The Engagement.

James.

I fixed my eyes on the glass of water before me and recited in my mind the new goals I've set for myself; engagement, engagement party, eliminate the evidence and a big break up. That was the way I wanted things to go with Amara and her blackmailing parents.

Three days passed by at the speed of light and now, I found myself seated in a restaurant waiting to fit a ring around her finger. My knees bounced up and down under the table and though I wasn't nervous about anything, I wouldn't deny that Amara was getting on my nerves with her lateness. We agreed to meet by eight-thirty pm, it was eight-forty-five now, and I was yet to see her.

All I wanted to do was give her the damn ring and get on with my life. Gripping the cup, I tried to drown the whole content in one go but only ended up taking a sip. Damn, I was that impatient.

A small sigh escaped my lips as I reached into my coat pocket and took out the ring Cayden had gotten for me the previous day; a rose gold ring with a slim band and a little diamond on top sitting beautifully on a velvet gold lined box. Nothing extravagant but enough to catch the right amount of attention. The type of attention we wanted.

I closed the lid and slipped it in my pocket in time to see Amara walk into the room. She had on a sleeveless olive green dress that clung to her body and showed off her hourglass figure that I…failed to notice earlier?

She whispered a few words to the lady waiting by the entrance and in a few seconds, she began leading her to me. Her slender legs showing off through her high slit as she walked up to me, slowly, I dragged my eyes off her legs and fixed a glare at her. Couldn't she tell she was running late?

“Thank you,” she gave the lady a soft smile as she slid into her seat.

“You're late.” I said with a meaner glare to let her know of her lateness but instead, she rolled her eyes, placed her palms on the table, propping herself forward and plastered her lips on my cheek. Stretching the kiss over a few seconds.

My head jerked to her as she took back her seat, my eyes threatening to bore holes in her face. What the fuck was that about?

“Since you couldn’t kiss your girlfriend formally, I decided to do it.” She said as if she read my mind. “Besides, I was being followed. We have an image to uphold for the public, remember?” she said when I continued glaring at her.

My shoulders relaxed a bit as my gaze softened. We did have an image to uphold and a really effective plan I had mapped out and I wasn't going to let any little stunt ruin it especially not when I was at the verge of losing everything I've worked hard to build.

“You're late,” I said still. I needed her to understand that I was a man of discipline and I kept to time.

A fraction of her smile fell and she lowered her gaze, “I was nervous, okay? I had to take a few minutes to remind myself that this wasn't real. And besides,” she looked up in time for me to see the spark return to her eyes, “I figured my walking in a few minutes, after you would only excite the reporters. They have been keen on confirming the story of our engagement and this would give them enough reason to focus on us. Exhaust the spotlight, remember?” She winked.

I hated to admit it but she was right. After I left the club three nights ago, I had Cayden spread a rumor of the engagement and the public, especially the media, has been on our necks to confirm the story.

I relaxed my back against my seat and crossed my arms, “ I have something I'd like to discuss with you.” I said in a low tone.

Her eyes narrowed down at me. “If you want to tell me that I should scream ‘yes’ then bro, forget it. It’s never happening. I am nowhe-

“I wanted to talk to you about moving into my place after the engagement party.” I chipped in, cutting her short.

Her brows furrowed as she leaned back in her seat, “We are having an engagement party? I'm starting to think you really love having me as your fianceé and you really do want to show me off.”

I held myself tight from rolling my eyes- a habit that was starting to wear on me. Showing Amara off was not part of the plan but the engagement party was a necessity. If we wanted people to really believe our story, we had to have the party.

“I know how exaggerated this marriage is but if we want to get this people off our backs, we'd have to give them what they want. Besides, considering who I am and who your parents are, it would only be right if we have an engagement party.”

“It's our relationship, do we need to care about what other people think?” She pouted.

“Except it's not. And we do care about what other people think.” I placed my elbows on the table and leaned closer to her. “I think it would be best if you moved in tomorrow evening.”

Her brows shot up to her forehead as she leaned closer to me, “ Bro, I said I am not moving into your place.”

“I thought we were so in love that we can't bear to be apart from each other, mmh?”

“Except we are not and I don't even know you, sir.” She gave me a tight lipped smile and for the third time since the date began, I fought rolling my eyes and willingly gave in to sighing.

“We will discuss this later. Right now, we need to have this ring around your finger.” A flash from the right cut my eyes as I reached into my coat pocket.

Figuring that was the beginning of a long night, I forced on a bright smile and looked up at Amara.

Her eyes widened as she saw the ring.

It was beautiful and I could tell she thought so too.

“I guess it's show time now, isn't it?” She said to herself. Rolling her eyes, she cleared her throat and gasped as a hand flew up to cover her mouth.

“Oh my God, James, this is so beautiful.” She looked up and gave me a quick glare before covering it with a smile, “go ahead then and ask me to marry you,” she said before returning to admire the ring.

“Give me your hand.” I reached for her hand across the table but she retracted it a bit.

“Aren't you going to go down on one knee, bro?”

“I do not go down on my knees for anyone, Amara. And I am not your bro, baby girl.” I gave her a tight lipped smile as she slowly placed her palm in mine, the corners of her lips slowly curving up in a smile.

“Yes.” She said softly.

“What?” I asked with furrowed brows.

“YES, JAMES! I WILL MARRY YOU! OH MY GOD, YES!”

How dramatic. Finally giving in to the will, I rolled my eyes so hard it almost went to the back of my head.

More flashes of light cut my eyes as the reporters- whom the restaurant had probably let in in exchange for a little something- and some of the guests began to gather around us to take more pictures for the headline ‘gossip’ the next day, I assume.

I fought myself to keep my smile, really, I was beginning to get suffocated and all I wanted was to go back to the peace and comfort of my home or even better, my office. I stood up and reached for Amara to see her smiling effortlessly and proudly showing off her ring.

I guessed she was happy. She wanted a diamond ring after all.

She placed her hand in mine and I helped her up.

“We will b-” I was cut off as the reporters began bombarding us with questions.

“Will we be expecting a wedding soon?” Amara looked up at me but I ground my teeth to stop myself from making a face.

“Would the wedding be open to the public or will it be private?” A female reporter asked.

“Will there be little James and Amara before the wedding or after?” A chuckle broke out among the reporters, Amara and the people around us but I was already bored out of my mind nothing could impress me anymore.

I turned my head to the direction the question had come from, the short man, with his bushy beards and hair, looked like he was going through a major midlife crisis and I was seconds away from knocking off that crooked smile from his face.

I wound my hand against Amara's waist and pulled her closer to me. She pressed a palm against my chest and looked at me. To the public, she was looking at her fiance with lots of love and admiration but I alone could see the killer look in those eyes.

“What?” I returned her glare.

“You can do more than that."

Giving her a mock smile, I raised a finger and all the murmuring and clicking of cameras quieted down, all attention focusing on me.

“I know you all are very excited by our engagement and are very keen to know more but believe me, we are more keen and excited than you are. I cannot give you all the information you want right now but I can tell you that we are looking forward to seeing you at our engagement party that will be happening in a forth night.

I felt nails dig into my back as murmuring arose among the crowd. We never agreed on the topic of the engagement party but now it was out, I guess there was nothing either of us could do about it.

‘Are you saying that there will be no wedding?’ I chuckled loudly to mask the pain from the nails clawing their way into my back. I reached for her hand behind me, grabbed it and squeezed as I returned it to her side.

“We are saying that that will be all for today,” Amara flashed her killer smile and all attention turned to her. “So, if you don't mind, we just got engaged.” She made a quick show of her ring and as if she read my mind, she placed her palm in mine and we turned to leave.

“Before your go!” One of the female reporters called out from the crowd and we paused in our tracks. “Can we get a cozy picture of you both. Maybe a kiss or two?”

I looked down at Amara to see the corners of her lips tipping down and her smile dissipating. Her eyes widened in fear like I was some thing that was about to steal her soul away.

"You look like a scared little kitten," I said with a hint of amusement.

"You are not going to kiss me." She commanded through gritted teeth. I tipped my head down, bringing my face closer to hers.

"Yeah, I would. That's exactly what they asked for."

"We agreed on not doing everything the public asked for." She threw a quick glance to the spectators and returned her frightened face to me.

"I think we agreed on quite the opposite, baby girl. Now, let's get this over with."

In as much as I loved riling Amara , I didn't enjoy being the center of attraction. The flashes of the camera annoyed me, that was why I avoided attending any social gatherings.

I pressed Amara closer against me. She began to shake her head as her eyes widened but it was beyond too late to go back.

My hand gripped her cheeks to keep her head in place. I leaned in fast, our lips crashed together, and fire began burning in the pit of my stomach.

Amara tried to pull away at first, but her will to resist melted as quickly as mine.

She kissed me back like she wanted this.

Our mouths moved against each other almost desperately. A pant escaped my lips as a moan fell from hers.

Amara pressed up against me and I felt her body on erect just as mine was and for the first time in a long ass time, my hands itched to touch a woman. To touch the woman kissing me back like her life depended on it.

Amara pulled back first and yanked me back to reality. No matter how much hand itched, I couldn't touch her. I shouldn't touch her. All I needed was to get my head in the game and get this over with.

I cleared my throat loudly as our spectators began slapping as though they had just experienced a once in a lifetime event. I looked down at Amara and met her eyes searching her face. Her face was flushed and she looked stunned, to stunned to say anything.

I turned to the reporters and said; "See some of you at our engagement party. Have a lovely night everyone." Giving them my perfectly curated smile once more, I took Amara's hand and left the restaurant.