Chapter 33

**Artemis**


I’m sure Blue hadn’t expected me to kiss her when she said give the paparazzi what they want, but I am a man of opportunity. When she first broke our kiss, I thought she would look upset or push me away, but Imagine my surprise when she didn’t. Then she wrapped her arms around my neck and I forgot all about why I had kissed her in the first place. She fit so well wrapped in my arms that I didn’t want to let her go. I had no choice when I started hearing sirens from outside.

“Ladies and gentlemen, you are intruding on private property! If you do not want to be forceful removed or arrested I suggest you leave!”

Blue and I separate from each other enough to look in the direction of the lobby doors and see a group of police officers walking in. Their warning thankfully does the trick and the people who had been surrounding us start to quickly leave. I keep Blue close to me until enough people have left that we can make our escape.

“Let’s go.” I let her go and grab her hand.

Dane and Bryant follow us as I lead Blue to the garage where I parked my car. When we reach the car, I open the door for Blue so slide into the passenger side and I open the trunk to put away our stuff.

“You two head toward the office and try to take as many of the press with you. Make it believable.” I instruct the guys.

“Yes Sir.” They leave without any further prompting, and I climb into the car as well.

“What’s the plan?” Blue asks.

“The plan is for you not to worry about anything.” I tell her but she narrows her eyes at me.

She does that a lot.

“Artemis Rhodes…what’s your middle name by the way?”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t properly scold you without your full name.” She says it like the answer should be obvious but half the time I don’t understand what she’s up to.

“Then I won’t tell you. Why would I want to give you the fuel to further torture me.”

She scoffs and lays a hand on her chest. “Torture you? You weren’t worried about that when you kissed!”

I can’t help but smirk with pride. “That was for the press.”

“Right.”

“You kissed me back.”

“So? I was trying to sell it. How do you think they would spin the story if I pushed you away and slapped you?”

“Why would you slap me?”

“Because you kissed me without warning or consent. Twice now!”

I’m starting to enjoy the way she gets worked up so easily.

“I didn’t know I need permission to kiss my fiancé.”

“Fake fiancé. We had a deal and it didn’t include kissing.” She reminds me and I suddenly feel a sense of dread.

She’s right. I was supposed to draw up a marriage contract for us, and I haven’t yet. I don’t know why. Maybe I’m not ready to give up on these spontaneous moments between us. It’s so out of character for me to go for things without thinking, but being around her makes me not act like myself. It’s freeing but she has reminded me more than once that none of this is meant to be real.

I realize I hate it. She’s already gotten under my skin like a splinter that won’t be easily removed.

“We haven’t made a deal regarding kissing. You said you would marry me and refused any money. That’s all we agreed on.”

She looks at me with a questioning gaze.

“I don’t want to get carried away. This might be normal for you, but I’ve never had a boyfriend. Isn’t it easy for things to get complicated when physical stuff is added to the mix. Who knows what problems it can create for us.”

I know she’s right and that’s why I never let thing go too far with other women, but she isn’t them.

“Would that be so bad?” I hazard to ask her.

“We might not know each other well but you seem to have a hard time connecting with people. How long do you think you could force yourself to be close to me? If it’s not who you are, who’s to say you won’t get tired of being with me in that way and push me away. What do I do then?”

She’s making some valid points.

“I won’t hurt you Blue.”

She turns her head to look at me and I see the sadness in the corner of her eyes.
“You might not mean to, but it doesn’t mean you won’t.”

How do I show her she’s wrong? There have been a lot of people in this world that I don’t give a shit about, but I care about her. I want to make her smile and I want to be who she goes to when she’s sad or scared. Today she ran into my arms for comfort and that felt good. I want to be that person for her, and I might not be good at it right away but I’m willing to try. Now all I have to do is prove to her that I can be more than the cold distant guy everyone thinks I am.

“Blue, I’m not good at this. Being close to people, but I’m not a total asshole.” I don’t mean to sound defensive, but it comes out like that.

Blue rests her hand over mine where it sits on the gear shift. “I know there’s more to you than that, but there is a lot more to prove before people will change their mind about you. One or two moments isn’t enough. If you want to show you’ve changed you have to do more. Like treating people better. Bryant for instance. He’s a loyal guy and works hard but he’s there to protect you, not carry your bags.”

“He’s never complained before.”

“Why would he? He’s older and probably hasn’t gotten a lot of jobs because of that. Why would he mess with a good job? It’s up to you to give him a sense of security.”

How does someone like her know so much about how to treat employees. She’s never had a real job, and yet she spouts these pieces of advice like she’s had to deal with being in charge.

“I can’t be one of those bosses that is a friend. My employees won’t respect me and follow directions if I’m too lax.”

“That’s not what I’m saying Artemis. I’m saying that having a strong hand is important but showing kindness will make them see you as more than a dictator. If you become more approachable, they will work harder for you. Moral is important.”

“You don’t get it Blue. You’ve never led the number of people I work with or worked with as part of a large group of employees. Our business is in cyber security, and our clients are too important for there to be mistakes because I can’t be firm with my people.”
How did we even get on this subject? I’m starting to get annoyed, and I don’t want that.

Blue sighs and moves her hand back to her lap. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

She doesn’t speak after that. I glance her way a few times and see her staring out the window with a blank expression on her face. Her playfulness from a moment ago is gone and I hate that it’s my fault. All because of a simple discussion. This isn’t the first time and I’m starting to wonder if there will be more misunderstandings between us are in our future. If so then maybe Blue is right and I’ll get tired of her speaking her mind about things in my life and I’ll start to put distance between us.

This is all fucking confusing and it’s starting to piss me off. Once again, I’m waging a silent battle in my mind over this.

Thankfully we finally arrive at the floating house and I can put some distance between us. I need time to think and I can’t do that with Blue this close to me. Even with the mood I’m in I want to reach over and kiss her again.

“This is so cool!” Blue says before throwing her door open and jumping out of the car.

I watch her run over to the edge of the water and look up at the house like a kid at Christmas. She turns to look my way with a huge smile on her face.

“Artemis come on! Let me in!” I make an amused sound before I turn the car off and climb out of the car to do what she asks.

She is almost vibrating with a excitement so I take my sweet time finding the right key and opening the door.

“For god sake Artemis Rhodes, open the damn thing already!”

I do as she asks and step aside so she can go in first. This may have been our childhood home, but I had it completely redone inside to look more modern. So when she runs in the lights come on automatically. I lose sight of her a second later and decide to grab our stuff from the car.
As I’m pulling my bag out I hear a scream from inside. I drop my bag on the ground and race inside to find Blue.

“Blue!” I call out several times as I check every room.

“Artemis!” I hear her call back, but it sounds muffled and off.

I follow the direction her voice came from and find her on the balcony of one of the rooms. Her wide eyes look at me and I stop short.

“Artemis…” Her voice is too soft, almost like an apology. “I’m sorry.”