JONATHAN'S POV

"You sound like you're picking a fight with me." I drawled and she swallowed. What I would give to know what was going through her mind.

"Maybe." She replied and I hid my smile. She really was mad about something.

"Was it something I did?" I asked her, knowing what the answer was. Aside from me taking her arms to dismay whatever thoughts Scott must have had, I'd been busy with my own thing.

She pressed herself into her seat, looking more uncomfortable. "No." She replied after thinking for a while. I studied her, and she met my gaze, looking at me with eyes that told me she was lying.

I dropped it. If she wanted to talk, she would. She wasn't the shy type, so I knew she was going to let me know what the issue was when she was ready. I pulled up the document I'd been reading on my phone. It was a contract agreement with a company that wanted to partner with us to carry our products, not that we needed it.

The company was still doing so well, we had surpassed all our sales metrics last month. Amazingly, the issue of the video had made the company do even better than it ever had, and the new development was making the investors pull in their heels about selling their shares. Even with that, I recognized the fact that the partnership was only going to be a plus for us, so I wasn't stupid enough to just ignore it.

I felt Danielle's eyes on me, but she looked away when I lifted my head. "Why did you ask me to come here with you?" She asked, but I wasn't fazed like she had probably hoped I would be. I could see the disappointment and expectation in her expression when I dropped my phone to face her fully. I chose to ignore both.

"I've been traveling a lot alone, and everywhere I go, people are always asking of you. It seems like you made quite the impression in the few ones you went with me to."

She looked surprised. "Me??" She asked and I nodded.

I didn't want to mention that the reason many people were most;y inviting me to engagements was because of her. They had first assumed it was like the normal type of marriage, the wife drinking and chatting about inconsequential things with other women, looking like a well-behaved doll, but my wife had been different. I'd taken her along to quite a few engagements back home and rather than separate to look for something more fun than talking business, she had stayed with me, giving her inputs in the conversations I was having.

It wasn't like she had interrupted to get her voice heard, but for the first party we'd gone together, we had stayed together because I'd needed to push the newly married, very in love agenda. One of the businessmen I really respected had been the one to bring her into the conversation by levelling a question at her. To both our surprise, she was very knowledgeable and had spoken her thoughts clearly and concisely, something he had been really impressed by. Since then, the others didn't mind the fact that she was there when we discussed business, and most of them asked for her when she wasn't there. Although, I'll take the credit of being the reason she knew the things she knew. As my secretary, there was little information that was hidden from her.

"Of course. The men are very impressed whenever you speak. Plus, I thought it would be nice to take it as a short vacation to help you relax amidst everything that has happened recently."

She nodded, a smile playing on her lips. "I'll decide if the vacation will be worth it after our tour." She teased with a smile, and I found myself smiling back at her.

"It will be." That was all for the conversation at that moment, but I knew I hadn't been completely honest. It wasn't the first time I was feeling it, and I was sure it wasn't going to be the last, but I was genuinely enjoying the woman's presence. Even when we weren't talking to each other, her presence was quickly becoming a constant I was in danger of getting used to.

That destroyed my mood. We had less than a year together, I didn't need to get used to anybody. Plus, I still didn't trust her, not with the company but personally. Also, women, no matter how comfortable they could be, could change in an instant to something unrecognizable. The last time I'd gotten used to a woman's presence and even fancied myself in love, she had tried to destroy my company, and I was sure she was still planning her retribution. That wasn't going to happen ever again.

DANIELLE'S POV

What the heck? One moment he had been smiling with me and the next, it felt like a shadow of doom had come to rest in the car. His face, formerly open, was now dark as he stared into his phone. Whatever had ruined his mood was definitely not me, so I wasn't going to worry about it.

I wasn't given the chance to, anyway, as the car stopped in front of a big hall. In front was a red carpet and from the directions the people taking pictures were moving, the reporters were shouting orders. The driver opened the door and I saw that I'd been correct. As soon as our door was opened, the flashes started in our direction. Jonathan put his arm out, and I held him firmly, going through the routine. We'd done it quite a number of times, it was quickly becoming normal to me.

"Here we go." I muttered as we stepped onto the carpet and went to the photo zone and the orders began. 'Please look here', 'Stare at your wife with a loving expression', 'Love your outfits, can you grab your wife by the waist?', 'Can you both stare at each other?', 'What are you guys dressed as?'

After taking a few pictures, we headed to the hall, to the chagrin of the reporters. 'One more pose.' 'Don't go yet.' We ignored them and entered the hall, and I stared in surprise. If Jonathan hadn't been holding me, I would have frozen at the door. The place was packed, and our entry had made quite the sensation. Actually that wasn't the whole explanation, the only way of entry was through the front and our entry had gotten the attention of a lot of people who were now heading towards us, cheering.

The cheers wasn't even what I was worried about. Why had I assumed this was going to be a normal formal affair rather than the mask party, it was very obvious it was? Everybody was in a mask, that is, everybody but us.

I looked down at my royal blue silk gown that had a slit running from the lower thigh and Jonathan's black 3-piece suit with blue bowtie and wondered. What were we meant to be?

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.