uh… of course I won't prohibit you from dating. Just make it discreet. You can't be seen with women in public."

"How about you?"

"What about me?"

"Will you be seeing another man during our marriage?"

I turned to him and frowned. "Of course not. How could you expect me to date when I'm pregnant?"

He pursed his lips. "Alright. Since you won't go out with another man, I'll also refrain myself from dating."

My lips parted. "Huh? Are you serious?"

He lazily looked at me. "That's only fair, right?"

I blinked. "But… what about your needs? I know what kind of lifestyle you have, Adam."

He raised his brow. "And what kind of lifestyle is that?"

I slightly rolled my eyes. "You're used to having women by your side."

He chuckled. "I can't believe you think of me that way. Believe me, Claire. I can survive without a woman for months. But if you're really concerned about my needs, then maybe you can provide for me?"

This time, I felt like my jaw left my face. "What?"

Adam’s laughter filled the whole car. "I'm just kidding, Claire. Jesus. Look at your reaction."

He cleared his throat and turned serious. "But I'm really serious when I say that I won't date another woman during our marriage. You don't have to worry about your husband getting caught cheating behind your back."

"Alright. If it's okay with you then fine."

He glanced at me. "That also applies to you, okay? In return, you are also not allowed to date any guy starting now until the day we process our divorce."

I nodded. That's easy on my part. I don't have any plans to date another man from now until the near future.

I wanted to focus on this situation. On my child.

“Alright? But are you really sure about that, Adam?”

“Trust me, Chin,” he answered, while looking me straight in the eye. And there's something in his eyes that makes me want to trust him.

“Okay.” I mumbled and nodded at him.

We were both silent on the road.

I glanced at him and couldn't help but stare at his face. He was really handsome. And those veins on his arms made him look a whole lot sexier in my eyes.

Damn. His side profile was perfect. That tall nose and perfect jaw. And of course, those lips.

My eyes went down to his lips. They were really naturally red. I remembered how they tasted when the kisses we had shared before. He was really a great kisser.

I thought about my baby. If we're going to have a baby boy, I want my kid to look like his father.

“Claire.”

I cleared my throat. “What?” Was I staring at him for too long? I looked away. That's when I realized we were already inside the subdivision where my parents live.

"Just drive to the next street." I instructed him.

A few minutes later, we were already parked in front of my parents' house.

Adam turned to me after putting off his seat belt.

"Are you ready, Claire."

I took a deep breath. "Yeah. I'm ready." I looked at him and met his gaze. "Anyway, thank you for saying yes. You don't know how much this means to me.”

He smiled at me. "You're welcome, Claire. Come on, your seatbelt."

He leaned in to me and helped me take off my seatbelt. I wanted to close my eyes when I inhaled his familiar scent.

Damn. He smelled so good.

"Claire…"

I blinked my eyes. I realized Adam had been staring at my lips.

"Do you think we need to practice?"

I blinked again. "What practice?"

"You know, being a real couple in front of other people. We need to practice that."

Our eyes met. Then slowly, both of our eyes went down to each other's lips.

"What do you suggest that we do?"

"I think we needed to do this."

Before I could react, he already lowered his head and captured my lips for a kiss.

I felt like electricity consumed my whole being when our lips touched.

His lips tasted like wine and chocolates combined. It was addicting. I closed my eyes and returned his kisses with the same intensity. I felt like I was getting drunk with his kisses.

His tongue explored the insides of my mouth and I moaned in pleasure. Everything that’s happening now was like a reflection of what happened that night. The kiss… the rush…

We were both catching our breath when we let go of each other.

I opened my eyes. I was welcomed by Adam and his red lips. His eyes were dark and hooded with desire. I wondered if my eyes reflected the same.

"You still tasted so damn good, Claire."

I bit my lower lip. Same with his lips. His lips still tasted the same.

"Yeah. Uh… we need to go now. My parents are waiting."

Adam licked his lips and moved away from me. "Alright. But I have something to give you before we get out." He smiled.

"What is it?" I asked.

Adam opened the car drawer and took out a small red box.

My eyes widened when he opened the box in front of me. It revealed a beautiful emerald engagement ring.

"What is this?" I blinked a few times and stared at that beautiful piece of jewelry in front of me. One look and I already knew it was a real emerald.

"Come on." He took out my hand and slowly slid the ring on my ring finger. "There. It fits you perfectly."

I stared at the ring on my hand. It looked perfect on me.

"Adam… why?"

Adam only smiled at me. "Your parents know that we're already engaged. So I figured we needed an engagement ring to show them. We need to make them believe that our relationship is real, don't we?"

I cleared my throat. "You didn't have to do this, Adam. I mean… you should've just told me about this." My eyes went to him. "How much did you pay for this ring? I'm going to pay you back." I knew this engagement ring cost a fortune."

Adam shook his head. "Don't worry. I didn't buy this ring."

My lips parted. "What? Then whose ring is this?"

"This was my grandmother's. She gave it to me when I turned eighteen," he said. "Her name was Emerald. She said that my great grandmother gave it to her before her wedding. And she chose to give it to me."

"Oh." My eyes widened, my eyes still on the ring. "This is a family heirloom, Adam. You shouldn't have let me use it."

"It's okay, Claire. This is no big deal. You can have that ring for a while."

I looked at him. "You're grandmother. Where is she now?"

"She already died ten years ago."

"Oh. I'm sorry, Adam."

"It's okay, Claire." He gave out a small smile.

I met his eyes, then gave him a grateful smile. "Adam, thank you for doing this with me. I promise I'll take care of this ring."

He chuckled a bit. "Well, you better be. Come on, we don't want your parents waiting, right?"